2017 NFL Draft: Ryan Pace crafts his own vision for the Chicago Bears’ future
Though fans wanted to see the Chicago Bears take defensive players and improve this year, Ryan Pace took the long view in the 2017 NFL Draft.
To many Chicago Bears fans, the 2017 NFL Draft was supposed to be about getting back to embracing their strong defensive roots. No one told Ryan Pace, I guess.
First, he spent three drafts to move up and take arguably the top quarterback in this year’s draft, Mitch Trubisky. Despite the speculation that Deshaun Watson, Solomon Thomas or Jamal Adams might be their pick, Pace reportedly knew he wanted Trubisky a month ago. Then, he took intriguing tight end prospect Adam Shaheen, who’s spent the last few years utterly dominating at Division-II Ashland.
And after finally dipping into the deep defensive back pool by grabbing Eddie Jackson, Pace finished off Day 3 with two more offensive picks. He nabbed a guy who could be the second coming of Darren Sproles in Tarik Cohen to provide a passing threat out of the backfield. While it wasn’t a big need, it shows that he clearly thought the Bears lacked a playmaking element at running back. Finally, the Bears took offensive lineman Jordan Morgan, whom they coached at the Senior Bowl. While he played tackle in college, he projects as more of a guard. I can’t help but wonder if that means Kyle Long could swing out to tackle again eventually…
More from Chicago Bears
- Chicago Bears quietly compiling list of head coaching candidates
- Next Chicago Bears starting quarterback makes Bowl Game decision
- Chicago Bears appear in the hunt while on track for the first pick
- Chicago Bears: They are who we thought they were
- Chicago Bears Rumors: Kevin Warren to oversee football operations
So what gives? The Bears struggled so badly to make plays on the ball that most of us assumed they would go heavy on the secondary. Plus, with so many great defensive players, it just seemed primed to be a defense-heavy draft for Pace. The offense could wait until later, right? Apparently, wrong. And there are multiple reasons for this.
On one hand, Pace definitely isn’t worried about his job. “Winning now” might be what John Fox needs to keep his job, but not Pace. This draft is not about trying to compete next year, as much as that may annoy fans. It’s about the future.
And long-term, it’s clear where Pace believes the real holes on this team are, and he has a point.
Just looking at raw numbers, the Bears offense, not defense, was the worse unit in 2017 in points per game. Sure, the Bears only produced 11 takeaways (8 interceptions), so there’s absolutely a need to improve there. But in the Bears’ mind, their free agency additions proved a ton of depth and competence at the cornerback position. Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper are not great players, but they will be solid. And assuming health and improvement of the front seven, and a breakout year for Leonard Floyd, they’ll have their chance to make plays on the ball. Plus, once Eddie Jackson gets healthy, I think the Bears just found the guy that can start opposite Quintin Demps.
And that doesn’t even account for the possibility that Deiondre’ Hall might be a legitimate option at safety. Many, including myself, believe that Hall may actually be a better safety than he was at corner, which should encourage the Bears.
But let’s be honest here: I’m not going to lose sleep over missing out on Adams or Thomas, and neither is Pace. Those guys would certainly win the Bears a few more games, but a franchise quarterback? That could be a decade-long window for contention. You think Seattle’s made the playoffs five straight years just because of their defense? How about New England? Unless you have a once-in-15-years defense, you’d best build both.
And if anything should be clear to us now, it’s that they knew they needed a potential franchise quarterback to make their dreams to contend real. Also, Mike Glennon wasn’t really a “win-now” quarterback. In fact, they never expected him to be a franchise guy. Forget the three years and $45 million. He’s essentially a one-year bridge guy, and the Bears knew that at least a month ago. So no, I don’t think the Bears are that interested in seeing if Glennon is the guy. They just don’t want to play their young quarterback right away.
And, given these moves, you can’t complain that the Bears aren’t trying to add any protection or weapons for their chosen quarterback, can you? Don’t forget: Pace won a Super Bowl as a member of the New Orleans Saints’ front office. He knows what it means to surround your quarterback with talent to help them succeed. And while Bears fans have only seen their team win a Super Bowl by having a dominant defense, he hasn’t. Defense does win championships, but you need offense to be a contender. Can’t put the cart before the horse.
So Pace focused on the offense instead of playing it safe with good defensive talent. He’s playing aggressively—maybe even dangerously so—in trying to construct a team that can score way more than 17 points a game. I mean, I didn’t foresee three of the Bears’ five picks being from the FCS. And I didn’t think they’d go with offense on four of five picks.
Next: How did the Chicago Bears do in the 2017 NFL Draft?
But he’s playing the long game, building for the Bears’ future rather than only the immediate present. And he’s trying to construct a team that can compete for multiple Super Bowls, not just the occasional playoff appearance. As he said Thursday night:
"If we want to be great, you just can’t sit on your hands. There are times when you’ve got to be aggressive, and when you have conviction on a guy, you can’t sit on your hands. I just don’t want to be average around here; I want to be great. And these are the moves you have to make."
Bears fans didn’t envision it this way, and some of these picks seemed pretty puzzling at the time. But he might be onto something here.