Should Chicago Bears trade down from 87?
Would it be smart for the Chicago Bears to trade down from 87?
With no first or second round pick, the Chicago Bears don’t get a chance to draft a prospect until the 87th overall pick of the draft. That pick is in the latter part of the third round and there has been plenty of speculation that Ryan Pace should trade up to get the running back he covets.
While Pace has shown that he won’t hesitate to move around in the draft and trade up for the player he wants, he’s also shown that he’s not shy about trading down either and recouping picks.
Pace has traded down three times in the second round of the draft alone since taking over as the team’s GM. When Pace is at a pick deficit, he has shown the proclivity to trade down and grab more picks.
The perfect example of that was after the Mitch Trubisky trade, Pace used his second round pick to select Adam Shaheen, but not before trading down and recouping most of the picks he had packaged to the San Francisco 49ers to move up to snag his quarterback.
With the Bears in the situation they are in now, they have one third, one fourth, one fifth and two sevenths. For a team that could use a little more depth and some rookies who can contribute in year one, that’s not a lot of real estate.
Plus, keep this in mind, Pace’s third round picks include Hroniss Grasu and Jonathan Bullard. Pace’s fourth round picks include Tarik Cohen and Eddie Jackson. Pace has shined in rounds four and five, but not so much in round three.
Maybe it’s a coincidence about the third round struggles, but the fourth (and fifth) round success Pace has had is undeniable.
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When you look at the draft point system which is what teams use to make sure they are getting good value. If the Bears find a partner (and looking at the board, the New York Giants and New England Patriots jump out), they could trade down to the end of third round or beginning of the fourth round and pick up an additional fourth round pick (in the back half of the round).
Knowing Pace’s history and know what the Bears needs are for this season, what sounds better for Pace to utilize: a third, a fourth and a fifth or three fourths and a fifth?
Obviously, a decision like this isn’t going to be determined until Pace sees how the draft is developing. If Miles Sanders is a target and he’s tumbling, Pace will almost certainly trade up to get him.
But if the couple of top running backs go off the board early, Pace may be comfortable trading down into the fourth round and grabbing a back there. If you look at most of the running backs that the Bears have really taken deep dives into, most of them are projected to be fourth round backs or later.
The idea of Pace having four picks to utilize in rounds 4 and 5 is something that has to interest the Bears. The Bears need a running back and could also use another young edge not named Kylie Fitts, another tight end and some help in the secondary.
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That’s four positions of need and only three viable picks to utilize. You can’t rely on seventh rounders to be much of anything, especially in year one.
Nobody is complaining about the trades that landed Khalil Mack and Anthony Miller, but it has left the Bears in a unique situation where they don’t have a first and second round pick this year and Pace will have to make sure he maximizes every drop of potential he can out of this year’s selections.
The draft is less than two weeks away, it’s time for Pace to get busy.