The Chicago Bears are on their way to another losing season. Fans are grasping for reasons why things have been like this for so long.
The answer to that question lay in their history with the NFL draft. Every pick is important and could end up producing top of the line talent. However, there is no disputing the fact that the most important of those picks lay in the 1st round. These are the selections that represent the best possible opportunity every year for a team to get a difference-maker for the franchise.
It is precisely here that the woes of Bears football can be traced.
The Bears have selected 52 players in the 1st round since the Super Bowl era began in 1966. A total of 17 of them went to at least one Pro Bowl in their careers. Four of those 17 achieved the feat after leaving the organization to go elsewhere. This averages out to a .326 average hit rate.
Here is a comparison of some other more successful franchises over that same span.
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 20 Pro Bowlers in 51 picks (.392 average)
- Dallas Cowboys: 21 Pro Bowlers in 49 picks (.428 average)
- San Francisco 49ers: 20 Pro Bowlers in 57 picks (.350 average)
- Denver Broncos: 15 Pro Bowlers in 43 picks (.348 average)
- Washington Redskins: 14 Pro Bowlers in 28 picks (.500 average)
- New England Patriots: 24 Pro Bowlers in 58 picks (.413 average)
If ever there was an indication of the fact that hitting on the top picks in a draft led to championship success, it’s this list. Every team listed has a higher average hit rate than the Bears, some of them substantially higher. There can be no more condemning evidence of how mishandled those picks have been over the years.
What’s really going to stick in the craw of Bears fans is there was another team that actually had a lesser hit rate in terms of Pro Bowl 1st rounders. That was the Green Bay Packers. They managed just a .237 average. So how can they still have more championships than the Bears? Two of them came during the Lombardi era and most of those players were drafted long before 1966. However, another factor is that many of the 1st round picks who didn’t reach a Pro Bowl still became solid contributor to the team. A total of 14 started more than five seasons for them.