Today at Halas Hall, Ryan Pace and John Fox held their season-ending press conference for the media. During the interview, Pace was directly asked why he didn’t address the secondary this year after a disastrous 2015 season from that group and here’s what he said…
Pace basically told everyone that they had higher expectations for Tracy Porter and Kyle Fuller. Porter suffered a few injuries and declined with his play this season rather than taking another step forward. Fuller had a knee scope but spent weeks in the training room trying to get back on the field, but it never materialized. Be it lack of health, or lack of talent.
Pace went on to point out that the organization is doing everything they can with Fuller to try and mold him back into the first-round player he was originally selected to be.
“If Kyle Fuller can be the player he was drafted to be, it would be huge for this organization.” Pace said.
The general manager of the Chicago Bears did not shy away from taking criticism for his decisions though. He made sure to point out that he didn’t draft Fuller, but cited a direct need in the secondary that appears to be obvious to everyone… and he took fault for it.
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Pace: "We need to add more playmakers to our secondary. We need to add more ball skills to our secondary." #Bears
— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) January 4, 2017
The Bears finished 29th in the league with just eight total interceptions, and not all of them came from the secondary. It was predictable as well because Pro Football Focus ranked Chicago’s secondary 31st entering the 2016 season.
With the third overall pick and names like Jamal Adams and Jabrill Peppers continuing to rise up people’s draft boards, don’t be surprised if Chicago uses a high pick to address this need. Pace is aware the Bears need help in the secondary and he intends on doing something about it.
