Few general managers in the NFL are better at keeping their cards close to the vest when it comes to the draft than Ryan Pace. Multiple times over the past four years he’s managed to catch the entire football world off guard with his moves. Last season with his move for Anthony Miller. The year before with his jump up for Mitch Trubisky. His double back move in 2016 before “settling” for Cody Whitehair.
It’s never entirely clear which players he might be targeting. However, time can allow one to paint a fairly clear picture. Pace has focused the vast majority of his draft picks in the southeastern region of the country. This is the area that stretches from Louisiana all the way up the east coast to Virginia and north to Kentucky. This isn’t a surprise. The southeast is considered the primary hub of football talent in the country.
So that doesn’t reveal much. Except there is one other key aspect of this reality. Not only do the Bears focus their efforts in the southeast, but they actually have been going back to the same school quite a bit in the past few years. Maybe it’s coincidence or maybe it’s a tell as to where Pace and his scouts seem to play favorites.
Ryan Pace has deep connections to Georgia going back years
Since 2016, Pace has selected a total of 13 players out of the southeast region. No school got more attention during that span than Georgia who saw three of their players end up in Bears uniforms. Two of them were top 10 picks in Leonard Floyd and Roquan Smith. This would lead one to think that Pace has a strong pipeline down to that program, right?
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Well what makes it even more interesting is this didn’t just start in Chicago. Back during his time as a scouting assistant in New England in 2002 and 2003, the Saints drafted three players from Georgia over that two-year span. Two of them ended up being good players in tackle Jon Stinchcomb and defensive end Charles Grant.
In total four Georgia players were drafted during Pace’s run there. One of which he actually signed to join the Bears in John Jenkins. His belief in this program and its talent appears to be strong. The standout play of Floyd and Smith last year likely only emboldened him further in this belief.
So why is something like this important?
Obviously one doesn’t bring a topic like this up unless it could have a potential impact in the immediate future. The Bears have limited picks going into this spring and they have a few positions they may want to address. Chief among them being mostly on offense with running back, tight end, and wide receiver being options in that order. It just so happens that Georgia may deliver some fascinating options right in their wheelhouse.
Riley Ridley (WR)
The Bears have already made it clear they are looking for bigger bodies at receiver. Guys who can play more physical and make those tough catches. They already have one guy from Georgia in the mix in Javon Wims. Why not consider another in Ridley? He’s not blazing fast but he has good size mixed with strong hands and also something else that Wims doesn’t yet possess. Sharp route running ability.
Isaac Nauta (TE)
It’s looking like the game on Adam Shaheen isn’t paying off at this point. Unfortunate but that’s part of the draft. Add in the shaky health history of Trey Burton and the Bears are anything but set at tight end. Isaac Nauta is a guy Matt Nagy would like. He’s not only athletic with good speed and natural hands, he’s also an energetic blockers who works hard to do his part in every phase. Somebody who can create matchups.
Elijah Holyfield (RB)
This is perhaps the biggest Georgia fish Pace has his eye on. It’s no secret the Bears might be seeking an alternative to Jordan Howard. Somebody who better fits what Nagy likes to do. Elijah Holyfield has to be in that conversation. He has the same type of strength as Howard but with considerably more acceleration and quickness.
He’s got some speed too though he’s not a burner. NFL.com even compared him to Mark Ingram, another sign that Pace will be interested. The lingering question is whether he has any receiving prowess, something Georgia never really tried to explore during his time there.
This isn’t just a Pace thing either. Previous Bears GMs had similar leanings that drove which direction the team went at times. Phil Emery had a particular love of Boise State products (Shea McClellin and Charles Leno Jr.). Jerry Angelo just couldn’t help himself when it came to Florida (Alex Brown, Ian Scott, Todd Johnson, Rex Grossman, and Major Wright). Mark Hatley loved Washington (Bob Sapp, Olin Kreutz, and Tony Parrish).
Something like this matters and need to be watched carefully.
