Ryan Poles is on a first-round hot steak

CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 19: Colston Loveland #84 of the Chicago Bears and Darnell Wright #58 of the Chicago Bears look on during the second half against the New Orleans Saints on October 19, 2025 at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Too often for the Chicago Bears , over the past 30 years, their first-round draft picks haven’t hit at a high rate. I’ll even list some to hear the groans come back across the internet.

David Terrell, Kevin White, Cedric Benson, Shea McClellin, Gabe Carimi and Chris Williams, to name a few. And we won’t even go into the quarterbacks, because I think we all remember the four first-round QBs prior to Caleb Williams. The first round and the Bears haven’t meshed very well.

And that results in a lot of mediocrity on the field, too. Ryan Poles is entering his fifth draft as the Bears’ GM. While his tenure has had plenty of head-scratching and disappointing moments, I do think he deserves a little more credit for his drafting.

He’s had the best three-year run of first-round selections since the 1980s. It’s easily the four best consecutive Bears first-round picks since 1980-1984 (Otis Wilson, Keith Van Horne, Jim McMahon and Jimbo Covert) and the best three-draft run since ‘82-’84 (McMahon, Covert and Wilbur Marshall). The detractors will be quick to point out that there are no Pro-Bowlers or First Team All-Pros among the Poles’ most recent selections.