With the Second Pick in the NFL Draft, Ryan Pace Secured His Future
We’ve moved away from talking about the other teams in Chicago, focusing mostly on the Cubs. It has proven to be a good idea, however yesterday’s draft has my juices flowing to talk Chicago Bears football. I’m excited because this wasn’t scripted, it wasn’t the plan, and it shocked the football world. Most of all, we learned, once and for all, this is Ryan Pace’s team.
Pace orchestrated the most surprising move of the evening, trading the team’s first, third and fourth round picks in this draft and their third round pick next year, for the second overall pick in this year’s draft. This surprised the analysts, pundits, and Bears fans alike.
Mitchell Trubisky was the highest rated quarterback in this draft, and was expected to be the first QB taken. With the Bears selecting him, Mitch joins Sid Luckman and Bob Williams as the only Bears QBs taken with the second overall pick. Bob amassed 981 total passing yards and Sid Luckman is remembered as the best signal caller in Bears history.
Whether Mitchell is another Bob or Sid won’t be determined for many years. It is thought that Ryan Pace will be judged by this draft after the end of the 2017 season. There were thoughts, without much merit, that Pace and John Fox could have been let go following a 3-13 season. With Pace selecting Trubisky, it is a future play with Mitch probably not starting more than seven games in his first two seasons, and in a perfect world he wouldn’t start at all.
This tells me two things, one, Pace and Fox are not tied together. If the Bears don’t improve, Fox is likely out. Two, Ryan Pace has been given assurances that he will be here to oversee the Bears rebuild.
Otherwise it doesn’t make sense. This year’s draft is the deepest we’ve seen, with more potential defensive starters in the third and fourth rounds than we’ve seen in a long time. Pace sacrificed potentially three starters, in 2017, for a kid that shouldn’t touch the field until 2019.
Like it or not, Pace is tied to Mitchell Trubisky. Like him or not, Ryan will be here until 2020.
