What Chicago Bears’ Ryan Poles, Ben Johnson said about the 2025 NFL Draft

LAKE FOREST – The first draft for new Bears head coach Ben Johnson is in the books. Bears general manager Ryan Poles made a few trades, added more offensive weapons and addressed both the offensive and defensive lines over eight picks.

The Bears started the weekend by selecting tight end Colston Loveland on Thursday, then added wide receiver Luther Burden III, offensive tackle Ozzy Trapoli and defensive tackle Shemar Turner on Friday. On Saturday, they picked linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II, cornerback Zah Frazier, offensive lineman Luke Newman and running back Kyle Monangai.

Here are some of the most interesting things Poles and Johnson said about this year’s draft this weekend.

On Johnson’s influence

It quickly became clear how much of an influence Johnson would have in the Bears’ draft decisions Thursday night.

The Bears added a big, versatile weapon in Loveland at No. 10 in Johnson’s first pick as head coach. They then used their next two picks to address the offense, bringing in another target for quarterback Caleb Williams in Burden, who Johnson called a “stud.”

Both Poles and Johnson praised working together in their first draft. They created a plan of how they wanted to run the draft and felt like they executed it well.

“They fit really well in Ben’s offense,” Poles said Friday night. “These guys fit well in every offense. They’re dynamic players. Going through it, Ben and I spent a lot of time watching these players. Our scouts did a great job of identifying them. Then, we talked about how they fit in with what we’re trying to do, if the opportunity popped up for us to select them.”

But it wasn’t just limited to identifying talent. The Bears also looked for the right character.

Johnson, coaches and players have talked about a culture change at Halas Hall for much of the offseason. It’s become clear that the Bears want to approach everything they do diligently in order to set the right culture to win.

When Johnson broke down what he liked about Loveland, he praised what Loveland could do on the field and his physical traits. But he also praised Loveland’s character, how he carried himself with other people and learned to win at Michigan.

“As we talk about where we’re going as an organization, and we’re going to be playing in these big games with the bright lights, we need guys who are going to rise up to the occasion,” Johnson said. “He’s going to do that for us.”

On sticking to the draft board

The Bears didn’t enter the draft by honing in on a few positions that they wanted to address. In their minds, they had a simple plan: stick to the board.

“We put a lot of time into it and we want it to speak to us,” Poles said. “Not forcing anything for need but really just taking the best guys, and we just keep adding that to the roster to increase competition and make our football team better.”

That didn’t mean that it was easy. There were likely some opportunities to move up throughout the draft in order to get a player that they might have rated highly. But the Bears stuck to the board, trading down three times instead.

Poles first traded pick No. 41 on Friday along with the Bears’ third-round pick and a seventh to the Bills in exchange for two second-round picks and a fourth. The Bears then traded back that fourth-round pick to the Bills on Saturday for a fourth and fifth round pick.

He also traded his first pick in the fifth round at 148 to the Rams for a sixth round pick and 2026 fourth-round pick. The Bears had its original two second-round picks because of the 2023 trade Poles made with the Panthers in exchange for that year’s No. 1 overall pick.

Poles felt comfortable by sticking to the plan.

“We were going to just continue to bring really good football players in here,” Poles said. “When you look at the roster, you feel good about really all 20, 22 guys, starting and playing in a pro football game. When you’re taking these guys, you know that it’s going to increase the level of competition. You know that you’re adding depth, you know that you’re just throwing more talent, and everything usually settles out the way it’s supposed to when you continue to do that. That’s what I think really good rosters do.”

On adding offensive weapons

The Bears sticking to their board and taking the best available player led them to taking two offensive weapons for Johnson with their first two picks. It also gave Williams more targets to choose from in his second season.

Selecting Burden in the second round added more depth to a talent receivers room that includes DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. The Bears also expect Loveland and tight end Cole Kmet to create mismatches when they’re on the field at the same time in 12 personnel.

Johnson said the Bears started the offseason with no depth chart so that every player has something to prove. Some of this weekend’s moves did just that.

“We might’ve just turned up the notch just a couple of dials for certain people in the building,” Johnson said. “That’s a good thing, that’s a healthy thing, that’s where you bring out the best not in your team but the individual.”

Poles wasn’t too concerned about whether it would be too hard to get the ball to different players. He watched how the Chiefs managed to spread the ball while winning and felt the Bears could do the same.

“We have to win football games, and I know that the more talent you have on the team the better your opportunity is to win games,” Poles said. “We haven’t won a lot of games here, so yeah, things might be a little bit different. You may not be the only person.”

On the offensive line

The Bears added two offensive linemen this weekend. Trapoli could have a good chance to compete for the starting left tackle spot while Newman could develop into a nice depth piece on the interior of the line.

Johnson said Saturday that the coaching staff will come back from the weekend and come up with a plan on how they want to approach the line this offseason. Left tackle starter Braxton Jones likely won’t be healthy from an ankle injury until the start of training camp.

That absence could give some time to Trapoli, Newman and last year’s third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie.

“We feel like we’re going to have some good opportunities for a number of guys to get better here this spring,” Johnson said.