Giving new grades to the Chicago Bears 2015 NFL Draft class

It is the offseason and there is not enough Chicago Bears news to go around. Rather than reach for nonsense such as Justin Fields and Cole Kmet building on their chemistry because they both hit a few home runs during batting practice at Wrigley Field this week, I decided to look back at prior drafts. It was a recommendation by a follower on social media to do this actually, and I thought it sounded like a fun idea. I thought I’d look at the Ryan Pace era which dates back to 2015.

I am going to go year-by-year and run down all of the draft picks. Then, we are going to assign new draft grades knowing what we know now. Typically, a draft class needs two to three years to fully know what a team has in its players. Although, I also participate in the immediate draft grades the week following each year’s draft, looking back on a draft class is the more accurate way of grading a draft. Immediate speculation and predictions are more fun though.

The Chicago Bears struggled under the guidance of John Fox and Ryan Pace

The year is 2015. Many countries came together to strike a deal on climate change by signing the Paris Climate Accord. ISIS was hot and heavy, causing problems and carrying out terrorist attacks around the globe. This was also the year of the Charleston church mass shooting. Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President in 2015, while former New England Patriot’s tight end, Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of murder. Also in 2015, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling that allowed same-sex couples to be legally married nationwide.

These are just a few of the news headlines that took place that year. At the Box Office, “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” was the top-grossing movie of the year. “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars topped the year-end music charts. Finally, the 2015 season (played in 2016 of course) Super Bowl winners were the Denver Broncos. Peyton Manning, greatly helped by the Broncos’ defense and a C.J. Anderson rushing game, led the Broncos to victory over the Carolina Panthers. Cam Newton had his MVP season but faltered in the Super Bowl.

Oh yeah, and the Chicago Bears shifted gears from a Phill Emery and Marc Trestman regime by hiring Ryan Pace as their new general manager and hiring John Fox as the new head coach. Here is a look at how Ryan Pace did in his first NFL Draft as an acting general manager.