How has Ryan Pace upgraded the guard position in his four years as General Manager for the Chicago Bears
With all moves seemingly done, we have now seen what Ryan Pace has been able to do over a four-year span with the Chicago Bears roster.
We have looked at his quarterback room, running back room, wide receiver room, tight end room, and the tackles. For the most part, Pace has been successful in improving the entirety of the room.
Can the same be said for the guard position?
2015:
Matt Slauson, Vlad Ducasse, Patrick Omameh
Of course, this group is not missing Kyle Long, he spent this year at tackle. In that case, Slauson was the only player here that Ryan Pace inherited.
It is interesting looking back to think that Pace thought that adding Omameh and Ducasse were justifiable enough to move Long to right tackle.
2016:
Josh Sitton, Kyle Long, Eric Kush, Ted Larsen
The entire group moved on and the Long experiment ended for good. Adding Long as it improves the room greatly.
The room also was very close to having Cody Whitehair in it. Sitton signed late into the offseason, and it gave Whitehair the ability to shift over to center. Larsen also was competing for center snaps but became a depth swing guard.
After an injury to Kyle Long Kush saw snaps at guard and center and proved to Pace that he belongs in the NFL.
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2017:
Josh Sitton, Kyle Long, Eric Kush, Jordan Morgan
Of course, the position did not necessarily end up the way that Pace wanted it to on paper. Kush, after his big season, was going to be the key depth piece of the interior. It gave Pace the guts to draft Morgan, a clear project player.
Then, Eric Kush went down for the season very early in the offseason. It put the team in a real bind in terms of depth. Bradley Sowell and Tom Compton had to slide inside at times because with Sitton and Long you know there will be games missed.
2018:
James Daniels, Eric Kush, Kyle Long, Jordan Morgan
From the 31-year old Sitton to the 20-year old Daniels. That is a big difference here. The hope is for health from Long and Kush. One, the other, both, if they can find 16 games between those two they are set. It never seems to happen that way.
Morgan should have at least progressed, and Sowell is back. It is not the best emergency situation, but who has a great one? When healthy, with Kush as the depth piece, this should be a group that can be considered a strength for the Chicago Bears.