10 best Chicago Bears draft picks of the Ryan Pace era

Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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The Ryan Pace era as we know it is over. Still, the era will bleed into the next generation of Chicago Bears. There are plenty of players that he drafted and signed over his tenure that could be here for this year and beyond.

So, as we officially move on from the Ryan Pace era, we look back at the best aspects. These are the best draft picks Pace made. Keep in mind that we are factoring in the draft price and players that were selected after when coming up with the rankings.

Honorable mention for Chicago Bears best picks under Ryan Pace

This is what is going to take Mitch Trubisky far from this list. Overall, when you draft a starter who helps get you to the playoffs multiple times, it can be considered a good pick. When the pick was number two overall, it featured a trade-up, and Patrick Mahomes was selected a couple of picks the later, the pick gets a lot worse. That keeps him as an honorable mention and the rare contender for both best and worst pick under Pace.

Two other honorable mention selections are Eddie Goldman and James Daniels.  Both of them were top 40 picks, so they were not quite as impressive of finds. Goldman lived up to his pedigree, and earned a contract, but seeing his career cut short the past couple of seasons kept him off of the list. Daniels just earned a strong extension from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still, the Bears moving him around so much never let him find a place to become a great pick for the Bears.

The last three honorable mention names are Nick Kwiatkoski, Tarik Cohen, and Bilal Nichols. Kwiatkoski went 113th, Cohen went 119th, and Nichols fell to 145.

Whatever you think about them, those are excellent picks for the value of where they were taken. What keeps them just off of the top 10 list is the injury to Cohen, and his career possibly being over. For Kwiatkoski and Nichols, perhaps if the team that drafted them extended them, they would hit as well.