Ryan Pace may not hold grudges, but he has a good memory. The Chicago Bears GM has been criticized for many things in his time running the team. Never was it louder than at the beginning of the 2017 NFL draft. He stunned the football world when he moved up from #3 overall to #2 by giving the San Francisco 49ers two 3rd round picks and a 4th round pick.
Then he selected quarterback Mitch Trubisky. A player many felt wasn’t ready for the NFL.
The experts killed him over that trade, declaring rookie 49ers GM John Lynch had run circles around him and gotten a future star in Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas. Just look at what Pete Prisco of CBS Sports had to say about it after the 1st round concluded.
Ouch. Many shared that belief at the time. One can imagine they and Prisco grew a little red in the face when Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk revealed a new development out of San Francisco.
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Solomon Thomas failure vindicates Ryan Pace for the Trubisky trade
Thomas was a standout at Stanford who finished his college career with a flourish in the Sun Bowl by dominating North Carolina for seven tackles, two for a loss, and a sack. That game propelled him to the top of boards largely because it took place against Trubisky. It was clear that Pace was undeterred by the hype.
He was proven correct.
Thomas has been a major disappointment in San Francisco with just four sacks in 30 games. His future was put in question the moment the 49ers traded for Pro Bowl pass rusher Dee Ford from Kansas City. If they do as expected and add another in the draft, his fate will be sealed.
This along with all the other picks that proved largely inconsequential from that trade puts Pace in the clear. Trubisky set a Bears franchise record in 2018 with a 95.4 passer rating. He went 11-3 as a starter, became the first QB in team history to throw for 300 yards in a playoff game and even made it to the Pro Bowl.
Pace will never openly state he was right, but nobody would blame him if he was spotted on camera during the draft sipping tea.