Ryan Pace gave an honest answer as to why his Chicago Bears draft plan centered around moving up one spot to select Mitch Trubisky #2 overall. He had the conviction that a team must be aggressive if they want to be great. They identified a player they felt could change their fortunes at the most important position in football. So they went up and got him.
That’s the generally accepted part of the story. Easy enough to understand. No Bears QB has made a Pro Bowl since 1985. Their lone Hall of Famer Sid Luckman retired in 1951 and died in 1998. This franchise is long overdue for having an actual star at the position. They seem to think Trubisky can be that guy.
The truth is though that still doesn’t quite explain the trade. Sure, there was lingering fear another team might jump up. However, the odds favored Trubisky being available at #3 overall. As it turns out there was another piece of motivation involved.
Bears draft plan was basically Trubisky or bust
It seems Pace is a very picky man. He wanted Marcus Mariota in 2015 but couldn’t get him. He wanted Carson Wentz last year but couldn’t get him. Both times he did not select a quarterback in the entire draft. According to Albert Breer of the MMQB, the GM was prepared to do the same again if the Bears failed to land Trubisky.
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“As I understand it, Trubisky wasn’t just the top-rated quarterback on the Bears’ board—there was no close second, and they weren’t going to take a QB if he’d gone first overall to Cleveland. After vetting all the quarterbacks, the Bears brass believed Trubisky was the most athletic and the most accurate and carried the most upside of any of this year’s prospects.”
In other words it was Trubisky or nobody. Pace has cemented himself as a man of high standards when it comes to the QB position. At least in the draft. If he doesn’t view the player as a future franchise guy, he’s content to ride it out with experienced veterans like Jay Cutler and Brian Hoyer. This of course better explains the aggressive push to sign Mike Glennon in free agency.
Had they not been able to secure Trubisky, it appears Pace would’ve spent the 2017 draft building up the offensive and defensive skill positions. Then it would be the Glennon show for this season. Maybe a bit anticlimactic but then again not surprising. Pace was bound to have high standards after watching Drew Brees for years in New Orleans.
It’s encouraging to think he saw enough in Trubisky to think he can be that type of player.
