Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson answers questions during a introductory press conference at PNC Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

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Bears HC Ben Johnson Running the Organization in Chicago His Way? Colin Cowherd Shares His 2 Cents

"Ben Johnson now runs the organization" - Colin Cowherd on feels Ben Johnson has taken over Ryan Poles' duties

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson answers questions during a introductory press conference at PNC Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

Sports media personality and the host of ‘The Volume’, Colin Cowherd has put out an absurd take saying newly appointed head coach of the Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson is controlling the happenings in Chicago over general manager Ryan Poles.

According to Cowherd, the recent signings of Center Drew Dalman, and Guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson show that he is now calling the shots and indirectly telling Poles that his picks were not good. The host of ‘The Volume’ initiated the conversation while having a discussion with sportswriter and podcaster Danny Parkins saying:

“It’s obvious Ben Johnson now runs the organization because he basically by acquiring a guard, a center, a guard is telling Ryan Poles your picks were not good.”

Cowherd then went on to give examples of how similar things are happening around the league with Mike Vraebel running New England, Sean McVay has got a lot of power in Los Angeles, Sean Payton’s running Denver, and so on. Parkins then added his two cents to the conversation when probed on his thoughts.

“So I’ve heard you say this and I think that you’re like 85 to 90% correct, um, Ben Johnson clearly now outranks Ryan Poles and obviously Ryan Poles stock is down and Ben Johnson’s stock could not have been higher. So Ben Johnson has more say and the Jonah Jackson move is directly tied to Ben Johnson and that was the first move that happened. I think Ryan Poles has taken a little too much heat in this regard…”

Although Parkins agreed to an extent with what Cowherd was saying, he also proceeded to explain how not everything was the fault of the Bears general manager given that his first season in charge, he didn’t even have a first round draft pick since the previous management had traded it away to draft Justin Fields.

He also pointed out that Poles has made quality picks in Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon who are both starters in the secondary while right tackle Darnell Wright looks like he could hold down the position for years to come.

“Ryan Poles, your picks were not good enough” @colincowherd & @DannyParkins discuss the Bears offseason moves pic.twitter.com/jaekVRui4M
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) March 13, 2025

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Cowherd’s take is based on how rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked for a league high 68 times since the Bears’ offensive line was unable to protect him. Although it can be argued that many of those sacks were on Williams himself, as he was the culprit of holding on to the ball for longer periods.

As a close follower of the Bears football, Parkins went on to explain that not all signings of Poles were as bad as they turned out to be, highlighting the fact that Teven Jenkins was pretty decent until he got hurt, Nate Davis was a great player, but when Chicago paid him, he stopped trying.

Furthermore, left tackle Braxton Jones is a replacement level player who is not that good but not that bad as well. Poles drafted him in the fifth round, which, against all odds, is a draft win. The one place Poles could have done better was to bring in a quality center, but other than that, he just did not have enough draft picks to bolster the Bears’ offensive line as per Parkins.

“What happened last year was a mediocre offensive line got hurt with a rookie quarterback. The offensive line was a disaster, your quarterback got hit 68 times and it became a fire alarm, like this is we are going to get Caleb Williams killed. I don’t think it’s that Ryan Poles doesn’t prioritize the offensive line. I think it’s that when he took over he had such limited resources with draft Capital that it took a while and last year was never supposed to be a good offensive line but it wasn’t supposed to be that bad.”

Overall, from the exchange that took place between the two sports media personalities, an outsider may find fault with the Poles has handled business in Chicago, but one thing to remember is that he also gave Williams and the Bears a strong offensive unit to work with.

For example, the moment Williams was drafted, he already had two quality receivers in D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen as well as running back D’Andre Swift. The Bears also added wide receiver Rome Odunze in the same draft, providing ample weapons to work with.

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Colin Cowherd

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!