Ryan Poles Made a Fool of Himself — and Drake Maye Won the Last Laugh; For Now

Look, we’ve all been in meetings where someone tries way too hard to prove their point. You know the type — the guy who keeps rewinding the PowerPoint slide, pointing at numbers that don’t actually support his argument, hoping repetition will somehow make his case stronger. Well, apparently, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles took this approach to an art form when evaluating quarterbacks for the 2024 NFL Draft. And frankly, it’s embarrassing for everyone involved.

The “Process” That Wasn’t Really a Process

Tyler Dunne’s explosive three-part series for Go Long dropped some nuclear-level intel about what went down in the Bears’ draft room last spring. According to 32 sources who spoke with Dunne — coaches, scouts, executives, players, and staffers — what happened in Chicago wasn’t scouting. It was a sham.

Picture this: Poles, clicker in hand, standing at the center of the room like some discount Steve Jobs, repeatedly rewinding Drake Maye’s worst throws from his UNC days. The room filled with nervous laughter as Poles and his yes-men turned what should have been a professional evaluation into a high school cafeteria roast session.

“They made fun of him,” one scout told Dunne. “They laughed. The GM laughed Drake Maye off the screen and cut the tape off.” Real professional stuff there, Ryan.

Drake Maye Never Had a Fighting Chance

Drake Maye was never given a fair shake. Not even close. According to Dunne’s sources, the Bears focused exclusively on Maye’s lowlights, playing them back repeatedly while the room erupted in what can only be described as organized mockery.

Meanwhile, when it came time to evaluate Caleb Williams, suddenly the room got serious. One scout didn’t mince words when describing the process: “The Caleb Williams draft pick was the most embarrassing lack of a process — a fair, impartial process to scouting — that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Jayden Daniels Got the Same Treatment

If you thought the Bears’ evaluation of Maye was bad, wait until you hear how they handled Jayden Daniels. Spoiler alert: they didn’t handle him at all. According to Dunne’s reporting, Daniels — who went on to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year — was never even treated as a legitimate option. Not once did Poles open the floor to ask the obvious question: “Who’s the better quarterback, Williams or Daniels?”

“Jayden Daniels was clearly — clearly — a better quarterback,” one scout told Dunne, frustrated that the room never got a fair comparison. But here’s the thing about Ryan Poles: he had already made up his mind.

The Numbers Don’t Lie About Drake Maye’s Rookie Season

Now let’s talk about what actually matters — what happened on the field in 2024. Because while Poles was busy playing his little highlight reel games, Drake Maye was quietly putting together a pretty solid rookie campaign.

Sure, neither Maye nor Williams set the world on fire in their first seasons. But when you dig into the numbers, Maye’s performance was arguably more impressive than Williams. What’s funny is that when the Bears and Patriots faced off in Week 10, Drake Maye absolutely schooled Chicago. Final score: Patriots 19, Bears 3.

The Bottom Line On Poor Leadership

Look, every GM has misses. Every front office makes mistakes. That’s the nature of the business, but from these stories, Ryan Poles doesn’t come across well at all. When you’re in charge of building an NFL roster, your job is to be objective and professional. Maye and Daniels deserved better than becoming punchlines in Ryan Poles’ predetermined narrative. And Bears fans deserve better than a GM who treats the draft like a rigged game show.