As the Chicago Bears enter December, the focus has shifted from the team’s five remaining games to discussions of job security and a rebuild. Many fans and analysts are ready for ownership to fire head coach Matt Nagy, general manager Ryan Pace, and team president Ted Phillips. Regardless of how the season ends, Nagy has a good chance of being fired. Pace, on the other hand, could get a second chance based on what he has done for the Bears already.

Pace Rebuilt The Team From The Lowest Point

When Pace became general manager in 2015, he took over the team following arguably the worst season in franchise history. The 2014 Bears team was historically bad both on and off the field as the franchise was consistently embarrassed by the actions and inactions of general manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman. The Bears’ defense was historically bad in 2014 and lacked any defensive stars to build around except for cornerback Kyle Fuller.

Had a request for this earlier today, so here it is. The #Bears Week 1 starters in 2015 (Ryan Pace’s first season) vs This year.

Presented without comment. pic.twitter.com/jfBWmJOZPW

— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) September 3, 2018

The 2015 season was supposed to be the first rebuilding season as the team was expected to be one of the worst teams in the league that season, but found themselves in playoff contention at the start of December. Pace found quality players in both the draft and free agency, which allowed the team to compete throughout the season. The quality of players was apparent as of the team’s ten losses that season, only four losses were by six points or more.

Pace was able to restore respectability to the Bears franchise within one year as many believed the team could compete for the playoffs in 2016. 2015 through 2017 were initially supposed to be the rebuilding phase, but since the general manager turned it around in his rookie season, many forgot that the next two years were supposed to be rebuilding years.

Pace Has Shown That He Can Draft Consistently

Arguably Pace’s best trait as a general manager has been his ability to draft. Through his six seasons as Bears’ general manager, he has been able to find quality prospects in each draft. Pace’s first three draft classes feature one, if not, more players that went on to make it to the Pro-Bowl. Although Pace has only had one first-round selection work in linebacker Roquan Smith, he has done a tremendous job finding players in the later rounds.

Highest 3-year PFF grades on defense from the 2017 NFL Draft

1. Marcus Williams – 90.7
2. Desmond King II – 90.4
3. Eddie Jackson – 90.1
4. Jamal Adams – 90.0 pic.twitter.com/0i2ppH4grd

— PFF (@PFF) May 10, 2020

Some of those players include Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, Eddie Goldman, Adrian Amos, Eddie Jackson, Nick Kwiatkowski, Cody Whitehair, Bilal Nichols, and Darnell Mooney. Pace has yet to have a draft in which all his picks didn’t work out. The ability to find talent in the later rounds has to be taken into account because it shows that there is a knack for finding talent that other teams are overlooking.

So on average, Ryan Pace is landing this in each draft class & UDFAs:
Starters: 3
Role players: 3.5

That means each year, he's finding 6-7 rostered players (starters or quality depth pieces) that stick 3+ years. Less picks or not, this is quality drafting. #Bears

— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) April 30, 2019

Even some of Pace’s first round, although they didn’t work out, they were not bad picks at the moment. His three most controversial first-round selections are Kevin White, Leonard Floyd, and Mitchell Trubisky. White didn’t work out not because he wasn’t talented, but because he couldn’t stay healthy. Floyd showed promised during his Bears career but never lived up to the expectation. He is now having a great season with the Rams.

The Trubisky selection gets the most scrutiny, but many forget that he was projected as the number one quarterback prospect in 2017, and several significant mock drafts had the future Bears quarterback being selected first overall. Unlike some of Emery’s draft selections, Pace’s reasoning for drafting the players he took in the first made sense at the moment.

Todd McShay projected Mitchell Trubisky to the Cleveland Browns at #1 in his final mock draft. #Bears

— ✶ Sports Mockery ✶ (@sportsmockery) April 27, 2017

The Bears Organization May Not Have To Commit To A Total Rebuild

The most glaring issue with the Bears team currently has been their inept offense. Despite having the worst offense in the league the last two seasons, Chicago has been a playoff contender because of their superb defense. With several young defensive stars still under contract, Chicago could overhaul their offense in the offseason with a new head coach and be a playoff contender in 2021.

By keeping Pace and the defense following the 2020 season, If the Bears move on from Nagy, having a talented defense in place could attract top coaching candidates this offseason. For a potential coaching candidate like Joe Brady, taking the Bears’ job with a readied defense could be the best situation.

If the Bears finish at 8-8 or worse, here's what I do:

— Move Phillips to a different role.

— Make Ryan Pace the President of Football Ops.

— Target someone like Marvin Allen or Thomas Dimitroff as GM.

— Target Brandon Staley or Joe Brady as HC.

— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) November 24, 2020

Fans and the media will have a better gauge of job security depending on how the Bears’ last five games turnout. If all five games are embarrassing losses, both Nagy and Pace are likely gone. If the team remains competitive, but the offense falters, it is likely that the head coach is gone while the general manager remains. Although Pace has made one of the more controversial draft selections in selecting Trubisky, the rest of his work has been respectable, and that could help allow him to keep his job at the end of 2020.