Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ goal of taking the NFC North and never giving it back seems impossible, just two weeks into the season. The Bears have lost two NFC North games already. It’s been 12 years since the NFC North champ stood alone with as many as two division losses.
The most concerning part about the first two games — and there’s plenty to be concerned about — is how far behind their North brethren the Bears’ roster looks. It’s not only about the quarterback — the Bears are getting trounced in all three phases.
The Bears’ 52-21 loss at the hand of the Lions marked the franchise’s third-worst margin of defeat against an NFC North opponent since the division was created in 2002. Just five-and-a-half days earlier, the Bears had allowed Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy to become the first player since 1986 to rally from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to win his regular season debut.
The Packers might have the best roster in the division, thanks to a trade for Micah Parsons. As the youngest team in the NFL, the Packers figure to only get better before they play the Bears for the first time Dec. 7.
The Bears preach patience, but the returns on some of Poles’ biggest investments are concerning. That soon could morph into existential dread, given that the Bears extended the GM’s contract to match that of Johnson — a five-year deal — just months ago.
Here’s where the roster has fallen behind:
Healthy scratches
In his four seasons, Poles has drafted 14 players in the first three rounds, where teams expect to land starters. None have made the Pro Bowl. Two — receiver Velus Jones and defensive tackle Zacch Pickens — have already been cut.
Sunday, three of those picks were healthy scratches, meaning coach Ben Johnson couldn’t justify keeping them on the game-day roster even as backups.
Tackle Ozzy Trapilo and defensive tackle Shemar Turner, both second-round picks this season, were in street clothes. So was Kiran Amegadjie, the Bears’ third-round pick from last season.
Turner missed most of training camp with an ankle injury but is healthy now. However, he’s been unable to crack the lineup of a defense that’s given up more points than anyone in football. Trapilo and Amegadjie are far more concerning. Johnson begged someone to step up and take the starting left tackle job during training camp, only to stick with Braxton Jones and discover Theo Benedet — an undrafted free agent out of Canada last year — as his swing tackle.
No pop yet
Despite having desperate needs at left tackle and running back this year, Poles drafted tight end Colston Loveland in the first round and wide receiver Luther Burden III with the first of his three second-round picks. It was how the board fell — the Saints took tackle Kelvin Banks in Round 1 and the Patriots drafted running back TreVeyon Henderson in Round 2, both one spot ahead of the Bears.
Loveland and Burden were supposed to fit Johnson’s system. So far, though, they’ve offered little production — Loveland has caught two passes on three targets for 12 yards, while Burden has caught two passes on five targets for only five yards, adding steady work as a kick returner.
For strategic reasons, Johnson said he didn’t feature his tight ends, be it Loveland or vet Cole Kmet, in the pass game often against the Vikings. He wanted to do so more against the Lions, but the only pass thrown Loveland’s way was an incompletion from backup Tyson Bagent.
Tight end is one of the most difficult positions for rookies to learn, given that it combines the route-running of a receiver with the blocking of an offensive lineman. That hasn’t stopped Colts rookie Tyler Warren, who was drafted four spots after Loveland, from leading all NFL tight ends with 155 receiving yards.
The Bears have stressed that Burden needs to master playbook details. He’s “slowly gaining the trust as we go,” Johnson said, after missing much of OTAs with an injury.
Big-money letdowns
Defensive end Montez Sweat doesn’t face a single blocker often. When he does, though, he has to win.
“The one area that he’s hearing from our coaches right now is when he does get these … we’d like to see him capitalize on those just a little bit more,” Johnson said.
The Bears need their big-money stars to play like it.
Sweat has the largest salary cap hit on the team this year. Since the start of last season, he has only 5½ sacks. The second-highest hit, receiver DJ Moore, averaged 80.2 receiving yards per game in his first year with the Bears, earned an extension, and has averaged 56.8 since.
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who’s cap hit is third, has six takeaways and one sack since joining the Bears in 2023. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who ranks sixth, said Tuesday his season had “pretty much ended” after hurting his groin against the Lions.
The QB
Quality quarterback play, of course, can wallpaper over almost any of the above concerns. Caleb Williams, the former No. 1 pick, hasn’t been the runaway success the Bears predicted he’d be a year ago. His pairing with Johnson hasn’t produced promising results over two games, either.
Receiver Rome Odunze, though, provides one reason for optimism. He’s one of four NFL receivers with a league-leading three touchdown passes this season, and ranks ninth in the league with 165 yards. The Bears spent all training camp treating him like their clear-cut No. 1 receiver, and he’s looking the part thus far.
Year 2 Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze 😳pic.twitter.com/nx4H3F8MV4
— PFF (@PFF) September 9, 2025
If Odunze turns into Poles’ first Pro Bowl player, it’ll be a good sign — not just for the general manager but for the quarterback on who’s right shoulder the franchise has staked its hopes.
Feeling a draft
A look at Ryan Poles’ picks in Rounds 1-3 since taking over as GM:
2025
Round 1/Pick 10 TE Colston Loveland — Has caught two passes for 12 yards.
2/39 WR Luther Burden — Has caught two passes for five yards.
2/56 OT Ozzy Trapilo — Played five special teams snaps in Week 1.
2/62 DL Shemar Turner — Has been a healthy scratch twice.
2024
1/1 QB Caleb Williams — Ranks 21st with a 89.1 passer rating.
1/9 WR Rome Odunze — Ranks ninth in the NFL in receiving yards.
3/75 OL Kiran Amegadjie — Has been a healthy scratch twice this year.
2023
1/10 OT Darnell Wright — Pro Football Focus ranks him 30th of 59 tackles in pass blocking.
2/53 DT Gervon Dexter — Has one of the Bears’ three sacks.
2/56 CB Tyrique Stevenson — Gave up a perfect passer rating against the Lions
3/64 DL Zacch Pickens — Was cut in August.
2022
2/39 CB Kyler Gordon — Has yet to play (hamstring).
2/48 S Jaquan Brisker — Missed 12 games last year (concussion) but has started both games.
3/71 WR Velus Jones — Was cut last year.
