Chicago Bears: The Ryan Pace nose for QBs didn’t fail

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace played defense in college. So he had a lot of catching up to do when it came to understanding the quarterback position.

Luckily he had some excellent teachers when he became a scout with the New Orleans Saints in 2002. It started with Mike McCarthy. He was the offensive coordinator for that team in the early years and would use that job as a springboard to becoming head coach of the Green Bay Packers. People eventually saw his prowess with QBs in the form of Aaron Rodgers.

After that, the education shifted to Sean Payton who has since turned Drew Brees, a castoff from San Diego, into the NFL’s all-time leading passer. Pace witnessed what greatness looks like on and off the field at that position and what it took to identify it from a scouting perspective. So when he became the leading man for the Bears in 2015, people should’ve trusted that he would know what to look for when the inevitable change at QB came.

There were even warning signs during those first two years. Nobody bothered to take them seriously. So given the recent tidings in Chicago, maybe it’s time to admit they should’ve.

Ryan Pace wanted Marcus Mariota

Jay Cutler may have been the man still in 2015, but make no mistake. Pace was looking to replace him from the outset. He had eyes on the draft that year and reports came out not long after that he was trying to position the team to go get Oregon star Marcus Mariota. Unfortunately, as Adam Hoge of WGN stated the price tag was just too high.

"“We’ll never know what the Tennessee Titans wanted for the No. 2 overall pick in 2015, but we do know the Bears were interested.General manager Ryan Pace correctly identified Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota as a prospect he could build an offense around, but the price was evidently too high.”"

Mariota has had an up and down career to this point. He had a great season in 2016, regressed badly in 2017 but has since begun to pick things up again this year. He played the two best games of the season in wins over Dallas and New England. It’s looking like he’s finally starting to regain his old form and has the Tennessee Titans in position for a playoff push.

He wanted Carson Wentz

A year later it was the same scenario. Pace wanted to move on from Cutler but he needed the right quarterback to justify it. Chris Mortensen of ESPN revealed that the Bears had tried hard to make a move up from #11 overall to secure North Dakota State standout Carson Wentz. Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Eagles beat them to the punch.

Through the first 36 games of his career, Wentz has thrown 64 touchdowns and just 24 interceptions. He’s 21-15 as a starter and was a huge reason the Eagles got on a roll last season and eventually won the Super Bowl. Most felt he would’ve been MVP if he hadn’t torn his ACL. He has a long, productive career ahead of him.

People should’ve known better than to scoff at the Mitch Trubisky move

That is credible information from legitimate sources. Pace wanted two of the better young quarterbacks in the right now. So it’s safe to say the guy had a fairly sharp sense for what good ones look like. That’s why it should’ve been a bigger shock when so many people came down on him for his move up in the 2017 draft to grab Mitch Trubisky.

Instead of trusting the national experts, many of whom don’t devote nearly the hours to the game that he does, maybe they should’ve wondered if maybe Pace knew something others might not. His track record speaks for itself. Now here we are, over a year later and the legions of doubters are being dispersed with each passing week.

Trubisky has thrown for 19 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions this season. He’s also scored three rushing touchdowns. The Bears have the 5th-best scoring offense in football and Trubisky is on pace to break every team single-season passing record. He’s 24-years old in the first year of a new offensive system with almost all new wide receivers too.

We can’t be sure if Pace is a tea drinker or not, but if he is he must be sipping it right about now.