The Chicago Bears are certainly a well-represented team these days. They are 8-3 with five games to go in the 2018 season and appear poised to clinch their first playoff berth in eight years. A huge part of that has been the incredible work of GM Ryan Pace. After a series of setbacks in the 2017 offseason, he knew he had to get this time right if this team was going to start winning football games.
Suffice to say he did the job. It started with the hiring of Matt Nagy. The 39-year old offensive coordinator arrived from Kansas City as a bit of an unknown. All anybody knew was he had quarterbacking experience and was a project of Andy Reid, one of the best coach groomers in football. He arrived as a breath of fresh air, making football fun again for the players and installing a modern offense that is cutting edge in many ways.
Pace then set about overhauling the roster. Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and Trey Burton arrived in free agency. Roquan Smith, James Daniels, and Anthony Miller were drafted. Last but certainly not least? He made a blockbuster trade for star pass rusher Khalil Mack. Now the Bears have a top five offense, a top five defense and are suddenly Super Bowl contenders.
It’s little surprise NFL.com ranked him atop the Executive of the Year power rankings. He wasn’t alone though.
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.@ChrisWesseling's Top Executive of the Year Candidates:
1. @ChicagoBears GM Ryan Pace
2. @Colts GM Chris Ballard
3-8. https://t.co/F8QuFMjZWw pic.twitter.com/kAJ0B3jPHk— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2018
It now seems the Chicago Bears wouldn’t have missed either way
The amazing thing here is that Pace and Chris Ballard were the final two candidates the Bears were looking at in 2015. The fact that both are now surging as the best GMs of 2018? This essentially means Chicago would’ve been good with either choice. Indeed the work the former Bears scout has done in Indianapolis is impressive.
He cleaned up the mess left by predecessor Ryan Grigson. The defense is young with a budding star in Darius Leonard leading the way. Quenton Nelson has revitalized the offensive line, allowing Andrew Luck to stay upright and make plays like never before. Then there’s Frank Reich who has done a tremendous job in his first year as head coach, putting them in position to win a wild card spot in the playoffs.
Great as all that is, it doesn’t compare to all the things Pace had to do to put the Bears in the position they are. Barring a major meltdown, he absolutely should be the unanimous choice for Executive of the Year. A fitting vindication for the years of work he put in rebuilding this franchise from the ground up.
