History lesson: First-round success a must for Bears GM Ryan Poles

When Jim Finks was hired as the Bears’ general manager in September of 1974, he didn’t meddle that much with the on-field product. He let a 4-10 season play out and reaped the biggest benefit of that failure — the fourth overall pick in the 1975 draft.

And he made the most of it, selecting Jackson State running back Walter Payton — a player he would have taken with the first overall pick if he had it.

Payton, of course, was a terrific building block for a new general manager. But for Finks, it was just the start. In fact, every one of the 10 first-round picks the Bears made with Finks as GM pushed the franchise forward — offensive tackles Dennis Lick (1976) and Ted Albrecht (1977); defensive ends Dan Hampton and Al Harris (1979); linebacker Otis Wilson (1980); offensive tackle Keith Van Horne (1981); quarterback Jim McMahon (1982); and wide receiver Willie Gault and offensive tackle Jimbo Covert (1983).

That’s three Hall of Famers, if you’re scoring at home — Payton, Hampton and Covert. And seven starters on the Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl championship team. Even the first-round picks who never became Pro Bowl players made significant contributions. Lick and Albrecht were starters on the 1977 and 1979 playoff teams — the Bears’ first playoff teams since the 1963 NFL championship. Before he held out in 1985, Harris was a starter on the 1984 team that beat the Redskins in the playoffs and set the tone for the glorious Super Bowl season.

It was an incredible run of first-round success that ended years of demise that led to Finks being hired as the first non-Halas in charge of the Bears’ operation. Let’s put it this way: the Bears’ 10 first-round picks before Finks arrived were Waymond Bryant, Dave Gallagher, Wally Chambers, Lionel Antoine, Craig Clemons, Joe Moore, Rufus Mayes, Mike Hull, Loyd Phillips and George Rice (who signed with the AFL Oilers). Chambers was the only hit, and Finks made the most of that, too — trading the injured Chambers to the Buccaneers in 1978 for a No. 1 pick he used to take Hampton.

Finks’ record of first-round success would be difficult for any general manager to duplicate. But after more than three decades of diminishing first-round returns since Finks left in 1984 and his successor, Jerry Vainisi, was fired in 1987 after three seasons (Wilbur Marshall, William Perry and Neal Anderson were his first-round picks), second-year GM Ryan Poles has a much lower bar to clear as he prepares to make his initial first-round pick as an NFL general manager Thursday.

There are many routes to success in the NFL — starting with getting the quarterback right. But consistent success in the first round of the draft is a clear second. And Poles is charged with establishing first-round consistency and staying power the Bears have been lacking since the Finks-Vainisi eras.

Since vice-president of player personnel Mark Hatley drafted future Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher in 2000 (with the ninth overall pick), the Bears have had more misses than hits in the first round of the draft under Hatley, Jerry Angelo, Phil Emery and Ryan Pace — some injury-related, some performance-related and some that were both.

It’s a painful list of misses: wide receiver David Terrell (eighth in 2001); offensive tackle Marc Colombo (29th in 2002); defensive end Michael Haynes (14th in 2003); running back Cedric Benson (fourth in 2005); offensive tackle Chris Williams (14th in 2008); offensive tackle Gabe Carimi (29th in 2011); defensive end/linebacker Shea McClellin (19th in 2012); wide receiver Kevin White (seventh in 2015) and quarterback Mitch Trubisky (second in 2017).

Some of them have their own odd twist. Colombo suffered a devastating knee injury in his fifth start as a rookie in 2002 and struggled through three seasons of rehab and complications. Eleven weeks after the Bears released him in 2005, Colombo was playing special teams for the Cowboys and ended up starting the next six seasons for the Cowboys and Dolphins — playing 88 of 96 games.

Benson, drafted in the days of the bell-cow running back, was in an awkward, distraction-laden tandem with Thomas Jones — a former top-10 draft pick who had been signed as a free agent in 2004. Benson was released after three disappointing seasons (and a boating DUI charge in 2008). But the Bengals signed him, treated him for Celiac disease (which causes lethargy) and Benson flourished. He had three 1,000-yard seasons with the Bengals, including a career-high 189 yards in a 45-10 rout of the Bears in 2009.

McClellin never found a position in four seasons with the Bears but started in the Super Bowl for the Patriots in their memorable 34-28 overtime victory against the Falcons in 2018.

But besides the misses, arguably the bigger issue is that the Bears’ biggest first-round hits in the post-Urlacher era didn’t have staying power:

• (Bullet) Defensive tackle Tommie Harris was one of the best interior linemen in the NFL for three seasons but was injured in 2006 — missing Super Bowl XLI — and never was the same.

• (Bullet) Linebacker Roquan Smith (eighth in 2018) was a two-time All-Pro, but was traded at mid-season in 2022 because of a contract impasse.

• (Bullet) Offensive guard Kyle Long made the Pro Bowl in his first three seasons, but was injured in 2016 and never was the same.

• (Bullet) Cornerback Kyle Fuller made the All-Pro team in 2018 when he led the NFL with seven interceptions and was a Pro Bowl player in 2019. But he was cut after the 2020 season in a salary-cap move.

• (Bullet) Tight end Greg Olsen scored 21 touchdowns in four seasons but was traded because he was an odd fit for Mike Martz’s offense.

Prior to quarterback Justin Fields, the Bears’ previous 10 first-round draft picks averaged just 4.4 seasons and 54.3 career games with the team. Only Long (seven seasons), Fuller (six), Smith (five) and Chris Williams (five) saw a fifth season with the Bears.

That’s a daunting history, but also plenty of room for improvement for Poles. If this indeed is a new era for the Bears under new president Kevin Warren and Poles, finding the right guy in the first round of the draft would be a significant — and refreshing — next step.