League Insider Reveals Ryan Poles’ Likely D-Line Plan — And Why It’s Smart
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles is in the process of crafting a plan of attack for the upcoming 2026 NFL draft. The scouting combine arrives at the end of February, marking the last major event to gather top prospects before pro days begin in March. From there, he, head coach Ben Johnson, the scouting department, and the coaching staff will collaborate on forming a draft board, intent on pinpointing players they like. Simulations will be run to determine who has the best chance of falling and which positions they might want to focus on.
This is where things get interesting. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune revealed that the Bears aren’t unaware of their defensive line’s shortcomings. They know it needs work. To that end, Poles might be planning a rare strategy to address it.
The Bears are deep into the evaluation stage when it comes to free agency, the draft and exploring what might be available via other avenues, including trades. What will it look like when the new league year opens March 11? I expect the Bears to look for some combination of veterans and draft picks to fortify the defensive line and give coordinator Dennis Allen more talent, competition and depth in the trenches. I imagine you could see one veteran acquired, and in a good draft for defensive linemen, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Bears used two of their top four picks to supplement that room.
Using two picks in the top four rounds on the same position group doesn’t happen often in the NFL. That is because teams have many other needs to address and only so many picks. The Bears have done it four times in the past 25 years.
| Year | Postion | Names |
| 2023 | DT | Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens |
| 2014 | DT | Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton |
| 2006 | DB | Danieal Manning and Devin Hester |
| 2004 | DT | Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson |
Ryan Poles’ reason for double-dipping is a sound one.
Part of it is creating competition, but the more calculating angle is this. It improves the odds of a team landing at least one good player at that position. The evidence shows in three of the four cases listed above. Dexter has become a solid player for the Bears. Manning was a dependable safety during his time in Chicago, while Hester became a Hall of Fame return man. Harris was a Pro Bowl interior pass rusher, while Johnson was a quality nose tackle before off-the-field issues ruined his career.
It is easy to misfire on a position once in a draft. Misfiring twice is much tougher. Ryan Poles will have talent depth on his side. Many experts believe this class is loaded along the entire defensive front. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network listed eight edge rushers and five defensive tackles in his top 50 prospects alone. That tells us the Bears have favorable odds of landing at least one of them in the first two rounds. Those odds go up if they decide to strike in the 1st and 2nd rounds consecutively. Everything depends on how the board falls on opening night.
Free agency will likely determine where this goes.
The Bears will have nowhere near enough money to go after multiple options on the veteran market. A far more likely scenario is that Poles will pool his available cash and pursue one prominent name at a key position. Depending on who they land, the Bears GM will then focus on the position he couldn’t address. For example, if he lands a quality defensive tackle like John Franklin-Myers in March, expect him to focus on adding multiple edge rushers in the draft. By contrast, if he lands Trey Hendrickson in free agency, expect two defensive tackles in the draft.
There will be other minor additions on a cheap contract. Either depth guys or low-risk-high-reward names who might do well with a change of scenery. The Bears have already seen it happen with Nahshon Wright. They’ll try again next month. Depending on how they do, it should narrow Poles’ focus come April 23rd.