It’s hard not to be excited about Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace. After a slow start to his tenure with the team in 2015, it feels like the young executive is coming into his own. His most recent draft class is still being talked about in NFL circles. Leonard Floyd finished among the leaders in quarterback sacks for rookies. Cody Whitehair was an All-Rookie center. Jordan Howard? Only the second-leading rusher in the league and on his way to the Pro Bowl.
It’s that kind of draft productivity Chicago hasn’t seen in years. Hopes have risen for what Pace can do in 2017, but so have expectations. This will mark his third year in charge. Everybody knows that the typical timeline for progress to happen with an NFL team under a certain regime is three years. That means he has to get this looming draft right.
The thing is a lot of people don’t quite grasp just how much might be riding on what happens in the next few months. Pace certainly does. He’s a football historian just like most fans, former players or scouts. There could be potentially disastrous consequences, personally and professionally if he doesn’t do his job.
