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Questioning Bears’ draft moves? Pace has answers

What was behind those two trades in the fifth round? General manager saw it as ‘a sweet spot’ for value


By Dan Wiederer/Chicago Tribune


When the final day of the NFL draft began Saturday, Bears general manager Ryan Pace and his talent evaluation team remained in agreement: Round 5, the consensus was, looked like “a sweet spot.”

Pace believed a solid crop of Day 3 prospects would remain available. The value felt elevated. So rather than sit tight with the lone fifth-round pick the Bears entered the day with at No. 163, Pace started working the phones, maneuvering around and talking trades.

That, after all, has become a draft hobby for the sixth-year GM. And on Saturday afternoon, right in that sweet spot of Round 5, Pace pulled the trigger on two more deals to grab players the Bears really liked.

Pace started with a move to get Tulsa edge rusher Trevis Gipson, a player the Bears admired during the scouting process but fell deeper in love with during their pre-draft Skype visits. Pace worked a deal with the Vikings to scoop up the 155th pick. But Vikings GM Rick Spielman, who began Saturday with 13 — thirteen! — Day 3 picks, drove a bargain for the Bears’ 2021 fourth-round pick. (Spielman made four trades over the three-day draft.)

Pace didn’t balk at giving up a future pick in a higher round. The Bears, he believes, should be positioned to get at least one fourth-round compensatory pick in next year’s draft. Plus Pace saw a player in Gipson whose upside as a pass rusher was complemented by what the Bears identified as a deep drive to get the best out of himself.

“Some guys come across as natural and authentic in their interviews, and Gipson definitely did,” Pace said. “You could feel the hunger in his voice, the drive and the desire to be great. His passion. … He was a player we had graded high. And we wanted to make sure we got him.”

Less than an hour after picking Gipson, Pace worked a three-picks-for-two deal with the Eagles that allowed the Bears to jump 23 spots to take Tulane receiver Darnell Mooney at No. 173. The Bears also received the No. 227 pick in the seventh round from the Eagles while giving up two sixth-rounders (196, 200) and a seventh (233).

The Bears had their eyes on Mooney, a major speed threat who could inject Matt Nagy’s offense with some much-needed big-play pop. But they also had their eyes on Saturday’s run on receivers, grabbing Mooney during a Round 5 spree that saw eight receivers taken in a span of 16 picks.

Mooney was the sixth receiver taken during that surge and the 26th selected in this draft.

“Receivers were coming off there,” Pace acknowledged. “And we liked Mooney. He was graded really high on our board — a guy where there was just a ton of conviction from a lot of people in our building.”

With that trade, the Bears managed to leap two picks in front of the receiver-needy Packers, who never got one in their nine-player draft class.

Mooney’s elite speed appealed to Nagy. The Bears coach also sees a detailed route runner who is passionate about fine-tuning that part of his craft. Nagy noted Mooney’s feel for the game and “the snap” he has at the top of his routes.

“You just feel like every route he runs is real smooth,” Nagy said. “He has big strides. For somebody of his stature, he chews up a lot of ground early, and then he has that top-end speed.”

Between the trades to grab Gipson and Mooney, the Bears used their original Round 5 pick on Georgia Southern cornerback Kindle Vildor, who Pace believes has the versatility to play outside or in the slot and can factor in on special teams.

It will take a while to determine whether the Bears’ conviction in trading up for Gipson and Mooney was worthwhile. But as Pace finished his seven-man draft class Saturday evening, he felt satisfied the Bears had taken advantage of that Round 5 sweet spot.

“To look up at the end of the draft and get three players we’re really excited about in that area, I know our scouts and coaches were all fired up about that,” Pace said.

 

For those also interested in how the 2021 may shape up we have picks in every round but the 4th.  That was the future pick used to draft Gipson in round five.  However we're predicted to have three sixth round compensatory picks in addition to our own so plenty of ammo to trade back into round four if we choose or to pair with other picks to move up for a specific player.

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19 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Resource allocation seems a little weird.

He would need to take Skrine's job in 2021 for me to be cool with the pick.

sure, taking over for Skrine while providing valuable, yet unproven depth. Looks like no Prince return. Draft picks are cheap labor even if they are starters or Superstars. 

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