LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson just completed their first NFL draft working together. It can be awkward if you let it be, with a new coaching staff entering in the process’ 11^th hour to interest valued opinions.

The Chicago Bears general manager and his new coach never let it get that way. They worked well together from February on, with the coaching staff merging into the scouts’ routine and the evaluators absorbing fresh input with open minds and ears.

Both sides worked well together, adjusting to new offensive and defensive schematics and requested character traits. They built and then finalized their prospect rankings, proceeding as a unified front with two objectives in mind.

Trust the draft board. Crank up the level of competition.

Poles and Johnson considered those missions accomplished after the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Bears selected eight players overall — a class headlined by top-tier offensive playmakers in tight end Colston Loveland (No. 10) and wide receiver Luther Burden III (No. 39). Then they went for bigs with offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo (No. 56) and defensive lineman Shemar Turner (No. 62). The third day focused on defensive speed and offensive depth to close out the class.

“Going into the draft, our goal was to really lean on the board,” Poles said in his Saturday post-draft press conference. “We put a lot of time into it. We wanted it to really speak to us. I talked about that over the last two days. Not forcing, really, anything for need, but just taking the best guys, and we just keep adding that to the roster to increase competition and to make our football team better. I thought that we were able to do that.”

The Bears traded down three times, once in the second round and twice on Day 3. While other teams landed some prospects coveted by the Bears, they weren’t prisoners of the moment and used evaluations as their north star.

“To Ryan’s credit, he stayed as disciplined as I’ve ever seen in terms of staying true to how we set it up,” Johnson said. “Sometimes that gets hard, sometimes you want to pick for need, but we didn’t necessarily do that. I feel really good about the direction we went and every decision we made along the way.”

The Bears believe they made measured decisions, sometimes adding talent to impacted areas while forgoing help in other areas.

The Burden pick is the best example of that. The Bears already have DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Olamide Zaccheaus in the receiver room, with the explosive Devin Duvernay in reserve. It didn’t stop the Bears from taking the Missouri star pass catcher with first-round talent. Adding Trapilo also will push the offensive tackles, even returning left tackle Braxton Jones.

Those moves were designed to turn up the heat a little bit. The Bears drafted players who will challenge the status quo and put pressure on more established starters and role players. That’s what Johnson wants. He has said that since the moment he arrived.

“There is no depth chart right now. If you want to play, you’ve got to go earn it,” Johnson said. “If you want a role, you’ve got to go earn it. They know that. So, we were very straightforward and honest with them when they came in the building. I think all we did this weekend is we might’ve just turned up the notch a couple of dials for certain people in the building. That’s a good thing. That’s a healthy thing. That’s where you bring out the best not only in your team but in each individual.”

That has been and will be the goal of this offseason. That that was the goal of this draft. While big moments can raise tensions, Poles’ structure and demeanor and willingness to trust process allowed the Bears to execute what they believed to be a solid plan to add vital pieces.

We’ll see in a few months if it all works out.