Someone should mail a fruit basket to Ryan Pace in Atlanta.
While Pace left new general manager Ryan Poles a teardown-worthy roster, he also gave him a gift. Pace’s decision to trade up to draft Ohio State’s Justin Fields last year cost the Bears their first-round picks last year and on Thursday, but it yielded something to dream on at quarterback. Fields still needs developing, but he gives the Bears hope.
Waiting until this year to draft a passer would have been a disaster. There will likely be two or three quarterbacks drafted in the first round Thursday, but none — not Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Liberty’s Malik Willis or Ole Miss’ Matt Corral —are as good as any of the five that went in Round 1 last year.