You can reach back to a cascading group of mistakes. First, the Bears interviewed Chris Ballard for the GM job, but chose Ryan Pace. When you look at the terrific job Ballard has done building the Colts, you think about how much better the Bears would be if they had hired Chris Ballard instead of Ryan Pace.
Pace does get some credit. He built a roster last year that I think could have won a Super Bowl. Had Parkey made that field goal I think they were capable of getting to the Super Bowl, and beating the Patriots. It is surprising that a roster that hasn’t changed all that much, is now this bad.
One of the things that really bothers me about Pace is he throws draft picks around like they are worthless. In 2018 he moved up for Anthony Miller. He gave up a 2019 second to move from 105 to 51 to select Anthony Miller. DJ Chark and Gallup were taken after Miller. Miller doesn’t look like anything special.
They moved up to get Montgomery in the 2019 draft. They gave up a fifth for a sixth in the 2019 draft, and a fourth in the 2020 draft. The worst part is they only got a sixth that could be a fifth in the 2020 draft for Howard. And Montgomery doesn’t look much better than Howard. They would have been much better off keeping Howard and using that pick on another position.
The big one is they gave up a third and fourth round pick in 2017, plus a third in 2018 to move from 3 to 2 to pick Trubisky. That of course, is the absolute worst decision. Not only was no one else moving up to take Trubisky, but he is far and away the worst of the three QBs that we’re available. And you gave up more draft capital to move up to get him.
Good franchises hoard draft capital. They recognize that drafting is an inexact science. By getting more swings at the piñata, you have more chances to succeed. The Patriots always draft late, but they have a ton of picks. And they are always more likely to move back, and accumulate draft capital, rather than move up. Pace, on the other hand, has tended to toss away draft capital to chase players. And, in the case of Miller, Montgomery, and Trubisky, it either wasn’t necessary, or didn’t really improve your team, or both.