Inside the Bears 2025 draft: How Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson built their 1st board together

Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson sat beside each other in front of the media at Halas Hall less than an hour after the 2025 NFL draft concluded.

After a brief opening statement, the first question arrived: “What did you guys learn about each other in your first draft doing this together?”

Poles turned to Johnson, a grin on his face.

“What did we learn?” Poles repeated.

The Chicago Bears general manager shared a brief moment of eye contact and a laugh with his first-year coach. There was probably more behind that laugh than either cared to share publicly. A lot of what happens behind closed doors in an NFL front office never escapes the building.

“He’s been a pleasure to work with,” Poles said. “I’m grateful for that and our relationship as we continue to build that through this journey. Yeah, it’s been smooth. It feels natural.”

The Bears drafted Michigan tight end Colston Loveland with the No. 10 pick, then selected Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III at No. 39 a day later. In all, the Bears added eight players to the roster.

Ever since Johnson and Poles first spent time together over a Zoom interview in January, they have envisioned what this pairing would look like.

One of the first things Johnson said in that interview was this: “I want to be here.”

What followed has been a three-month crash course in getting to know each other. They didn’t need long to determine they were a good fit. Johnson never even interviewed in person before taking the job.

“There was just a vibe to it that was awesome,” Poles said of their initial interview.

When Johnson was thinking about head coaching jobs, he wasn’t looking for full control over player personnel or to bring in a GM who would be seen as his guy.

“I just need somebody that I can trust,” Johnson said.

He believes he found that in Poles.

‘It paints a picture’

Bears general manager Ryan Poles, left, and assistant GM Ian Cunningham walk the field before a game against the Commanders. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

NFL teams spend a calendar year preparing for each draft. The Bears have 12 college scouts who crisscross the country during college football season.

Throwing a new coach into the mix in January can cause an abrupt shake-up in the types of players a team looks for. Johnson will have different preferences than predecessor Matt Eberflus. So will his assistant coaches.

“One of the best things we did was, when they first got here, we had (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) and the whole defensive coaching staff come into the draft room and they met with all of our staff and our personnel people and told us what they were looking for at each position,” assistant GM Ian Cunningham said.

They did the same thing with first-year offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. Johnson spent extensive time with the scouting department. Those sessions were invaluable.

“It paints a picture for us so we can go out and get the perfect player for us,” Cunningham said.

Johnson spent seven years as a Miami Dolphins assistant coach from 2012-18. During that time, the Dolphins made only one playoff appearance. He saw head coaches Joe Philbin and Adam Gase lose their jobs. After moving to Detroit in 2019, he watched the Lions fire coach Matt Patricia during the 2020 season.

“In the past, when I’ve seen it not work, there’s been dysfunction, there’s been an element of disconnect between the GM, the head coach, other executives,” Johnson said on the day he was introduced at Halas Hall.

In choosing the Bears as his preferred landing spot, Johnson was willing to believe he and Poles can see the game through the same lens.

That doesn’t happen overnight.

“It’s spending time and watching tape together to figure out what direction we need to go in,” Poles said. “We’re going to have different opinions, we’re going to see players differently, but it’s coming together, watching tape and figuring out what’s best for the organization.”

The GM has to know what will make life easier for the coach. Poles appreciates how Johnson sees the game.

“How can we put the opposing defense in a bind?” Poles framed it.

Poles felt that bind when his Bears defenses went up against Johnson’s Lions offenses. A good offense can beat a defense in multiple ways. Often that means making the defense pick its poison.

All of those conversations helped inform Poles and his front office. Johnson might be a new voice in the room, but he also entered into what he saw as a well-oiled machine.

“My first exposure in the draft room with his crew was before the combine (in February),” Johnson said. “To see the consistency with which the schedule comes and the structure, everything is working.

“There’s a flow. There’s a rhythm to all the madness behind what we do and how we do it. And Ryan really is all the brains behind that.”

‘A more potent offense’

Two days before the draft, a reporter asked Cunningham specifically about the running back position.

“The value is if he’s a playmaker and a really good player, you take the really good player,” Cunningham said. “That’s the beauty of our process. Our philosophy is best player available. Yeah, we weigh premium position versus nonpremium position, but at the end of the day, it’s a playmaker. If we see him in that role, I think you can go take a playmaker that’s not a premium position.”

Media and fans alike thought running back was an area of need. In the hours before the draft, there were rumblings that the Bears were looking into the possibility of moving up from No. 10. At least one national report suggested they could be targeting Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. Several sportsbooks made the Bears the betting favorite to land him.

But when the draft started, pick after pick went by and the Bears stayed put. The Las Vegas Raiders took Jeanty at No. 6. Additionally, three offensive tackles went in the top nine: LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou and Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr.

Poles later confirmed he made some calls, although he didn’t mention any players by name. Moving up likely would’ve cost the Bears one of their two second-round picks and probably more. The asking price was too costly for Poles’ taste.

After the draft, Poles was happy with how the Bears let their board — and all the predraft work with Johnson — “speak to us.” When they were on the clock at No. 10, the board told them to go with Loveland.

“He stayed as disciplined as I’ve ever seen in terms of staying true to how we set it up,” Johnson said.

Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III runs the ball against Oklahoma on Nov. 9, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. (L.G. Patterson/AP)

That adherence to the board led to “some really cool situations,” Poles said, such as landing Burden, who had been seen as a potential first-round pick. The Bears took Burden after two running backs went off the board ahead of them in the second round: Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins at No. 36 and Buckeyes teammate TreVeyon Henderson at No. 38.

Poles called Burden the “clear” best player remaining on their board.

“Sometimes you want to pick for need, but we didn’t necessarily do that,” Johnson said. “I feel really good about the direction we went and every decision we made along the way.”

The three-month crash course led them to Loveland and Burden — an athletic pass-catching tight end and arguably the draft’s best yards-after-catch receiver.

“Ben and I spent a lot of time watching these players,” Poles said of Loveland and Burden. “Our scouts did a great job identifying them, and then we talked about how they fit and what we’re trying to do if the opportunity popped up to select them.

“And when you talk about run after the catch, when you talk about separation, when you talk about creating explosives, all of those things are really positive for us to be a more potent offense.”

It’s easy to envision them in a Johnson offense. Now all he has to do is make it work.