Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace proving doubters wrong with roster building

Pace does a good job of drafting in the middle rounds

The best way of rebuilding a team is through the draft. The front office can get good talent at a low price and controllable for at least four seasons. Then they can use free agency to round out the roster and build a winning team. The key, though, is the ability to find the talent in the draft. There are many prospects who look good and did well in college, but aren’t able to play the professional game.

Pace does an excellent job of finding fits, especially in the middle rounds. The starters are filled with many mid-round picks. Just check out this list of players who were key contributors:

• Safety Adrian Amos (2015 fifth round)
• Running back Jordan Howard (2016 fourth round)
• Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (2016 fourth round)
• Running back Tarik Cohen (2017 fourth round)
• Safety Eddie Jackson (2017 fourth round)
• Defensive lineman Bilal Nichols (2018 fifth round)

Additionally, Pace has done pretty well with his first and second rounders as well. Of course, those are better talents, but the draft is a crapshoot. Pace drafted players like Roquan Smith (2018 first round), Anthony Miller (2018 second round), Mitch Trubisky (2017 first round), Leonard Floyd (2016 first round), Cody Whitehair (2016 second round) and Eddie Goldman (2015 second round).

Here is an interesting note: In his four drafts as general manager, Pace has only used a third-round pick twice, and both times turned out pretty disappointing. He drafted Hroniss Grasu in 2015 and Jonathan Bullard in 2016. Grasu suffered through injuries and Bullard hasn’t lived up to his potential so far. Perhaps Pace uses this year’s third-round pick in a deal again?

In any case, let’s see if Pace’s draft magic continues in 2019.

Imagine this: a year ago there was this article proclaiming Ryan Pace the worst general manager in the NFL. Now he has players wanting to come to Chicago because they feel they have a good chance to win a Super Bowl. That doesn’t happen with the worst general manager in football. They should acknowledge their mistake in underestimating Pace. I won’t hold my breath waiting for it, though.