For the first time in what feels like ages, the Chicago Bears 2016 draft class gave hope to fans everywhere. Any draft can have one good player in it. Case and point being the 2013 version with Kyle Long emerging from otherwise burnt wreckage. The only way to build a truly successful team though is to hit on multiple picks per draft. Something that became lost on this franchise for almost a decade.
That may finally be changing thanks to the arrival of GM Ryan Pace. After an unfortunate false start in 2015 due mostly to injury problems, his 2016 run was quite the showcase. So much in fact that several noted draft analysts still find time to talk about it almost a calendar year after it happened. None more so than ESPN personality Mel Kiper.
Smitten for the Bears 2016 draft class
In his final grades for teams from that draft, he couldn’t help but offer his ongoing admiration for the job Pace pulled off. Top to bottom in his minds it’s a group rich in instant production and long-term potential.
“The Bears have to get a really good grade so far, because at two spots they got guys who are already really good NFL players — among everybody, not just rookies — and they got exceptional value. I’ll start there: Cody Whitehair is already one of the top handful of centers in the NFL, and the Bears got him late in Round 2. Jordan Howard is already one of the top five or six running backs in the NFL, and the Bears got him in Round 5. On a per-snap basis, he was every bit as good and arguably better than Ezekiel Elliott.
I expressed concern at the time about Leonard Floyd’s frame and how well he could hold up, but he had 12 starts, seven sacks, made my All-Rookie Team and showed he can be a disruptive force. I said then I thought Nick Kwiatkoski could start early, and that could be the case in Year 2. From there, the only question is if the Bears can develop some of the secondary talent they added. If so, it’s a bonus on a solid class.”
Getting one player in a draft with Pro Bowl potential is terrific. Pace may have gotten three. Howard dominated from the moment he stepped on the field last year. He steamrolled defenses for 1,313 yards and averaged a whopping 5.2 yards per carry. Some wonder how much better it might’ve been had he not be kept on a leash through the first three games.
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Not a one-man show
Whitehair might actually be the more amazing story though. A left tackle at Kansas State, he was slated to make the switch to left guard. That became a problem when starting center Hroniss Grasu tore his ACL. Scrambling for answers, the Bears got a reprieve when Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton fell into their laps late in free agency. Whitehair was asked to make room for him by moving to center, a position he’d never played. A few months later he’s ranked as the sixth best at the position in the NFL. Wow.
As for Floyd, he battled through a series of unlucky injuries in 2016. He finished with seven sacks and a very memorable sack-fumble-touchdown on Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. Doing this despite playing with a frame that was considered not NFL ready. He was too thin and needed time to bulk up. Try to imagine what will happen if and when he gets that taken care of.
If this group progress as hoped, this team may have the core in place they need to build around. To think they have a draft coming up where they hold a top five pick in each of the top four rounds. Pace has a gigantic opportunity to add even more firepower to a young and ascending roster. He better. It’s unlikely he’ll be able to survive another 3-13 finish in 2017.
