Just a few weeks ago, Ryan Pace won the Chicago Bears‘ fanbase over completely. He hit a home run in the NFL Draft acquiring star quarterback Justin Fields and offensive tackle Teven Jenkins. Many hated Pace before the draft, but with these strong moves and getting an incredible value at every pick in the draft, the fans seem to be back on board.
After the lackluster free agency period headlined by bringing back offensive lineman Germain Ifedi and releasing long-time Bear Kyle Fuller, the consensus was to fire Pace at all costs and that he was ruining the franchise. Little did we know he had a trick or two up his sleeve for the NFL Draft.
Pace swooped into the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft by trading up to select his new franchise quarterback in Justin Fields. Head coach Matt Nagy finally has his shiny piece at quarterback he has been longing for after failing to develop Mitchell Trubisky and build the offense around him.
Now, Pace and Nagy have built around Fields by giving him a plethora of lethal weapons in Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney, David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen, and many more weapons. In addition to that, they have bolstered the line by drafting two offensive tackles in the 2021 NFL Draft in Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom.
What has exactly changed though? Sure, Pace is drafting players with conviction, but hasn’t he always done that? He’s taken his franchise quarterback as well, but what is completely different between his past drafts and team-building compared to now?