The Complete Chicago Bears Draft Primer
Published by Matt Eurich on April 29, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Following a disappointing 2014 season, the Chicago Bears fired general manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman and hired Ryan Pace as the team’s new general manager and John Fox as the team’s new head coach.
Pace and Fox have been working hard this offseason to improve Chicago’s roster, and they received praise from their boss earlier this week.
“Vibe and energy are two good words. [General manager] Ryan [Pace] and [coach] John [Fox] have really energized the building,” said Bears chairman George H. McCaskey, according to Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “They’re working very well together from what I can see and a lot of positive energy.”
The Bears have added 13 new players via free agency, and McCaskey has been impressed with Pace’s approach as a first-time general manager.
McCaskey said on the Mully and Hanley Show on Monday, via CBSChicago.com:
The biggest thing I would say I’ve noticed is Ryan certainly doesn’t look like a first-time GM. He was the talent evaluator in New Orleans, and I think he handled many of the duties of the GM anyway. But he seems very relaxed, very composed, very much in control. I think he’s as excited as anybody else is about the draft coming up.
As well as Pace has handled himself in free agency this offseason, he knows how important the draft is for the team moving forward.
“The recipe to winning Super Bowls is stringing successful drafts together again and again,” Pace said at his introductory press conference in January, according to the Chicago Tribune. “We are not just collecting athletes. We are acquiring football players that fit the Chicago Bears.”
The Bears hold the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft following their 5-11 season, and Pace now has an opportunity to build the organization his own way by adding young talent in the draft.
Just ahead, we take a look at which picks the Bears hold, who they have visited with and what some of their top needs are in our complete Chicago Bears draft primer.
