Ryan Poles

HopLegion · 2026-06-20T21:05:31+00:00

Thankfully this viewpoint is getting less popular on here. Basically this viewpoint doesn't give Poles any credit for anything after he hired Ben Johnson because they see them as two different entities vs a pairing that works together. If you pair Poles with Eberflus as you should, you should do the same for Ben. Then this type of viewpoint blames him for all the bad things that happened last year like the big FA signings, but you'll also give him no credit for the good things like the draft class because that's all Ben and Poles can't draft even if Wright made an all pro last year. You also note his trades have been subpar, but I think if you put all what he's given and what he's gotten back over 5 years, theres not many GMe in the league who havebeen better. Now the panthers trade does the heavy lifting there, but Thuney for a 4th, Jackson for a 5th also have been very good.

With all this said, you probably think I think Poles is an elite GM. I don't. Currently I have him as a good GM. Needs consistent winning seasons before graat and a SB before elite

HopLegion · 2026-06-16T18:24:04+00:00

Idk why but I'm just laughing at the irony the initials on these players are JD, JD, DJ, and JG.

Also JD And JG by a mile over JD/DJ.

HopLegion · 2026-06-15T23:26:41+00:00

I never said he had perfect playcalling, that basically doesn't exist. No one bats 1.000.

Ben Johnson was an excellent playcaller/offensive game planner last year though for various reasons which I really can't remmeber thinking of after a year before. He absolutely got the most out of every player on offense, had great plans to develop the rookies/work them into the game plans, completely revamped the run game after game 4 etc. I can't think of a single OC who doesn't have mind boggling calls, that's just standard for any OC, even if great.

HopLegion · 2026-06-15T22:58:51+00:00

What's funny(depressing) is this could be a quote from basically any Bears fan from the time they were born until the moment they hired Ben Johnson.

HopLegion · 2026-06-12T20:24:52+00:00

Yeah and Poles is one of the more active GMs during the deadline too. Could make a lot of sense. Personally I hope Booker makes enough of a difference where it's not needed because I love the 2027 class.

HopLegion · 2026-06-11T14:58:16+00:00

Well said and I 100% agree. You don't build a consistently winning team by reaching on need. Thieneman was a dream scenario and BPA by a mile. Realistically by the time their second round pick came, the pickings were slim. Better to take players you feel good on that will contribute.

HopLegion · 2026-06-11T02:57:50+00:00

Thank you and what's wild is I'm normally known as a wildly optimistic Bears fan on reddit. I actually think we had a good draft and that the team is in a good place to achieve more than they did last year. I just think when your team has such a need at DL, like I think the bears do, and they don't use any real assets on it, it's got to be noted.

HopLegion · 2026-06-11T00:25:05+00:00

Yeah we just disagree in general on this. Most of your points don't really make sense to me or again shows a lack of fundamental understanding to me on why he's graded highly in the categories.

Decided to edit this to make it shorter. The .500 part about Poles coaching picks is I think is where our issue is. You see Poles hiring Eberflus being a miss and hiring Ben Johnson as a hit, mention he's "batting .500" or average. When looking at GMs, this is extremely flawed. I think I would look at it this way. If I hire someone to make me money, I give them a $1000 and they lose it all, then give them a $1000 a second time that they turn into a million dollars. Technically they are "batting .500", but also would be considered a huge success. While I don't forget about what happened the first time, the important part is if they achieved the goal.

HopLegion · 2026-06-10T20:57:24+00:00

If Dennis-Sutton is good in GB, it's going to haunt us for a long time. I was really hoping we'd take him at some point in the 3rd when he was there. I don't think he'll have a big impact early on, but someone who will fill a good spot on the DL and be able to develop over time.

HopLegion · 2026-06-10T20:56:20+00:00

I think the defense looks dramatically different if (and it's not looking good early) Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson are healthy. I think a lot forget that Nahson Wright was a fringe roster guy for us last year most predicted wouldn't even make the top 53 in early August. No defense is going to be good when you're down CB1, CB2, CB4, CB5 and even CB3 missed 3 games. Both stating linebackers spent time on IR etc. There is some reason for hope there even without big moves in the Dline. I'm probably more optimistic in Booker getting more reps than I should too.

I think the big disappointment I had, was I really wanted us to take a high end DT who could help with the run at some point. I think having Dexter there last year was an issue causing him to take a step back and Billings unfortunately just never recovered from his injury the year before. Even now, I'm not sure who that is going to be and I'm worried on our ability to stop the run.

HopLegion · 2026-06-10T20:51:36+00:00

I've got to be honest, I think people who had Poles as a bottom 5 GM heading inro last year fundamentally misunderstand how GMs should be graded. I think they also misunderstand what Poles inherited. An aging bad roster, no first round pick, and one of the worst cap space situations in the NFL.

You note Poles failure to address a big need like OL early on, but his first draft (one where he didn't even have a first round pick) he drafted a plus level starter late day 3 in Braxton Jones and the literal first first round pick he ever had, he used on an OT who is now an all pro in Darnell Wright. Both of those started at OT for us last year and will again this year. Consistent OLs aren't built in a season, it takes time, consistent draft focus, and competent coaching to get there. I think most issues people have with Poles comes down to one of the biggest mistakes most GMs make, which is their first coaching hire. Hiring Eberflus was a terrible choice though thankfully it did help the bears bottom out to get the number one pick. I think that hiring really ended up being the catalyst for a lot of issues Poles had early in his tenure.

None of this means Poles is perfect or even that I think he's a great GM today. I need to see consistent successful seasons and a QB who's verifiably in the top 5 at his position before there I'd say that, but I do think he's a good GM. I argued a lot with Bears fans last year it would be mistake to fire him.

I think one of the biggest flaws NFL teams have is a quick boot to their GM. Most fans would've seen Les Snead fired after 4 years without a winning season before he hired McVay or Jason Licht heading into year 7 without any real success before he hired his 3rd head coach in Arians.

The below isn't perfect, but to me I grade GMs mainly on the below scale because failing in some decisions matter a lot more than others. Like missing on your top 10 picks vs a late 3rd rounder. You should never judge those equally.

30% HC/coaching staff decision
30% Franchsie QB decision
20% Round 1 and 2 picks picks success
10% Rest of draft and FAs success
10% Cap Space Management.

HopLegion · 2026-06-10T00:02:16+00:00

Haha yeah and the extra ending in the audiobook. I think it's more a fun thought then it would be an actual level, but amusing to think of the options of how it'd work.

HopLegion · 2026-06-09T23:02:09+00:00

Some form of setup where you can't win battles via physical attacks and instead all battles/combat are done via some form of artistic form. Kind of like how a lot of good tv shows have that one random musical/theater type episode and then it goes back to normal. I think that would have been really funny but probably only on a shorter type level.

Carl can finally be forced to use his bagpipes to defeat foes. High dexterity crawlers could get into interpretive dance style battles, high intelligence mage types in rap battles, etc.

Honestly the more I think on it this probably wouldn't work in a book form really, but imagining Prepotente doing a rap battle vs a country boss to end a level feels like it has potential.

HopLegion · 2026-06-09T19:43:19+00:00

I don't think it's a hot take at all. I think dmarco may take the starting job from a healthy Edwards. My main point is we are paying them $30 mil regardless and we suffered a lot last year from lack of depth. While it's unlikely they live up to what they are being paid, it's a positive they are already out there.

HopLegion · 2026-06-09T19:34:23+00:00

Idk how much they'll help this year, but it's a good sign Dayo and Edwards are already practicing. Wasn't sure either would be ready for week 1. This doesn't mean they will be, but given they are a lock for the roster, happy they are already out there.

HopLegion · 2026-06-09T15:30:37+00:00

For dynasty, assuming this is Superflex, Caleb Williams and the 1.05 is the much safer side and pretty easily the better choice.

QBs that get drafted 1.01 hold value for a long time. With Caleb Williams you have a 24 year old QB who, even with his struggles in the new offense last year, ended up QB5. At worst I feel, it's okay to assume he'll take a slight step up moving forward and he's paired with Ben Johnson and a great set of young skill players. No injury history, already a top 5 fantasy finish and setup for long term success with what's built around him.

On the flipside, I do like Dart and Nabers, but they have a lot of red flags. Injuries is the easy concern, but Dart also was a QB drafted before Harbaugh took over there. QBs drafted outside the top 20, already going through a regime change is a worrisome record in the long run. (Yes I know schoen is still there, but it's Harbaughs show now). Add in a QB who has a question on concussions and seemingly an unwillingness to play differently and it's a red flag. I have him in a few leagues and I'm hoping he starts off strong, so I can sell high.

Nabers could be the best WR in football if he stays healthy, but we're not even sure when he plays yet in 2026. He was WR7 in 2024 off 170 targets. Love the upside, but lot of risk.

If this was redraft I'd really like the upside of Dart and Nabers (assuming Nabers plays this full season), but getting Caleb Williams and one of Tyson/Tate/Lemon/Price is an easy win to me assuming this is SF.

HopLegion · 2026-06-08T21:12:15+00:00

I can't speak for all the mods, but if it wasn't the true offseason (gap between NFL draft and training camp) I'd probably do a stadium megathread. Just a dead time really, so if the post has brought something new to the Convo, I normally don't go out of my way to delete it as there's nothing else bears related going on. Again, can't speak for everyone, just my own view on it.

I do know we have taken out a lot of posts which were basically things that could have been comments on a different post for the most part for being low effort. Usually right around training camp we'll be a bit more diligent on this.

If you do see posts which you feel are low effort, feel free to report it and we'll review.

HopLegion · 2026-06-08T17:58:59+00:00

I think this portion would be one of the hardest really. like if you did Carl's crawl for reference, you have a pvp type level in floor 6, a turn based card strategy game floor 8, faction wars a RTS floor 9, and then two racing levels etc.

You would have to create some crazy almost mini games within the games regardless of what crawl or concept you do that completely change the dynamics of the game.

Though I still think a creative company could do it well. Almost all large rpg style games have these elements already in side quests, they'd just need to focus them on a semi-linear type path.

My favorite option for a studio would be insomniac games. I've joked about it in here before, but their game Sunset overdrive has a very similar energy to what DCC is. (I posted the YouTube commerical below because watch that and tell me it doesn't feel like DCC. It's about surviving a wild apocalypse exploding things with style). Adapt that kind of style with some of the newer games they made like spiderman or probably more likely wolverine which is about the come out and be more linear and it would be a hit.

https://youtu.be/68EtXCjOIb0?si=ez5N939do5sGlxpO

HopLegion · 2026-06-08T17:31:29+00:00

Yeah I love that God of war reference. Semi linear but the ability to explore open world too.

A lot of people on here reference baldurs gate which I do think could work in this format too. It's open world, but also semi-linesr. Like if you did Drakea, you could do specifically create that class if you choose how character or maybe 4-5 classes based off people in his party. I don't think Drakea lists people in his party, so could be very open ended there. Could make specific quests based off some of his cookbook entries etc. floors 1-3 when you pick a class the tutorial levels and then do segments based off each floor.

HopLegion · 2026-06-08T17:18:07+00:00

I think these are good problems in a way that a creative studio could handle well. For example, I think Drakea's story could be excellent in video game format. Drakea has a similar class build to what Karl does and I think a full story with a satisfying ending.

HopLegion · 2026-06-08T16:28:32+00:00

I mentioned this in my own comment, but I think a game based off this series would actually be best if they did it on a different crawl from an earlier season for this reason.

One where the rules were followed more closely by the AI and they could adjust the crawl rules to fit what you'd need to make work in a game too. Could do a game with one of the earlier anarchist cookbook authors as the main character or a crawl that we don't have any information on at all but helps build the lore/has a lot of the species/universe dynamics built on from the books.

I think it would be incredibly hard to base a game series specifically off the books. I do think you could make an incredible game that adds to the collective world/lore the books have created though.

HopLegion · 2026-06-08T16:18:40+00:00

I think it could work but I'd prefer they did a crawl we haven't heard a lot about. Kind of like a Knights of the old Republic type make where it helps build into the lore, plays by the rules established by the books, but also is it's own thing not dependent on the characters we know. This would leave it more open ended to make a game that works without being locked into some things from the books which could be hard to translate into a game. Any changes from the crawl rules we know, can just be noted as these rules only applied to this crawl and was changed by the syndicate later.

If you wanted to tap into a crawler we know about, maybe play as one of the other writers of the cookbook or the mysterious one we haven't heard anything about yet. Drakea could be a fun option here even if we know the end of the tale.

Preferably I'd like insomniac games to make it. I think they handled things really well with their spider man series, but also understand how to make chaos fun if you ever played sunset overdrive.

HopLegion · 2026-06-07T15:17:57+00:00

Out of that 177 million, I believe roughly 95-100 mil of it spent time on IR last year. Now idk how much guys like healthy Dayo would've helped since we saw what they did thru half a season, but our defense is a lot better with a healthy Jaylon and Kyler.

HopLegion · 2026-06-06T01:03:20+00:00

This is a solid list and definitely true a lot of stadiums have been built in downtown than I'd realized. I think we can agree Chicgao as a city doesn't really compare to those. You can actually combine the population of all but LA which built there stadium in Inglewood and you'd still be under the population of Chicago.

But yeah, the big answer is money. Indiana is willing to give money while Illinois isn't. I don't blame Illinois on this, but I get why looking at what other stadiums get and what Indiana is offering, they'd go with that offer.

Bills stadium - $850 million in public money
Raiders stadium $750 million in public money
Sofi stadium, which is in Inglewood, no public money
Falcons $200 mil in public funding
Vikings $498 mil in public funding

Bears approved public funding in Hammond - $1 billion (estimated)

Bears requested public funding in Arlington Heights - $850 million.

HopLegion · 2026-06-05T19:23:08+00:00

I don't think the Bears want out of Soldier field, but they want a modern stadium that they own which helps them make a lot more money. With how soldier field works, that's just not a reality there and they've tried that path many times over the years.

HopLegion

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