INDIANAPOLIS – Ryan Poles is attending his fourth NFL Scouting Combine as a general manager. He has been to many, many more as a Kansas City scout and personnel director, but having the top job in Chicago makes the experience much different.

His priorities change and his time’s at a premium during the week in Indianapolis, finding windows to do high-level Bears business, survey the league and, you know, evaluate prospects.

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As a longtime talent evaluator, Poles has made some adjustments to his combine experience. He has top lieutenants to grind through the details. Poles needs to look at things from 30,000 feet without ignoring the ground level.

That’s a lot, but he has found a good rhythm after learning what to prioritize while he’s here.

“There’s a lot of information to gather from here in terms of what’s going on the league with different teams, different opportunities that might pop up,” Poles said in an exclusive interview with Marquee Sports Network. “There’s a lot of spending time with different agents and club representatives to see what’s going on. It’s really about taking in as much as possible to help us drive decisions when we leave here.”

The Bears must make important decisions on how to allocate assets to upgrade the roster. Part of that is wisely using free agent dollars. Production and quality can be seen on tape, but Poles and his staff will investigate the type of personality, intangibles and work ethic and individual has to determine a proper fit. All that goes into deciding how to spend money on the open market, and Poles believes the Bears have a good system for that.

“We have a great team that keeps me in check and puts up some guardrails,” Poles said. “You can’t go out of control. And then you want to be very selective. There are guys who have all the criteria that you’re looking for and can help move the needle on your team. There’s no issue being aggressive there, but the more unknowns you have because you’re not in the building with them, it gets a little bit more risky. You want to be careful there. It’s knowing what type of player, and their background, that you’re bringing into your building.”

Poles and his staff will gather information wherever they can find it, including here in Indianapolis about players entering free agency and their monetary value.

The Bears are obviously keeping a close eye on college prospects. Workout performance in Indy won’t elevate or drop an individual on Chicago’s board, but it could raise a flag that requires further evaluation.

“There are guys who come out here and put on a really good performance that make you go back and watch a little bit more tape to make sure we’re seeing what we’re supposed to be seeing,” Poles said. “That can help lift guys up. I try not to bring guys down from all-star games and the combine, though there are some (physical) traits for a position that are non-negotiable. That’ll make you go back to the tape and see if it will affect them as they make the jump to the NFL.”

The meetings help scouts and coaches as the Bears “put the pieces together on a total evaluation.”

Poles has learned to not overreact at any point in the pre-draft process and is focused on maintaining proper perspective.

“I also try not to go overboard and watch guys run and test and get away from the film,” Poles said. “That’s a huge mistake to do that when you’re seeing what (prospects) do in shorts. But, at the end of the day, who they are is represented on tape.”