The Chicago Bears made arguably the biggest acquisition of the 2021 NFL Draft as they made a draft-night trade to move up and select Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields. The Bears traded with the New York Giants to move up to the 11th selection, in return, Chicago gave New York their 20th selection, next year’s first-rounder, along with a 2022 fourth and fifth round pick. General manager Ryan Pace needed to draft a quarterback and learned from his mistake when he drafted Mitchell Trubisky second overall in 2017.

The Bears have their QB 🐻

Chicago trades up for the No. 11 pick and takes Justin Fields. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/YcKfGQs612

— ESPN (@espn) April 30, 2021

The Leadup To The Selection Of Fields Was Similar To Trubisky

Leading up to the 2017 NFL Draft, Pace’s biggest goal was to address the Bears quarterback position after a three-win 2016 season. Although he kept his desires to draft a quarterback a secret, Chicago’s general manager did everything he could to make sure the team got Trubisky. Pace personally scouted the North Carolina quarterback’s games, even dressing incognito to avoid tipping the Bears’ intentions.

#Bears GM Ryan Pace on Mitchell Trubisky: "His accuracy jumps out right away."

— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) April 28, 2017

When the 2017 Draft came, the Bears general manager traded up from third to second overall because he was fearful about the potential possibility of another team trading up to select Trubisky. After the selection, every detail came forward to how high Pace was on his rookie quarterback. The main issue was that he didn’t scout or spend equal time looking at the other quarterbacks in the draft, including future MVP Patrick Mahomes and Pro Bowler Deshaun Watson.

Four years ago today the Bears traded up one spot in the 2017 NFL Draft to select quarterback Mitchell Trubisky pic.twitter.com/K3PIdpX9M3

— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) April 27, 2021

Despite helping the Bears get to the playoffs two of the last three seasons, Trubisky has failed to mature as a quarterback as the team parted ways with him this offseason. The biggest mistake of Pace’s drafting the quarterback that he was all in on the quarterback instead of looking at all his options and seeing who would be the best. Trubisky was viewed as having the most potential of the three quarterbacks but had the least amount of experience and had several concerning questions with him, including deep ball accuracy and the level of talent faced.

All of these concerns came to fruition as Trubisky’s two biggest struggles during his Bears’ tenure were his deep ball accuracy and an inability to read opposing defenses. Although he did have moments of displaying premiere talent, the 2017 second overall selection was consistently inconsistent, which led to a stagnant Bears’ offense the previous two seasons. Pace had the right idea in doing all he could to find the quarterback but failed from an execution standpoint in selecting Trubisky.

All The Mistake Made In 2017 Were Corrected in 2021

On Thursday night, Pace rejuvenated the Bears’ franchise when he traded up to select Fields with the 11th overall selection. Like 2017, the entire offseason this year for the Bears has been dedicated to correcting the quarterback position as the team signed a bridge quarterback in Andy Dalton to pair with a long-term quarterback. When Chicago was unable to acquire an All-Pro veteran quarterback via trade, Pace set his eyes on drafting one of the five quarterbacks projected to go in the first round of this year’s draft.

Remember a month ago when Russell Wilson was done deal traded to the Bears after his list of 5 preferred destinations leaked?

— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) April 30, 2021

The choice was going to come down to either Fields or Mac Jones for the Bears as Trevor Lawrence, Zack Wilson, and Trey Lance were taken with the first three selections on Thursday Night. The one caveat the Bears had between both quarterbacks was that they came from top-tier college football programs in Alabama and Ohio State. Furthermore, Fields and Jones were big-game proven as they played multiple college football playoff games. While Trubisky had played in just 13 collegiate games at North Carolina, Chicago’s 2021 first-round quarterback played many seasons for both Ohio State and Georgia.

Good morning Bears fans here’s your new QB Justin Fields throwing 6 TDs in the College Football Playoff semifinals. pic.twitter.com/j87t058HLH

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 30, 2021

When trading up with the Giants to 11th, Pace made the excellent decision of balancing both present and the future by giving up this year’s and next year’s first-round selections. By keeping the Bears’ second and third-round picks for this year’s draft, Chicago’s general manager can add a potential impact receiver or offensive lineman to pair with Fields. When Pace traded up for Trubisky, many believed he panicked and outbid himself being fearful of missing out on the quarterback he desired. The trade led to several other draft-day trades to recuperate picks. On Thursday, with other teams such as the New England Patriots confirmed to be interested in trading up for either Fields or Jones, the Bears’ general manager made the best offer while not mortgaging the future.

The trade details:#BearsDraft | 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/0WY09UVKB1

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 30, 2021

One of the most significant differences between the Fields selection and the Trubisky selection is that Fields has a terrific offensive-centric coaching staff to play under. Although head coach Matt Nagy may be a questionable play-caller, he is a proven quarterbacks coach, and so is his offensive coaching staff. Nagy was the quarterback coach for the Kansas City Chiefs and is credited for Alex Smith’s Pro Bowl play in 2016 and 2017. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor worked with Dalton in Cincinnati when the quarterback made the Pro Bowl in 2016. When the Bears drafted Trubisky in 2017, the quarterback played under a defensive-style head coach in John Fox with offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone in charge of his development.

Pace and the Bears need to redeem themselves after the Trubisky selection in 2017, and they did just that with drafting Fields. The entire 2021 offseason has been spent on solving the quarterback position, and Chicago did that with their first-round draft choice. Fields will sit behind Dalton but will have the ability to learn and be ready to perform when it comes time for him to start in the NFL.