From the get-go, Ryan Pace believed it was imperative to keep the Bears’ fixation on quarterbacks a secret. He went incognito to see Mitch Trubisky in his final college game, sitting alone in the stands at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, with his hat pulled low.
Later in the pre-draft process, the Bears chose not to host Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson at Halas Hall.
Instead, over a four-day span in mid-March, the Bears embarked on a three-city, three-quarterback scouting trip. Pace, Josh Lucas, coach John Fox, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone began in Clemson, S.C., at Watson’s pro day. From there they visited Trubisky in Chapel Hill and Mahomes in Lubbock, Texas. They hosted dinners and private on-campus workouts with Trubisky and Mahomes but not with Watson.
He considered it an important piece of the scouting pie. For months, Pace had kept his evaluations to himself, not wanting to influence his subordinates. As the reports returned — from area scout Chris Prescott, from national scout Ryan Kessenich, from college scouting director Mark Sadowski, from Lucas, from Loggains — the consensus in support of Trubisky energized Pace.
Fox, who rated Watson as his top quarterback, didn’t learn of Pace’s intention to select a quarterback until the morning of the draft, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. Other prominent figures in the organization received the Trubisky news from Roger Goodell’s mouth as the NFL commissioner announced the pick on live TV from a stage in Philadelphia.
Three quarterbacks. One draft. Three teams. Why did Bears GM Ryan Pace absolutely have to have Mitch Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson?
www.chicagotribune.com
For people that forgot or didn't read the Tribune story from a while back. I think it is pretty obvious the Bears didn't meet with Watson to the extent they did the other 2 and that is what Watson is referring too. He likely doesn't remember the minimal interaction he had with Bears as compared to the other 2.
The simple reality is that it was a rigged and terrible evaluation process. You can't come up with a fair evaluation of all 3 if you subject them to a different process and the fact is having dinner and a private workout with Trubisky and Mahomes but not Watson means you aren't getting a complete evaluation on Watson.
Further the claim that this is fine because Pace had already made up his mind that Watson was 3rd doesn't hold up to scrutiny. As the above notes, Pace was trying not to influence the process by keeping his evaluation secret. Well having private workouts and dinners with 2 of the 3 candidates is influence the process against the 3rd as it is obvious a private workout and dinner allows for a different evaluation than a pro day.
Second, it was disrespectful to the thoughts of those that had Watson rated highly namely Fox and Ragone. A well run front office evaluates all opinions and if Pace knew Watson was atop Ragone and Fox's list then he should respect that alternative view and vet it thoroughly to see if there was something others missed.
So what appears happened is that Pace feigned wanting to run a fair process but then set up the evaluation in a way that favored his two preferred choices while not giving Fox and Ragone's preferred choice a fair evaluation. And in the end, he paid for that act of hubris.