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Sanborn’s contract with the Cowboys was only 1 year $1.5 million, so the Bears could have easily beat it if they wanted to. That suggests to me they don’t really see a third LB getting a lot of snaps or being an high priority and/or they think he is easily replacable with someone on the roster (Noah Sewell, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Swayze Boseman) or a late round pick.

Yes he said that. He also has Brisker and Byard that do that well. Edwards had 4 sacks last year.

With such a deep draft in RBs, I don't see a first round RB pick. They can get a 2 nd or 3rd round pick that could contribute in a rotational capacity right away. Johnson doesn't run a load back system. 2 yrs ago they had a chance to draft Robinson but moved back and took Gibbs in Detroit. His philosophy is to never let the defense know what he's doing. That's why Monty and Gibbs both got a lot of carries in Detroit. If you have a load back that simplifies the offense for a DC.

Most teams are in nickel 60% of the time. I doubt we'll be different. Kyler Gordon is your blitz specialist and he's pretty good at it. Dennis Allen seems to agree based on his comments this offseason.

It's hard to predict trades but they absolutely will consider that. If we could could get an extra 2nd and 4 th, that would be great.

More to do with where he lives. Kenneth Grant for example lives within 50mi of Chicago so if we meet with him he won't count against our 30.

I'd be far happier drafting RB Hampton at 10 vs. Warren. We need a good running game to get this offense out of the blocks especially early in the season.

ND is considered a local school.

Is he local within 50mi of Chicago? If so this visit doesn't count against the 30 limit. They can use these visits to help figure out how they'll fill out the 90 man roster for the opening of camp.

I think Conerly or Simmons are high probability picks in RD 2 and I could even see them moving up. Right now I would want nothing more than a qb to be there at 10 that drives a team wanting to trade up - or some other position - but it takes 2 to tango. I think no obvious blue chipper will be there at 10 - so I’d rather move down and than get a 2 for 1 approach. Address OT, RB, DL, TE and Wideout with 4 being in first two rounds depending on what you can swing in trade down.

Im going to say if Jeanty and Campbell are gone - it will be a TE or Db. Im going to guess they take Will Johnson at 10. This assumes Jeanty, Graham and Campbell are gone. I think they like Simmons most if they go LT and it isn’t Campbell. That is my hoping they go high end DB prospect (Johnson and Johnson sounds like a great duo) vs the TE spect albeit it seems like a lot of momentum headed toward the PSU TE. If it were a year ago and it was Brockers id say yes - but I don’t think Warren is Brockers.

We visited with ND WR Beaux Collins today. 4.52 speed at 6.4. Not a speed guy. Seems to be a lot of late round, UDFA types we are taking visits with.

Something that will affect the draft that people don't talk about is what players on the team that they view valuable that we think they need to draft a backup? The Braxton/ Kiran debate is an example. If they think they have the position covered, it will eliminate a early OL pick at 10 . If they think it's a problem, it could be at 10. Personally I think we take an OL in the second round that they don't think needs to start his first year. Conerly could fill that spot at 41.

I agree with you but media analyst wannabes put too much emphasis on it. Poles clearly has his target metrics for each position. He stated he reviewed that with the new coaching staff to make sure he was targeting players that fit the system and the way they want to use them. Very specifically if you will use less Cover 2 then having a 6'4" fast "high RAS" MLB who can cover the deep middle is less of a need.

Anything goes in the draft. I didn't realize until a few days ago that we added 8 players from last year's draft were visits. Just saying odds are some of our draft picks will be on that list. Poles keeps information tight, he's not even letting visit information out .

It is interest for sure, even if the scenario I described is what's happening. There have been years where the Bears drafted a player they didn't visit with, even as they visited other big names at the same position. We agree that they meet with players to gain information on them as possible picks. Thats for sure. They dont just waste the visits on nothing, we are agreed. But it doesnt follow that the pick is more likely to come from the list of visits? They may have their eye on a big name player they hope to get in the first round, and if things fall another way, the player is gone, or some amazing talent drops that cant be overlooked, then they want to know their options in later rounds, and these visits help that a lot. Also, they can be looking at depth pieces. So yes, a 30 visit absolutely shows interest, but not visiting with someone doesnt imply no interest, and if they are taken at pick 10, then the same position is much less likely to go in the 2nd round, rendering the visit moot. So the value of the visit is to scout guys you might take, but not necessarily will take. And of course, in a few years when they become free agents, if they were guys you liked for a reason, they might still be on your list and the extra info from the visit comes into play again too.

They only get 30 visits so I think it just shows interest in a player. They also met players at pro days, all star games also. Here's a podcast with Greg Gabriel that explains the process at this time of year. https://www.youtube.com/live/xa0I_fmIS_0?si=w8WmEBxHjsutmsUr

It's just another tool to look at for analyzing a player. Production, improving every year, football IQ, work ethic, love of football, character all come into play. I remember we drafted a DE from Penn State in the first round that was a monster but wasn't in love with football. He failed because of a lack of focus. He told you in the interview but they still took him. It was just a well paid job for him. It matters.

This is a really good question for going forward. Obviously a lot of players with high RAS scores do end up as high picks, even from teams that dont care about RAS scores but do care about productivity, since there is overlap there. But guys like Velus Jones in the 3rd round is a pure RAS or speed move. It will be interesting to see how the new staff, and prior experience, affect whether Poles stays as connected to RAS scores as he has. Great post.

RAS is a very simple metric. I’m pretty sure every fan base and coaching staff want big, fast, and strong players. Just use it to see if it matches what you see on film. last night I watched Steve Smith breakdown Matthew Golden, his #1 WR in this draft. He ran a 4.29 forty. Yet they showed several clips where he gets run down from behind. He’s not slow either but if it’s a foot race to the endzone I’m taking Velus over him.

I'm also very interested in the correlation between RAS score and Bears draft picks this year. Poles has shown a pretty significant trend toward high RAS players in the past. His first draft in 2022, the only player he drafted with an RAS below 8.44 were Velus Jones and Ja'Tyre Carter (two players who I think we can agree have not really worked out in the NFL). In his 2023 draft, he took ten total players and yet still the lowest RAS was Travis Bell's 8.25, which is still considered quite high (anything over 8.00 is considered "great" or something like that) and his first four picks/picks in the first three rounds were all at or nearly 9.00 (Darnell Wright = 9.68; Gervon Dexter = 9.52; Tyrique Stevenson = 8.93; Zacch Pickens = 9.22). Last year Caleb, Kiran, and Tory Taylor didn't qualify for RAS for various reasons (Caleb just didn't do all the tests, Kiran was coming off an injury, and no one cares about testing for punters), but Odunze scored 9.92 and Booker scored 7.02 but was also a 5th round pick. I say all of this because I was trying to talk myself into various players at #10 and got to Kenneth Grant, but I wonder how his RAS score (7.18 or so) would affect him in the Bears eyes. On one hand, he's a big run-stuffing DT, so maybe RAS doesn't mean that much, on the other Vita Vea scored around a 9.50 and Jordan Davis had a 10.00, so maybe it takes that stuff into account. Will Poles still appear to favor RAS scores or will he be more willing to go out of his comfort zone, now that he's seen some of these high RAS players (Velus Jones, above, and Dominique Robinson's 9.74 comes to mind) never quite measure up on the football field? We shall see. Providing the RAS link below for this year's draftees if anyone else is interested. https://ras.football/2025-nfl-draft-class/

Yeah i think all the Warren talk is to shine him up so we have possible trade down options.

I have trouble believing Warren is a blue chip player. Seems more like top 20-25 type. He has no special traits likeBowers last year but he’s a really good player. I’m not sure Jeanty is blue chip either but he's closer to it than Warren. I won’t be surprised at all if Hampton is the first RB taken in this draft.

same here if they pick Campbell with Banks still on the board. This is precisely what has led me to believe we are taking Banks or an OT - that position drops off faster than HB or DT in this draft to my eye. Taken alone, there could be lots of good options at pick 10. DE, DT, HB, TE, WR - all have players that could help us, and look good. But there is a barren wasteland at OT if youre not SURE Ersery will drop to pick 39. That's a huge part of why Ive been on the OT at 10 train. Its not that OT Banks can help us so much more than HB Jeanty, but that HB Kaleb Johnson for example or HB TreVeyon Henderson can help us more than OT Charles Grant?

Or it means they know they want an OL, and they wanna know scenarios in case their guy is gone in the first, trade down offers occur etc. And they could be looking at depth pieces too. Its hard to tell what they are actually up to this year more than most i think.