Bears GM Ryan Poles reveals wife’s message after viral Rome Odunze video
Ryan Poles admitted in a recent interview that he was incredibly nervous waiting for Rome Odunze to fall to the 9th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Chicago Bears were the talk of the 2024 NFL Draft. Chicago held two top-10 picks going into the draft, including the first overall pick. The Bears installed two foundational pieces on their offense of the future, selecting QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze. Bears GM Ryan Poles was admittedly anxious for Odunze to stay on the board until the ninth pick.
Poles appeared on a recent episode of The Adam Schefter Podcast. Schefter spoke with Poles about several topics, including a viral video from the Bears’ draft room. In the clip, Poles is stressed while watching the picks in front of the Bears early in the first round. He was hoping that Rome Odunze would slip to ninth overall, which he eventually did.
The tension was real in the draft room. Poles admitted to the media after the draft that he nearly jumped teh gun and traded up to get Odunze. However, Ian Cunningham kept him from doing so. You can really see the nerves in the room as Bears brass wait on the teams ahead of them during the draft.
After the Titans picked JC Latham, Poles cracked a big smile. Cunningham informed him they owned a 77% chance of Odunze landing at their feet. After the Penix Jr. pick — which shocked everyone in the room — the war room started the hugs and high-fives.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus reveals Caleb Williams’ top priority for improvement
Caleb Williams is an incredibly exciting QB prospect, but he isn’t going to be perfect right away in the NFL. It’s only normal for Williams to struggle and go through growing pains during the Bears offseason program.
Eberflus recently said that Williams will be working hard on getting his cadence down through training camp.
“Something we still have to work on, as you guys saw today, is the cadence,” Eberflus said, via Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago. “We saw guys jump offsides – I think there were half a dozen of the time – so that’s something that needs to be worked out. That is something that needs to be addressed, and worked on, and improved on here in the next couple of days. We’d like to get that cleaned up.”
It is important to note that Williams did not have to use a cadence while at USC. Therefore, it will take him some time to establish his cadence and get it up to an NFL level.
“Honestly, it’s just reps,” added Eberflus. “You just have to get the reps and get it right. You have to use cadence as a weapon on offense. You can’t just go, ‘Ready. Set Hut.’ the entire time. Right? So, we got to do double counts, we got to do triple counts, we got to do dummy counts, we got to do silent counts, we got to do all the counts that everybody else has in the NFL.”
It will be fascinating to see Williams in the preseason — and get an inside look at the Bears’ training camp on Hard Knocks.
