Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
How much do you trust the Bears’ draft process when it comes to defense?
23 Mar 2026
Chapter 1: What is the Bears' draft philosophy for building a strong defense?
Philosophically, I feel the same. It's going to be the best player available. I know that may not be the most popular thing because people see kind of like on my board have yellow tags where we need to fill in. But at the same time, I do believe, especially in early rounds like one, you really got to stick the best player available. We saw that last year.
I know there's a lot of questions like, yeah, Cole, why would you take Colston? I think we found out that it helped us along the way. So we'll continue to lean in that philosophy.
Welcome back into Rahimi Harris and Grody Ryan Poles, the general manager of the Chicago Bears at the Combine. He got it right last year. He did. Best player available. I don't blame him for pointing to his 2025 resume and say, see, we did it. We took the best player available, and he's right. It was a little bit of a surprise that they went with Colston Loveland.
Chapter 2: How important is the upcoming draft for the Bears' defensive line?
Really, the big surprise was that they didn't go with Tyler Warren in that spot, but I think that we can all agree that we're pretty happy with that. Luther Bird in the second rounder, which probably took some people off guard as well, and then Ozzie Trapillo as well, one of those second rounders. So, yes, It's a pillow. That's right, Chris. I do appreciate it.
This segment on Rahimi Harrison-Grody is being brought to you by AlmostFreeTeeth.com. Save on dental implants today. Marshall, I think that we probably both agree that this is, in the Ryan Poles era, one of the more important drafts when it comes to the defensive side of the ball.
Because for whatever reason, they haven't done a whole lot when it comes to beefing up specifically the defensive line and all parts of it, whether the interior, the defensive end, there has not been a splash made.
And unless you are one of those that thinks that, die-oh-dang-bo, that we ain't seen nothing yet, watch the film, let's see what he can do, coming off of a torn ACL, let's see what he can do. If Shamar Turner, a second-rounder, if he is the truth with the energy that that guy has...
But you would agree that this is probably like he's got to hit on something on that defensive line this year in this draft where the Bears do have a couple of second rounders.
Nobody hits all the time, but I will just want to really stress this. They hit last year offensively on the draft.
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Chapter 3: What are the expectations for Shamar Turner in the upcoming season?
And if they get something like that for defense this year, all's good in the world of Ryan Poles. The problem is I don't see the evidence that that's what's going to happen based on what we've seen through his picks. You talked about the interior, the defensive line, whether that's D-tackle, whether that's edge rush. It just has not happened through the draft.
Now, Austin Booker is someone to keep an eye on. I will say that in fairness. He's someone to keep an eye on. He may take another leap in year three, and that's what they're expecting because they have to draft and develop. But...
If you just lay out the needs of the Bears right now, after that first wave of free agency, and understanding what they need, both in the secondary, at safety, and up front, specifically, and maybe even at linebacker, depending on what they decide to do, who falls to what where, and understanding they have three picks in the first two rounds, I would imagine two, at least, of those picks would be defensive players.
And so they need to hit. And I'm just really concerned that... offensively, Ben Johnson has been the North Star. Defensively, who is the North Star for the Bears within that organization with these specific needs that they have?
Well, I guess Dennis Allen, if we're going to do the coaching analogy that Ben Johnson is the offense, as Dennis Allen is to the defense, if he has...
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Chapter 4: How has Ryan Poles performed in drafting defensive players so far?
that much say in what they're doing. Let me just go through here. You mentioned the drafting for Ryan Poles through the years on defense. Last year, I already mentioned Shamar Turner. Jury's still out. I'm not going to sit here and predict that he's going to have 10 sacks and be a revelation, but he is a second-round talent.
I think that's fair, and clearly that's someone that – Dennis Allen okayed because of his versatility because we've already seen him play on the inside and the outside on the defensive line.
Right. So, actually, I'm looking very forward to seeing what Shamar Turner is. If he stays healthy and he's full boat and he's in the full rotation, that's a guy that I can't wait to see what the ceiling actually is. I'm just going through the defensive players that he's drafted. Reuben Hippolyte as a fourth-rounder. The jury's still way up. He's fast.
Chapter 5: Which defensive players drafted last year are expected to make an impact?
He's really fast. That's about it. He's been unimpressive. Yeah.
I mean, when I say unimpressive, he was a fourth rounder that at the time of the draft, everybody was saying, oh, they overdrafted him. There's been nothing to let us know that that's not the case so far. Now, it was one year. It was limited duty. But when he got it, remember all the people that were hurt? linebacker-wise, he never was able to step up and make an impact in that position.
Right, you're right. And that's a great point because you had Amen Ogbong-Bemiga who stepped up to Marco Jackson, got himself a new deal with the Bears, you know, probably earned a, maybe earned a starting spot this year.
Jack Sanborn's back, right? Jack Sanborn is back! So when you add all that up, and I get it, he was only a rookie, and he was a fourth rounder, not a second or third rounder, but I would have expected more of an impact, and I'm very curious to see where the develop part of draft and develop comes up.
Chapter 6: What are the Bears' current needs on the defensive side of the ball?
The other defensive player that they drafted last year was Zay Fraser, the cornerback, the very tall, physical cornerback who obviously had dealt with some personal issues last year. He was there. He was in the locker room. I saw him all the time. But let's see if he can make an impact. So none of that, nothing hits last year as far as the defense is concerned. 2024, you already mentioned it.
Austin Booker was a fifth-round pick for the Bears in that draft. He's your only hope from 2024. 2023, you had, all right, man, jury is out on Jervon Dexter. Two guys, Jervon Dexter and Tyreek Stevenson, were both second-round picks of the Bears in the year 2023.
What I'll tell you is the jury has been sequestered, and now they are being forced to make a decision, and they're not going to get to go home to their families until the decision is made. That's what 2026 is for Jervon Dexter. You would agree with that assessment?
I would agree with that assessment, man.
Chapter 7: How does the Bears' coaching staff evaluate draft prospects?
This is not a bad player. Jervon Dexter, by any means, he did, was he second in the Bears and Saks last year? He's not a bad player. That's not a big number. I know. He has not made the impact he was expected to do, considering he was a second-round pick in the size that this man has, which maybe has hurt him, too, with the leverage. But there's Jervon Dexter. Tyreek Stevenson, same deal.
Wow, has he had an up-and-down career.
Tyreek. He was my pick to be their comeback player of the year after what went wrong in 2024. It didn't happen in 2025, but he still has time to show something, anything. Now, the guy that was drafted directly behind him... We know how that turned out, right?
You're talking about Zach Pickens?
Chapter 8: What are the potential outcomes for the Bears' defense in the next season?
Yes. Yeah, yeah, Zach Pickens. Yes, Layla's favorite. Yeah, Zach Pickens didn't quite work out. I remember watching, because I was obviously glued to Jervon Dexter and Zach Pickens. It's pretty exciting when multiple defensive linemen are taken, right? And so I was glued to those guys. Zach Pickens, for a while, looked like the better product overall. out of the two of those guys.
And then Zach Pickens just went downhill. I don't know where are they now. Is he even in football anymore? He's got to be. Probably still is. So that was the year 2023. Dexter, Tyreek Stevenson, Zach Pickens. So they went heavy, heavy on the defensive line that year in terms of the cost and the breadth of those picks. So, again, this is – All GMs are allowed to improve.
And then his first year, Poles' first year, he certainly hit on the defense, at least in the secondary. Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker were very good draft picks, second rounders. The only defensive lineman they took that year was Dominique Robinson, who was a fifth rounder who was no longer with the Bears, who got every opportunity.
Terrific athlete, good locker room guy, but that did not work out.
See if things go better for him on a Houston Texans defense that's known to be stout, so maybe he fits in better with a bunch of guys who really are good at what they do already.
Yeah, no doubt. And so you can conclude from this that Ryan Poles has struggled with, in terms of the draft. The defensive line, and one could argue as well that he has struggled in the guys that he has signed. I don't have that list in front of me, but we could play that game at some point in time as well.
Let's better educate ourselves on the overall philosophy of the Bears when it comes to the draft. not just the offense, but the defense as well, and the man to do it. The reason I need to point that out is because it is an offensive voice that we are going to hear from right here.
Dan Rochard is the Bears' offensive line coach, and he's going to provide insight on the overall process for the Bears. Rochard with Foster Swift Sports Talk, discussed on their NFL draft process last year.
In our short meeting, it's all about football. And the one thing that we want to get out of it is, what's the knowledge of the player coming in? Does he really have a good foundation to learn? And every university is a little bit different. Our college setting is a little bit different in the sense that some guys are coached at a really high level, some guys maybe not as high level.
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