Rule #5: He must fill a need
Look, don’t be fooled by the rhetoric Pace puts forward about taking the “best player available.” It’s never that simple. Tom Coughlin explained it in a much better way. When head coach the New York Giants they had a board filled with players. Each player had a grade. Of course if one player had a way higher grade than the rest, he would be selected. However, if several players held a similar grade on the board when the Giants picked, the team would prioritize their biggest need.
That’s likely how the Bears do it as well. In retrospect it shouldn’t be a surprise either White or Floyd were the targets their respective years. Chicago had just traded Brandon Marshall to New York in 2015, leaving a huge hole in their receiving corps. In 2016 they had no pass rusher college more than 8.5 sacks for the season with one of them, Pernell McPhee suffering a bad knee injury. Again, Floyd should’ve been a more obvious target due to his obvious pass rush potential.
So feel free to look at the “best players” expected to be available at #3 overall next Thursday. Just best put them in the order according to the biggest need.
