After locking in Ben Johnson as head coach five weeks ago, Bears General Manager Ryan Poles can now focus his full attention on giving the new head coach a roster with which he can win.

It all began Tuesday with the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

After coming to Indianapolis holding the number pick the last two years and trading one of them away, Poles and the Bears aren't quite the kings of the combine this time around — having only the 10th overall pick.

But with two other selections in the top 41, and the fourth most salary cap space in the league, the Bears are in a position to improve the roster aggressively this offseason.

"I think the clearer the vision, the more aggressive you can be, and that's important. So you want to be selective in free agency, because just historically, like if you look at it, like it can tell you, and you can learn from that," Poles said Tuesday. "But if there's certain players that kind of hit all the checkboxes that you need, there's really no reason to hold back, and you can be aggressive."

Poles said he and Coach Johnson have already "made a lot of progress" figuring out what type of players they want to target. That includes clear areas of need on the offensive and defensive lines.

"We want a physical group, all right. It starts with that. That's not just the offensive line. That's the entire team. [Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen] have been talking about what that looks like on defense. It's going to look that way on offense. Starts in the trenches upfront," Johnson said. "We talk about finishing in a dominant position. We want to be around the football. The best football players — they finish around the ball."

Defensive linemen will be the first group on the field in Indy Thursday, with offensive linemen working out on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, Johnson says the last five weeks have been outstanding — putting together a coaching staff, and working with Poles on the types of players they want to target in free agency and the draft.

"Everyone's going to be heard in terms of what we're looking for, and we very clearly outlined what the ideal look would be in terms of attributes, height-weight, speed, in terms of makeup — which is of critical importance for what we're looking for," Johnson said. "But at the same time, if it's a good football player, we're going to make it work as a coaching staff. So there's a balance going on with that, and I think the dialogue has been very, very healthy so far."

Poles said he was impressed with Johnson's football intelligence.

"His ability to give what he wants and needs to be successful, has been really, really good, and you can just tell the high football IQ is on a totally different level than what I've seen and been a part of before," Poles said.

That football IQ will be especially put to use when it comes to developing last year's top pick, Caleb Williams. For Johnson, it's almost like they're starting from scratch.

"Well, the springtime — not just for Caleb, but for the entire team — is we're going to go back to basics, and that's the fundamentals of each position — blocking, tackling, catching the football, running after the catch, ball security — we're going to break it down to the studs and work the development from there," Johnson said, "and so for Caleb, it's what are the important things about playing in the quarterback position at the NFL level? It's as simple as the procedure, the huddle, breaking the huddle, using cadence, motion, shifts, all those things that attack a defense that we feel like can take another step here in Chicago — that will be the starting point."

Johnson had plenty of praise for Williams, especially when it comes to his ability to extend plays. The coach said that ability on Williams' part gets him excited, because Johnson has not really been able to coach anyone like that in the NFL.