Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Was Joe Thuney the Bears' most important acquisition of 2025?
30 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the significance of Joe Thuney's acquisition for the Bears?
rahimi harrison grody middays 10 a.m to 2 on chicago sports radio 670 the score i don't think the process changes you're gonna identify the guys that fit what we want in our in our football team which coach hit and and you just keep trying to acquire those players um we know what they look like we know how to act they know how to talk and um
continue to do that i think that's that's part of the thing is one can you self-evaluate and be critical of yourself and your team to make sure that you know what you have in the building and then can you just keep pounding away and stick into your process you make tweaks of course but stick to the process of bringing in the right types of people that is the bears general manager
Ryan Poles right there talking about the hope for Ryan Poles and his front office, and obviously it would trickle down to the fans, is building a Super Bowl roster. That's what the Bears are, we can say, for real in the business of doing if we are all on the same page that what the Bears did this past year is legitimate. and that they can keep it going.
We welcome you back in to the Rahimi Harris and Grody show here on Chicago Sports Radio 670, The Score. And if it at all sounds just a little bit different today, it's because we are in our performance studio today at The Score, the Odyssey Performance Studio, where we usually have bands, and sometimes we do score shows here when we do big events.
But that is because they are redoing the studio from which we usually work today, to get the FM signal in there, which will occur on Monday. We'll talk more about that later as well. But you brought up something interesting, Marshall Harris, in Backstage. Backstage! Backstage! And that is about Ryan Poles and...
The most important move that he made in the offseason heading into what we just saw this past season, 11-6, and a playoff win over the Packers, loss to the Rams, and now hopefully on to the next.
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Chapter 2: How does Ryan Poles evaluate and build the Bears' roster?
But who is the most important either acquisition, signing, or draft pick? Ryan Poles putting the roster together. Who is that person for you, Marshall Harris?
I want to be very clear about this. The way you build a football team is so important, and we know you start from the inside going out if you're doing it the correct way. Ryan Pohl's first attempt at that didn't seem to be of that mold. But I want to say, as much grief as I give Ryan Pohl's for the mistakes that he's made along the way, I will give credit where credit is due.
What I'm about to tell you is not just the move that Ryan Poles had last offseason being the best of last offseason. I will say it is the second biggest acquisition he has made in his tenure as GM of the Bears. And that acquisition was trading a fourth round pick in this year's upcoming draft for For Joe Tooney, who is now All-Pro yet again. He's been in the league for nine years.
And in every season he's been in the league, he's won a division title. He is a winner through and through. He is likely a future Hall of Famer.
Chapter 3: What role does Joe Tooney play in the Bears' success?
And for him to have... Just the understanding that this is something that had to be done is where I would give Ryan Poles all the credit. Joe Tooney is that important to the Bears' current success and future success.
I think you make the argument that it was difficult with offensive linemen because it's proportionate and it's relative that he was the best player on their team this year.
Oh, no. Remember when we did Team MVP?
I said he's the Team MVP. I mean, that's not a bad pick. I mean, you're getting into the trenches when we talk about offensive line. But yeah, I don't have a huge argument against that. I mean, we could point to another guy on that offensive line. though, too, who wasn't as good at his position as Joe Tooney was at his. But order, ladies and gentlemen, order was restored at the center position.
Finally, we don't have to think about Lucas Patrick anymore. We don't have to think about, is Ryan Bates going to be
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Chapter 4: What are the challenges faced by the Bears' offensive line?
the center for this team? Is it going to be Coleman Shelton? And shout out to Coleman Shelton. He's having a fine career, I think, relative to what maybe the expectations were for him. Is it Sam Mustapher? You know, it's not Sam's fault that he got forced into being the Bears center for a while. And what a great soldier that guy was in the Bears locker room.
But my goodness, I've been waiting my whole Bears covering career for to see the Bears restore order at the center position. So I might even like that a little bit more just because of going through the shuffles and the failures at that position. So he's certainly restored some order there. And we shouldn't – I mean, while we're there – Throw Jonah Jackson into the mix at right guard.
Pretty good at that position. And they were so indicative of this Bears team, too, because just like almost everybody and the team in general, they got better as the season went along.
Chapter 5: How did the Bears' offensive line improve throughout the season?
There were some agonizing moments, I thought, early on with that interior. Well, they were still trying to get it together, like trying to get one yard on back-to-back plays early in the season. And literally, that was where, OK, I'm in the locker room. Now I got to do it. Now you've done it, Bears. Now I've got to go talk to the offensive line about why they couldn't get one yard.
And I remember talking to Drew Dallman, and he literally said to me, we have it somewhere. He said, yeah. I mean, he admitted that they're a work in progress, and there's some things that they're still trying to get right in terms of chemistry. He put it much better than I'm putting it right now. But you know what I mean. This team required patience early, and if you had it,
You were rewarded towards the end, and the offensive line is indicative of that, as is Joe Tooney, your guy.
Yeah, Tooney is the answer to this question, even though you bring up some nice suggestions, some nice honorable mentions.
Yeah, they're texture players now.
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Chapter 6: What impact does Joe Tooney have on the team's performance?
Tooney is the answer to this question because this man went 1,149 snaps, played all 17 games, did not give up a sack. In a year in which we saw Caleb's sack total go from 68 in his rookie season to 24 in his second season. Understand he is at the root of that.
Also, the last time I checked, the last two times Joe Tooney, who's already a four-time Super Bowl champion, the last two times he played in a playoff game to end seasons, he was playing out of position at left tackle. Did that for the Kansas City Chiefs. Did that for the Bears. He does whatever is needed of him in any given moment. He is that dude.
And he's also one of the six finalists for NFL Protector of the Year. And I believe he should win that award, NFL Protector of the Year.
We are lucky to have that guy here. sort of understand it's great when there's a good offensive lineman, or in his case, a great offensive lineman, because you get to see what it's like. You get to see the difference in a great offensive lineman as opposed to one who needs a little help sometimes. And you can look at that as your left tackle.
And that's another guy, too, even though it's very complicated right now, that started to look like a good signing, and that was the second-round pick, Ozzie Trapillo.
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Chapter 7: Who are other notable acquisitions by Ryan Poles?
who a lot of us left for dead in the OTAs in the left tackle competition. They told us he couldn't play left tackle.
They told us that.
They did tell us that.
They said he is not a left tackle. What does he end up doing?
He ended up playing left tackle. Even if they didn't tell us that, they told us by putting Theo Benedet in there. If there's not a bigger slap in the face, with all due respect... At the time, that's a slap in the face for an undrafted guy to a guy in Trapillo who's a second rounder who a lot of people thought that, oh yeah, you just slide this guy right in.
I mean, this guy, I mean, they did it with Braxton Jones as a fifth rounder. How come you can't do it with Ozzie Trapillo? And they couldn't. It confused me. It disappointed me.
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Chapter 8: What are the long-term implications of Thuney's signing for the Bears?
But much like this season, they recovered. They got better. Trapillo got better. I'm not going to say Like, he's not in the class of those other guys because he did need help at that position, but comported himself, I'll just say, just fine, right? And sometimes that's acceptable to get through a season, which the Bears did.
Unfortunately, Trapillo will be nowhere near playing a game until late in next season if he's lucky because of the injury. It's a pillow. Thank you. I was wondering. I needed the clarification, and I got it. Thanks, Emma.
Listen, whether it's Trapillo or Zipillo, I honestly will be surprised if he plays left tackle in 2026. I will be surprised because of the nature of the injury and what we understand it to be and how you have to work yourself back and how the standard has been raised by Ben Johnson, I think, for every position on that field, specifically on his offense. I'll be surprised if he plays there.
I just want to make sure I got clarification from you, though, Mark Grody. Caleb Williams is the biggest acquisition of the Ryan Poles era.
Sure, sure.
Joe Tooney is the second biggest acquisition of the Ryan Poles era.
Are you with me? I think so. Yeah, I think so. I can't really come up with, as I'm trying to, I thought Neshawn Wright went through my brain.
Sure.
Because that is, and to some degree, there's a little bit of luck involved in that. But they did, to their credit, they identified this player on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad, looked at the size, looked at the traits, and said, yeah, we are building an identity here. And Deshaun Wright starts to fit that. I know Deshaun Wright, at times, certainly got exposed as a cornerback before.
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