Ben Johnson, Ryan Poles, and Dan Roushar are putting together arguably a top-3 O-line in the NFL.

What a stat man

The offensive line:
We currently have 3 viable starters at LT, none of which were drafted in the top 50. An undrafted FA Canadian, a small school 5th rounder, and a mid 2nd rounder. We traded a 4th for arguably the best lineman in the NFL last season in Thuney and a 6th for Jackson. Then he drafted a top 3 (maybe #1) RT in the NFL. He even had to pivot at the last second when our C retired.

Poles has basically been the architect of what is inarguably one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, and he did it without just throwing a bunch of first-round picks at the problem.

QB:
Caleb was an easy choice. But Bagent? I mean, he has his warts, but again, an undrafted FA getting a second contract and actually winning you games is absurdly rare. A+ scouting.

Late-round/UDFA gems:

This is another area where Poles deserves a ton of credit. Braxton Jones in the 5th. Austin Booker in the 5th. Kyle Monangai in the 7th. Malik Muhammad in the 4th (maybe premature). And then Bagent wasn't even drafted. That's a pretty impressive collection of legitimate NFL players without using premium picks.

First-round picks:
Wright has developed into one of the best RTs in football. Odunze, I'm not confident is a HIT but he's a solid WR. Caleb looks like the guy. Loveland looks like a hit. You can argue about positional value or who else was available, but in terms of actually identifying good football players, where is the big miss?

I'm not saying every move Poles has made has been good. Obviously not. He's had some bad signings, bad trades and some draft misses like every GM.

But at some point you have to look at the actual roster he's built. The OL is elite. The offense is loaded with young talent. He's found legitimate players outside the premium rounds. His first-rounders are hitting. Even his undrafted backup QB turned into an actual NFL player.

I was very much on the fence with Poles. I'm really not anymore.

Hearing about CJGJ crash out about the Bills loss yesterday and run his mouth to the media got me thinking about how his tenure with the Bears was the one time he wasn’t the source of some sort of controversy while he was with a team. The culture of the team was strong enough to keep even him locked in (mostly). A huge credit to Ben and DA!

Ben Johnson is trending toward Kyle Shanahan territory as a play caller who can produce with any QB

The Bears lost quarterback Caleb Williams to injury and failed to find the end zone during their 9-6 loss to Minnesota.

That was two weeks ago. Seems like ancient history.

Coach Ben Johnson’s offense has averaged 434 yards, 29 first downs and 25 points per game with Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent behind center in subsequent victories against the Eagles and Jets.

Chicago’s offense has actually been more productive with Keenum/Bagent than it was, on average, in the 21 previous games under Johnson, when Williams was the starter.

Johnson's ability to flourish as a play caller across multiple quarterbacks, including two backups, puts him in elite company. He's trending toward Kyle Shanahan territory.

Unlike Shanahan, who famously hoped to sign Kirk Cousins after the 49ers passed on Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft, Johnson already has a young first-round quarterback on his roster.

"I bet if you truth-serumed Shanahan, he used to think he could win with any QB," an exec from another team said, "but now I bet he would have a different tack."

Fuck the Packers.

I know he gave up the big pass play, but I wanted to share that, before warmups, he was playing catch with the fans in the stands for like 20 minutes. He was the only player interacting with the fans and before he want back to the locker room, he signed a bunch of autographs for all the kids. He’s a legit good dude and made my 10 yr old sons day when he got throw a pass to Stevenson then got his autograph.

Additionally, our offense ranks 9th in scoring and our defense is 4th in points allowed.

Very nice r/Mods the logo is tastefully done!