Ryan Pace and Bears Have Another Young QB In Their Sights

GM Ryan Pace said his goal for the Chicago Bears was to draft a quarterback every year. To this point, he hasn't been able to follow through on that. Needs at other positions have taken away from that possibility. Mitch Trubisky marked the first time he spent a pick on a QB and that was in Pace's third draft. However, that may just be the beginning. One must wonder whether having former head coach John Fox in charge dissuaded the Bears from investing much at QB. Across 15 years between Carolina, Denver and Chicago his teams drafted seven quarterbacks. Three of them were taken out of desperation in the final years he coached two of those teams. Suffice to say Fox avoided QBs if he could. Given how poor he's proven to be at developing them that's no surprise. That could be fixing to change though. The new man in charge is Matt Nagy. He is steeped in an offensive background and himself was a former quarterback. He understands the value of the position. Not to mention he was mentored by Andy Reid who to date has drafted nine quarterbacks in his career between Philadelphia and Kansas City. Could the Bears be moving towards following his example?

Ryan Pace and coaches quickly swiped time to interview Luke Falk

It's no secret that Trubisky is the man moving forward. That said the depth at the position is coming into question. Mark Sanchez is a free agent this year. The Bears obviously aren't going to pay Mike Glennon $16 million to be a backup either. This means they could be looking for help. Could the draft provide a solution? They seem to think so. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune revealed that the team brass was swift to reserve time to talk with Washington State quarterback Luke Falk.

"The Bears aren’t ignoring the position at the Senior Bowl and that should be viewed as a very good thing for a franchise that has made more wrong moves than right ones when it comes to quarterbacks. In an interesting development, they interviewed Washington State quarterback Luke Falk on Tuesday night. Maybe the Bears want to knock out advance work on quarterbacks here rather than use up some of their 60 interview slots at the scouting combine on them. Whatever the case, Falk enjoyed the process, which included watching some cut-ups of his Washington State tape. “They were the first team to put me up on the board,” said Falk, who re-wrote the Cougars’ record book playing for Mike Leach. “It was pretty fun. They just wanted to see if I understood our concepts at Washington State and what my process was and see how it could maybe translate to the next level.”

Say this for Pace. He doesn't lack consistency. One thing he's always preached about quarterbacks is accuracy. Falk may be among the most accurate passers in the 2018 class. His interview also makes a ton of sense for another reason. During his time at Washington State, he excelled in a primarily spread offense under Leach.

Eyeing of Falk reinforces Bears' shift towards spread concepts

With Nagy and new offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich in charge now the Bears are certainly planning a shift towards more of that style. So pinpointing quarterbacks who know how to thrive in it makes perfect sense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5nzZyFRgNw Falk stands 6'4" and features a strong arm with the ability to place the ball well. He finished 2017 with 3,593 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Many were disappointed by those numbers after the stellar 2016 season he had. That is until people found out he played most of this year with a broken wrist. Barry Bolton of 247Sports explained.

"Falk broke the wrist in WSU’s Week Two game against Boise State on Sept. 9 and he played every game thereafter with the wrist in a cast and covered by a black glove, said the sources, who requested anonymity. The cast was cut off after each game so reporters in the post-game media gatherings wouldn’t inquire... ...Following that game, doctors and trainers agreed Falk could continue playing if the wrist was properly protected. The plan all season was for Falk to have surgery after whichever bowl WSU played in, sources said. But approximately two weeks after the Apple Cup it became clear surgery was needed immediately due to Falk’s deteriorating ability to move the wrist."

The fact this was the case and Falk still led the team to a 9-4 record, tying the best mark of the Leach era, is damn impressive. It's a sign of his competitiveness, leadership, and ability to play in pain. All quality traits to have in the NFL. If he's there in the middle rounds the Bears might be wise to call his number on draft day.