Ryan Pace was a gamble when the Chicago Bears hired him to become general manager in 2015. Not a lot of people had heard his name during the initial rumors after the 2014 season ended. It actually didn’t surface until a few days before the hiring was announced. Up until that point, everybody was sure Chris Ballard, the Chiefs director of player personnel and former Bears scout was the obvious choice.
So when the Pace hiring was announced, it came as a surprise. Team chairman George McCaskey explained that he liked the plan Ryan laid out for the organization and also wanted to take things in a new direction rather than sticking by the old methods (Ballard) that had been good but not good enough. Pace came from a winning organization that had rebuilt itself from the ground up.
It was a move with plenty of logic behind it, but also an element of risk. Though Pace was experienced as a scout and personnel director, he was also young. The youngest GM in the NFL at the time of his hiring. He’s only been in the Saints front office for two years. So there was a concern that he might experience some growing pains when running his own offseason.
Sitting here in 2018 and looking back? Those people were right.
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Ryan Pace can’t escape his past draft blunders amidst Bears struggles
One must stay fair in these situations when calling a man out on his mistakes. The 2015 and 2016 NFL drafts for the Bears were not total failures. Pace actually did some good things in both. Eddie Goldman and Adrian Amos have become steady contributors on defense from the ’15 class. Cody Whitehair and Jordan Howard became foundational players on offense from the ’16 group.
However, every draft class is typically defined by how the top pick pans out. In that regard, Pace clearly misfired not once but twice. Let’s start with the first. Kevin White was Pace’s first ever pick. It’s not like he was criticized for it either. A ton of draft experts loved the big receiver out of West Virginia and thought he had superstar potential. There’s no way Pace could’ve predicted the sheer bad luck White’s had with injuries since then.
What. An. Ending.
(via @thecheckdown) pic.twitter.com/ZNpVwIwYcb
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 21, 2018
Two broken legs and a broken shoulder blade robbed him of all but five games in his first three seasons. In that time the Bears inevitably ran out of patience, bringing in new weapons like Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and Anthony Miller. In 11 career games spanning almost three and a half seasons, he has 23 catches for 257 yards and no touchdowns. For a former #7 overall pick, that’s bad.
That decision though could be defended to an extent. It was the one that came a year later where Pace really deserves criticism.
Leonard Floyd is proving to be a disaster in every sense
Pace didn’t take a huge risk on White. Injuries have played a big part in his lack of success and there’s no predicting that. The situation with Leonard Floyd is considerably different. He was a far bigger risk when the Bears drafted him 9th overall in 2016. Not just because experts were wary of his physical makeup, but also the fact Pace traded up to get him.
The big question with Floyd wasn’t athleticism or speed. Those were the reasons the Bears loved him. It was his thinner frame and overall lack of power. Winning purely with speed as a pass rusher is not possible in the NFL. It was reflected in his limited sack production at Georgia too. Pace drafted a player based on what he might become rather than what he was.
It looked good initially. He had seven sacks in his first 12 games. Then he missed four with concussion problems. Then next year he had just 4.5 sacks in 10 games before injuring his knee. Since returning this offseason, he broke his hand in the preseason and has since gone six games without a sack or even a hit on the quarterback. That is what one calls a regression.
For Pace to get that sort of result from two top 10 draft choices? It’s a bad look. A really bad look and may be the single biggest reason this team isn’t better than it is right now. Missing on high picks like that can hold a team back from being better than they should be.
The good news is Pace has shown improvement since then
Like any young GM though Pace has learned a lot being on the job. His previous two drafts are reflecting that. Mitch Trubisky is playing some of the best football a QB has played in Chicago in years despite some nagging inconsistencies. Roquan Smith, their rookie #8 overall pick is already flashing his considerable talent at inside linebacker.
Pace has done consistently well in the later rounds during his tenure. That’s what has kept him afloat to this point. However, with White and Floyd not living up to their lofty draft billings it has kept the Bears in the position of being a flawed football team without enough playmakers. At the end of the day, that’s on him.
