Ryan Pace is hardly a universal favorite around the NFL. Especially in the draft community. His mode of operation is not considered normal. Or rather it tends to go against the style that most like to believe are the best way to build a football team. That is to say, he’s surprisingly aggressive in shipping out draft picks in order to either move up the board for players he covets or to acquire veterans he feels can elevate the team.
No doubt many of those critics weren’t happy when the Chicago Bears went 12-4 last season and won the NFC North title. It was validation that Pace’s style can work and work well. Naturally, this won’t stop people from continuing to argue that what he’s doing is way too dangerous. It leaves zero room for error and makes every single pick he makes matter. One misstep at it could ruin an entire draft.
Pace though feels he has stronger convictions for doing what he does. Namely to reward the hard work of his front office and scouts by getting players they covet. Adam Jahns of The Athletic got that explanation.
But emotion does remain a factor. Pace wants to avoid what he describes as “a disappointed draft room.”
“I think if you sit on your hands and you say, ‘Oh, this player is definitely going to get to us,’ and he goes right before you and you had conviction on him — not just you but the scouts and the coaches –and you wait on it, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Pace said. “If you have a guy or a group of guys, be aggressive and make it happen. I never want to be passive in these situations and not get the guy you want.”
Ryan Pace has proven more often than not he’s right by moving up
It’s interesting that Pace has developed this style. He was hired in 2015, one year after arguably the greatest near-miss in Bears draft history. That was the season Phil Emery sat on his hands at #14 while he watched Aaron Donald go to the Los Angeles Rams at #13. Donald had 9 sacks his first year and went to the Pro Bowl. Kyle Fuller, the Bears’ eventual pick, started strong but fell apart down the stretch.
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Did that play a part in George McCaskey hiring Pace? Maybe he didn’t want to ever feel like that again. Like his team had missed out on something great because they were too afraid to move. If so, they certainly got the right guy. Not only is Pace more than willing to make such a move, he’s actually been pretty good at it.
- Leonard Floyd – decent pass rusher
- Nick Kwiatkoski – good backup ILB and a good special teams piece
- Mitch Trubisky – Pro Bowl alternate
- Eddie Jackson – All-Pro
- Anthony Miller – Led 2018 rookie WRs in TDs
- David Montgomery*
Montgomery is an unknown obviously because he hasn’t played yet. Otherwise, every player Pace has acquired via a trade up in the draft has become a solid contributor to the team is some form or fashion. None of those players can be called a wasted pick. So criticize him all you want. Pace has no reason to feel like what he’s doing is the wrong thing.
