Blame the board: Neglecting defense in draft could haunt Bears

Ryan Poles has made it abundantly clear he answers to a higher power. The Bears general manager couldn't go two sentences without mentioning it this weekend.

We just follow The Board. We stuck to The Board. It's really how The Board shook out.

The thing is, The Board was reliable last year when it involved coach Ben Johnson choosing players to fit his offensive system. On the defensive side, The Board hasn't been as helpful.

Maybe Poles should consider listening to The Stats. You know, the ones that ranked the Bears 22nd in sacks and 27th in rushing yards allowed.

The Stats practically screamed that defensive line was a glaring position of need, but The Board forbid the Bears from choosing one in this year's draft until finally trading up to snag Georgia Tech's Jordan Van den Berg in the sixth round.

Here's another concern: Last year, The Board told the Bears to select Shemar Turner in the second round, Ruben Hyppolite in the fourth round; and two years ago Zacch Pickens in the third. Is it possible Poles — correction, The Board — gets too wrapped up in combine numbers, and loses sight of actual, on-field production?

Not sure if this even needs to be said, but everyone should understand The Board is a human-made entity, created by the Bears' scouting department. Or maybe they just used AI to save time. Who knows?

The point is, this was an important draft. Two or three defensive contributors might be what turns the Bears into a true Super Bowl contender.

So let's recap the weekend at Halas Hall, keeping in mind Jerry Krause's favorite phrase, “You can't judge a draft for three to five years.” Let's also tack on an adage borrowed from the Bears Film Study series, “Everyone looks like a good pick based on their highlight tape.”

Dillon Thieneman: We can probably all agree this was the obvious pick. Few mock drafts had the Oregon safety falling past Minnesota at No. 18.

Unless, the Bears made a promise with Indiana. Write up some bogus legislation that allows us to wring more money from Illinois taxpayers, and we'll draft a player from Indiana in the first round. No way that actually happened, right?

Logan Jones: If there were no defensive tackles worth taking late in Round 2, might as well be the first team to snag a center. The trust level is particularly high with a center from Iowa.

Sam Roush: Is he a replacement for when the Bears trade Cole Kmet at some point in the future? Listening to Poles, it sounds like Roush is their Durham Smythe replacement. Johnson does seem to know tight ends, so maybe this will work.

Bonus points for Roush being the great nephew of Merlin Olsen, a member of the L.A. Rams’ famed “Fearsome Foursome” in the 1960s. Maybe the Bears will change his position based on DNA.

Zavion Thomas: This LSU receiver is somehow related to Walter Payton. There was a line spoken on his Zoom call, something about the grandfather slept in the same bed with Payton when they were kids. Did we hear that right?

Thomas' receiving stats at LSU last year were similar to Tyreek Hill's numbers at West Georgia in 2015. So he'll start as the fifth receiver, then maybe become a legend.

Malik Muhammad: OK, a cornerback makes sense. Someone's got to be ready to step in if something happens to Jaylon Johnson and/or Tyrique Stevenson.

Keyshaun Elliott: Bears reporters asked plenty of questions on his Zoom call about playing special teams. They're probably onto something.

Jordan van den Berg: Born in South Africa, grandfather was a competitive bodybuilder, owns a laundromat in Atlanta, and earned a master's degree in international affairs, science and technology. What's not to like?

Poles' answer to the defensive line situation was an old favorite — internal improvement.

“Book's coming along,” he said. “We have Dayo, Sweat, Shemar, feel good about those guys. Feel like what that group is and what they're becoming, we think there's some developmental upside.”

Austin Booker, yeah, he came along last year. Montez Sweat still looks like he needs more help. Maybe the jury's out on Turner, since he barely played last year. Dayo Odeyingbo is sort of the elephant in the room. He hasn't shown signs of being an explosive pass rusher with the Colts or Bears, but we should expect improvement once he recovers from a torn Achilles?

If next season doesn't turn out well, the Bears may need to rewire The Board.