LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Even at 25 years old, Cole Kmet should be considered an elder statesman on this Bears roster. He’s one of the few remaining from the pre-Ryan Poles era, a rare survivor following a complete (and necessary) roster overhaul performed by the current general manager.

Kmet has weathered through some difficult seasons, including three straight with double-digit losses. That’s why he appreciates where the Bears are now, seemingly on the cusp of a renaissance.

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“There’s just a new energy with all the people that we have in here,” Kmet said in a Tuesday press conference. “That’s been really cool to see and it has been a stark difference since I got here my first year to now.” 

Kmet came to the Bears in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft, when Matt Nagy was head coach and Ryan Pace led the front office. The Bears made the playoffs at 8-8 his rookie year, and then struggled mightily the following season. That put an end to the Nagy/Pace collective. The Notre Dame product and Chicago-area native remembers feeling some “culture shock” when GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus started running the show, exercising a mantra that sometimes you have to tear things down to build them back up stronger.

There were growing pains involved with that, namely a three-win season in 2022, but the Bears have built a foundation of talent and cap health that has lead to this moment, when things feel different. Part of it is the player selection process, which is rigorous and discerning and incredibly selective.

“I think Coach and Ryan have done a good job of bringing in guys that buy into this type of culture,” Kmet said. “You just look at the guys that they drafted this past year with (QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze), I can’t think of two better guys personality-wise that could fit into this locker room.

“I don’t think there are a lot of guys across the league that would necessarily fit in here that could understand the way we work every day and kind of the grind we go through. But you’ve got to have guys that are willing to accept that and take that challenge on and I think Ryan has done a good job of bringing those guys in and Flus has done an awesome job of pinpointing that type of culture.”

That perfectly describes why there has been so much roster turnover. It’s not just talent upgrades brought in here, though there have been plenty of those. It’s also about proper fits and versatile skill sets, leading to the moment when they could draft Williams into an organization ready to support an uber-talented but green signal caller.

“I think that there’s a lot of depth throughout the roster and I’m sure the roster cuts today and the other day weren’t too easy on Ryan,” Kmet said. “That just means that he’s put together a pretty deep roster and I like what I see all around.”

Jaquan Brisker was part of that wrenching 2022 season and has seen the elevation of talent and the change in culture.

He knows how important it is to have consistently high production around a rookie quarterback, who, by nature of being a rookie quarterback, is going to make mistakes. That tightens the margin of error for the defensive side, a challenge confidently welcomed due to the talent on that side of the ball.

“This year, we’ve got guys everywhere,” Brisker said. “You look at the left, the right corner, the backers to the D-line, the safeties. There are guys everywhere. Compare my first year to this year, I know the guys and everybody’s playmakers.”

T.J. Edwards hasn’t been around too long. The linebacker arrived as a free agent last year, but went through a brutal start 2-7 that imploded that season. Even he has weathered some Chicago storms.

He feels like better is on its way, largely due to the changes, both seen and unseen, implemented to create a group ready to compete.

“I’m really excited for where we’re at as a team in general in all three phases,” Edwards said. “Ready to go.”

Follow Bears Insider Scott Bair @ScottBairNFL.