Before the draft, I looked in-depth at Ryan Pace’s draft trends from 2015-17 and used them to make predictions for what would happen in 2018. Well, it turns out Pace’s approach changed a good bit this year. Let’s look at those identified trends to see which ones were and were not followed.

Day One

• Go get your guy. The Bears reportedly tried to trade up from pick #8 to get somebody Ryan Pace really wanted. He continues to be very aggressive targeting his chosen players at the top of the draft.
• Replace a veteran. Every round one pick has been made to replace a high-profile veteran who recently left. That continued this year with Roquan Smith replacing Jerrell Freeman.
• Prototype prospects. Pace loves his athletes at the top of the draft, but that changed a bit this year. Roquan Smith is still extremely athletic, but he was not the physical prototype Tremaine Edmunds was. Pace went for the better player right now instead of the player with the highest ceiling, a definite shift in approach.

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To see the entirety of the 2014 Bears schedule, CLICK HERE.

Guessing which teams will be good and which teams will not is a futile endeavor in the middle of April. So addressing the strength of the Chicago Bears 2014 schedule is also futile. But the schedule does offer many talking points, mostly about logistics, worth thinking about as we prepare to switch our attention around here to the NFL Draft.

• Bears opening with five of their first eight on the road is tough sledding for any franchise but especially one that’ll be installing what is essentially a new defensive structure. Bears season may be a matter of early survival.
• Perfect bye week, right in the middle of the year. One thing I always think about when it comes to the bye week is the PUP list. If the Bears suffer a significant injury between now and Labor Day and are forced to utilize the PUP list, they may be able to give that player an additional three weeks before calling him back into action.
• I don’t care what form the Niners are in come early September, the Bears will be double-digit underdogs when they help open the Dungaree Ballpark outside San Fran. Those fans are already quite rowdy without the excitement of christening the sloop and a full day of imbibing Scrimshaw.

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