Chicago Bears Need to Shorten the Leash on Ryan Pace

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace conducted a very controversial draft. The McCaskeys need to shorten Pace’s leash.

In five years, if the Chicago Bears have returned to the Super Bowl and Mitch Trubisky has restored respectability to the Beloved, the 2017 draft trade will likely be an afterthought. But if the hordes of analysts are correct, the unconventional draft will likely be the reason Ryan Pace is out of a job.

After Pace pulled off an unlikely trade to move up one spot in the first round, he addressed the media and asserted his convictions that this was the pick to be made.

"“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.”"

This was not a move made by a GM on the hot seat. Neither was the trade down in the second round to select a Division-II tight end or select two other small school offensive projects in a draft deemed loaded with defensive talent. Ryan Pace is a man who’s comfortable in his own skin and certainly comfortable with his role going forward with the Bears. Maybe too comfortable.

Chicago Bears owner George McCaskey has gone out of his way to praise Ryan Pace and instill confidence in his young GM:

"“We have confidence in Ryan and John,” McCaskey said Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings. “We want to build through the draft. Ryan said that in his interview when he said he was interested in coming to the Bears and we like how he’s stuck to that plan."

I wonder if George will still be on board with the plan if Trubisky flops and the Bears don’t make the playoffs for a few more years? He’s given Pace all of the freedom and power in the world and in my view, Pace has abused the power and gotten to be waaaaay too comfortable. Has McCaskey handed the keys to the Orange and Navy Cadillac to a football idiot?

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I don’t think Pace is a football idiot. Draft selections like Cody Whitehair and Jordan Howard would seem to indicate that he knows what he’s doing and can identify talent. But I do think that Pace lacks the savvy to read the draft board and the room and isn’t resilient enough to adapt to a changing dynamic.

I can understand that Pace had Trubisky as “his guy” and if he’s going to get fired a few years from now, he’d rather go down with “his guy” at quarterback. But why trade up, spending precious draft picks, when the guy you wanted was likely to be there at the very next pick? Pace stated that teams were calling them for the #3 pick, so it stands to reason that teams were calling the San Francisco 49ers for the #2 pick.

Not being certain if someone wanted to move ahead of the Bears to select Trubisky, Pace “removed the risk” by trading up. Would it have been the end of the world to have a “Plan B” in place? Like, if Trubisky is there at #3, we’re taking him. If Trubisky goes at #2, you either select Soloman Thomas or Jamal Adams at #3 and then trade back in for a QB later in Round 1 or try to nab someone at the top of Round 2. If you’re sitting at a poker table and can’t spot the sucker, it’s likely that it’s you, Ryan Pace.

Pace is operating like he has no fear, as if he has some collateral built up with fans and ownership; he doesn’t! The Bears have won nine games in the last two seasons and his first round picks have fizzled. Kevin White can’t stay on the field and Leonard Floyd has shown flashes, but has been far from dominant.

Sometimes you need to be afraid of the consequences if you mess up. Someone has to reign him in and it’s up to McCaskey to do so.

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