While Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace has had luck finding gems in the later rounds of the NFL Draft, he hasn’t been as lucky when it counts in the first round.
In fact, when Bleacher Report discussed some of the biggest draft mistakes in the last five years, two former first-rounders drafted by Pace made the list.
For the duration of Mitchell Trubisky’s career, Bears fans will be reminded that the Bears drafted Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. As if they already weren’t reminded on the daily, especially after Mahomes led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl championship last year.
So it wasn’t a surprise to see Trubisky land on this list, where he clocked in at No. 3.
The No. 2 pick in 2017 has been the butt of memes for the past few seasons, in part because the Chicago Bears traded up to draft him in the same first round that featured Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes.
Trubisky is in a fight for his job, and compared to some of his draft classmates, that’s not good enough. In addition, the investment cost from the trade up to the second pick will remain a black eye on the Bears.
Trubisky is entering his fourth season, and his future in Chicago is cloudy at best. The Bears recently traded for Nick Foles, who will compete for the starting job with Trubisky. At this point, Trubisky appears like another failed first-round pick by Pace.
Pace’s first first-round pick was receiver Kevin White, who struggled with injuries throughout his career, never lived up to the high expectations. White played in just 14 games, where he had 25 receptions for 285 yards. White landed at No. 6 on the list.
To say White underperformed would be an understatement. He didn’t play in 2015 because of a shin fracture, made it in four games in 2016, one in 2017 and nine in 2018. He caught 25 passes with no scores over 14 career games.
With a top-10 asset mostly watching from the sidelines, the Bears went for six, three and five wins before Matt Nagy’s arrival in 2018 to start a turnaround. White was the pick instead of Todd Gurley (10th), DeVante Parker (14th) and a host of defensive talent.
After the Bears parted ways with White following the 2018 season, he had a short stint with the Arizona Cardinals, where he was battling for a roster spot. But White was once again hampered by injury — a hamstring — and he didn’t make the final cuts.
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