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Ryan Pace Discusses Decision to Trade Up, Draft Mitchell Trubisky

By Bill Zimmerman

Aug 27, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace looks on from the sidelines before the preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 27, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace looks on from the sidelines before the preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Ryan Pace discusses his decision to trade up and draft Mitchell Trubisky.

The Chicago Bears decision to trade up one spot and draft UNC quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was met with a lot of puzzled looks and scratching heads. Pace wasted no time explaining to the media why the organization made the move they did to make sure they landed Trubisky.

The Chicago Bears streamed the press conference on Facebook Live:

Pace talked about the franchise’s “conviction” on Trubisky and they were confident he was the player they wanted. “Obviously we are excited to add a quarterback of this caliber,” Pace said, “We had conviction on this QB and we did what we had to do to get him.”

Pace doesn’t seem to have a drop of doubt in his decision, “I’ve seen him play multiple times. I know this player and feel very confident about this player.” The Bears clearly did their due diligence on him. They had dinner with him and held a private workout for him and met him multiple times in person. This decision wasn’t just made from watching some coach’s tape.

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Despite the bold move the Bears made to get Trubisky, don’t expect him to play right away, or perhaps at all this season. “Mike Glennon is our starting quarterback. There is no quarterback competition when Mitch gets here.” If Glennon performs, he will certainly play out the season, but if Glennon struggles, there is going to be immense pressure for John Fox to play Trubisky sooner rather than later. But Pace wants to see this move get hurried, “There’s no rush on this. There’s really no timeline. I think we’ve got a really good situation for Mitch to come in to and develop the right way.”

Pace knows the trade they made is a bold one, and he doesn’t hide from that. “If you want to be great, you can’t sit on your hands.” Pace continued, “I just don’t want to be average around here, I want to be great.” That’s the type of attitude that should be applauded. While Bears’ fans might feel the trade Pace made is misguided, make no mistake about it, he knows he’s putting his neck on the line and he’s not shying away from that, he’s excited about it.

Of course, the elephant in the room was the trade and the pile of picks they sent to San Francisco. Why move up just one spot? “I knew there were teams acquiring about moving up [to San Francisco’s pick],” Pace said, “You could feel it all around us.” When Pace knew the amount of calls the Bears had fielded about teams wanting to move up to three to take a QB, he knew the rumors about the 49ers trading to a team to select a quarterback were real.

Related Story: Ryan Pace Puts Job on the Line with Mitchell Trubisky Selection

Here’s the bottom line- Pace knew he needed a quarterback and had to make a move, “How do you get better at the quarterback position if you don’t address it like this?” Pace asked. “I hope everyone is excited about it. The most important position in all of sports is quarterback.” He’s certainly not wrong in that aspect.

Finally, Pace did acknowledge that he doesn’t like having less picks right now and they will absolutely look at moving pack and acquiring more picks if they can. No rest for the weary, Pace has about 18 hours until he’s back on the clock, so he better get back to work.

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