Really good synopsis, thanks. Agree with all of it. I’m going to be interested to see how Josh Kreutz fares during the mini-camp. He’s almost the same size as Jones and was a two time captain for Illinois, he was also a top 10 rated OL in 2024. It will be interesting to see the two of them and Luke Newman this spring. If Josh can put on a few pounds, having 3 successful Big 10 (original Big 10, not the interlopers from each coast) offensive linemen on your squad can only be a good thing.

I would love to see Hoge on After Dark. The juxtaposition between his view and that of Shane and Phil would be fascinating to watch.

I do think Shane and Phil are a little hard to listen to because they say the same slightly depressing stuff over and over again but to clash the views together could be fun. Braggs as the arbitrator.

I can’t help but see the parallel between how Ryan Poles is building the Bears roster with how Kansas City built their roster. Other than one big season from Dee Ford and some middling seasons from George Karlaftis, the Chiefs have not had a standout edge rusher the entire time Mahomes has been there. Of course they’ve had Chris Jones at DT, but they’ve been a pretty strong defensive unit without an elite pass rusher.

The Chiefs have also been up and down at left tackle. They had Orlando Brown Jr., who made back to back Pro Bowls, only to ship him to Cincinnati and still win a Super Bowl with average LT play from the likes of Jawann Taylor.

I don’t think it’s the end of the world that the Bears have some reliable yet unspectacular options at those two positions, but it’s better than overpaying in draft capital and salary cap for slightly better options in the short term.

1. The Bears have a 5 yards per carry problem. That’s what the D gave up last year. Did Poles dislike Woods? I’m still confused by the Bears decision not to address their terrible DL when a solid late 1st or 2nd rounder would have been an upgrade, and saved cap space.

2. Hoge, do you not believe in positional value? I’ve not heard you speak on it, and is the strongest argument not to go S in round 1.

3. Hoge, you have stated EMW must have dropped for a reason and so the Bears were smart to avoid drafting him. You also praise the Bears for takimg Muhammad later than people expected. Which is it?

Good article. I keep thinking about the kitchen metaphor. Poles gets a list of quality ingredients Chef Ben wants from the store. It’s Coach’s job to cook. When Ben Johnson said one of the biggest differences from last year to 2026 would be they intend to (all) coach better, I really took that to heart. CHGO continues to highlight how Ben Johnson is very transparent with his own deficiencies at times (think about a few post games where he stated “he needed to speed up and get the play in faster”).

We’re still at the beginning of the 13 personnel wave taking over the NFL. I like the Roush pick a lot. Al Harris is due a DC job somewhere in the league. This will be one of his best seasons coaching a high-level group of DBs. Dillon T was the right pick at 25. Made too much sense not to take him.