Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace mid round draft success follows a pattern

The Chicago Bears are 8-4 and in the midst of a playoff push. If they can finish strong, they’ll reach the postseason for the first time since 2010.

Much of the credit for this turnaround goes to GM Ryan Pace. After four long years of tireless work rebuilding the oldest roster in the NFL when he took over, people are finally seeing the fruits of his labor. The entire roster is made up almost exclusively of players he drafted, signed, or traded for and it’s working like a thing of beauty. Among the many things that have earned him such high praise of late is how much success he’s had at finding talent later in the draft.

The one area that has really stood out as a sweet spot for him is the mid rounds. For those who are wondering, this constitutes the 4th and 5th rounds of a draft. In that span, Pace has found no fewer than four starters for his team including one current Pro Bowler and two likely future Pro Bowlers. Not to mention some quality help for the special teams.

So what is it? What has led to Pace having such sustained success at a part of the draft that is considered the most difficult in the profession? The answer is a bit simple with a complex undercurrent.

2015:

• Jeremy Langford (Michigan State)
• Adrian Amos (Penn State)*

2016:

• Nick Kwiatkoski (West Virginia)
• Deon Bush (Miami)
• Deiondre Hall (Northern Iowa)
• Jordan Howard (Indiana)*

2017:

• Eddie Jackson (Alabama)*
• Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T)*
• Jordan Morgan (Kutztown)

Of that group, there’s no doubt that Amos, Howard, Jackson, and Cohen have been huge hits comparative to their draft position. So what did Pace do? He took a chance. Each of those players had considerable question marks next to their names but had been highly productive in school. Amos didn’t switch to safety until his junior year and was an unknown. Howard had one productive year at Indiana and had speed questions. Jackson had a broken leg and Cohen was 5’6.

In these instances, it would be so easy for Pace to look elsewhere at players who were considered safer bets. No injury histories here. No size concerns there. Yet he did something that a lot of GMs sometimes forget. He trusted his people. Pace repeated over and over how critical the scouts and his staff were in convincing him to draft those players. Why? They put in more time watching them. They saw the possibilities. All he had to do was trust them.

Success in the draft is about weighing risk-reward. Playing it safe can work, but it might take a long time for a team to find enough good players that way. Taking calculated risks on productive players with one question mark attached to their name can sometimes be a shortcut to where a team wants to go. Pace understood this, and the success speaks for itself.