Tough to Find a Negative Remark
The selection of Justin Fields by trading up won the Bears universal acclaim for this draft, and one needed to look very long and hard to find a single disparaging remark about Ryan Pace's overall draft.
Imagine that.
Even Pro Football Focus had good things to say about this Bears draft. Long critical of every Pace move, PFF was one of the websites giving the Bears the most accolades.
They graded the Bears draft an A+.
The only other teams gaining this elite status in PFF's eyes were the Browns, Chargers and Patriots.
"The Bears underwhelmed when they settled for Andy Dalton earlier in the offseason, but they redressed the situation with an aggressive move for Justin Fields, the No. 3 player on PFF’s Big Board," PFF wrote.
PFF went a step beyond BearDigest's grade of "A."
While FanNation's NFL Draft Bible didn't dole out letter grades, they ranked the drafts and said the Bears came out with the second-best draft overall.
Lorenz Leinweber wrote for NFL Draft Bible: "The Bears' draft was defined by their first two picks, which were part of trading up. Stopping the Fields slide by making a deal with the Giants could give Chicago a true franchise quarterback for the first time in decades."
The only problem with this for the Bears was Detroit received the best overall draft ranking.
Here's what top experts around the web had to say about this Bears draft.
Sports Illustrated: A-
Connor Orr of SI wrote about Pace's past failures and added, "Playing the board like they did and landing Justin Fields, who could end up being the second-most talented player in this class, may be a springboard into a fine second act for the GM."
Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN: B+
ESPN's dean of draft gurus wouldn't go all the way up to the top level for Pace, but came close.
"The Mitchell Trubisky pick didn't work out," Kiper wrote, in the classic "ya think?" of all time. "But Fields is going to be an upgrade."
Kiper added: "Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace are under pressure, and they needed to make a big move to get a frustrated fan base off their back."
CBS Sports.com: B+
Like Kiper, Pete Prisco refused to take it to the next level for CBS Sports.
"The Bears were aggressive, and it was the smart thing ," Prisco wrote. "This regime needs to win now, and they drafted like it. They don't care about the future — even if t
hey wouldn't admit it. Getting Fields will define this draft."
NBC Sports: A+
"The trade-up for Justin Fields was a franchise-altering decision, yes," Thor Nystrom wrote. "Also a life-changing one for members of the Ryan Pace-led Bears front office, who were heading into a Green Mile season, a 16-game walk towards inevitable execution and a franchise restart in Chicago."
NFL.com: A
Chad Reuter of NFL.com didn't let the offensive line moves go unmentioned.
"The Bears have needed a playmaking quarterback for decades. Trading up to land Fields was well worth the price. Upgrading the offensive line was also a priority, so trading up for a player of Jenkins’ caliber at a reasonable price made sense," Reuter wrote.
Pro Football Network: A+
Pro Football Network's Dalton Miller found the two top picks intertwined while awarding the highest possible mark.
"The Bears did two things in this draft that were absolutely necessary in order to provide hope for the future," Miller wrote. "They needed to attack in order to get a quarterback. Furthermore, they needed to try their best to protect him. They ended up with Justin Fields, who is an immensely talented quarterback, and Teven Jenkins to protect him. Then, they added to their team after Day 2 with great value picks.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
