I wonder where it would've ranked with 1 or even 2 pro bowlers in the secondary. No doubt you'll tell me they may not have been pro bowlers on the Bears. However talent is talent and if im being offered Hayward over Prince, and/or Hyde over say Callahan, Leblanc or even Amos depending on how you want to use him(Hyde is extremely versatile remember)...... well, in any of those permutations its a no brainer, you go with Hayward and/or Hyde. Would you have liked a defensive backfield that could've finished even higher than 7th if given the chance rob, or would you rather they ranked lower, without the pro bowlers, because thats what Pace did? I do give plenty of credit to Ed Donatell however, and to a probably lesser extent Fangio as well. They've done an excellent job of getting that defensive backfield to play at/near their best. Because, obviously, the Bears do not have the 7th best secondary in the league in terms of raw talent. So yeah, not rushing to give Pace all the credit on that one, nice try though.
I agree that either of those players would have been fine signings. I just don't label Pace a moron for not making them. The players he did put on the field played well and have upside. And it wouldn't surprise me if some of them did start to make pro bowls especially if Fangio can be retained. Your resistance to give Pace even a smidgen of credit for the play of the defense is comical. We all beat up Pace this past offseason for not making any splash moves in the secondary. Myself included. You can not deny that it worked out. Amukamara played above his pay grade, Jackson and Amos look like a good young tandem in the backend and Fuller had a pro bowl caliber season. I am not saying you give all the credit to Pace but come on! You cant possibly say it happened despite him.
This is not only inaccurate, it is clearly a simple attempt by you to get my views on Pace & the defense to fit the narrative you want for me. Its weak. Don't do that. Hicks was a great pickup, everyone is on board with it. A few of us(me included) where fans of the move immediately, not just 2years later. I LOVED the Trevathon signing, its actually the single move on D that I liked the best when first announced(including the very team friendly contract). I'm higher on Trev than many here. The LB play is night and day when he's not there, he virtually took over a couple of games this season including flat out owning the 1st half in the Carolina game. But those are only 2 moves and besides, we're not talking about the DL here are we. Or the LB corps. You specifically mentioned the defensive backs and I'm sorry to break it to you, but the way Pace has approached the entire secondary since he got here has been a clown show. The secondary has worked out better than expected this season, I agree with that. I just put the credit for it more on Donatell than Pace. Besides a few blip games Fuller has been outstanding this season but who drafted him? Not Pace. Who was Pace's big FA addition at Safety? Quinton Demps, a guy who never lasts more than a year on a team and who looked terrible when he played. Prince has been a solid player, but nothing special at all. Marcus Cooper wasn't just a bad player, he was a low effort bum. Also in the negative column we've got Tracy Porter, we've got Antrel Rolle, we've got Alan Ball. Somehow Craven LeBlanc and Chris Prosinski were still playing games last season. But again, back to my original point..... you seem to be happy that somehow "it worked out". I'm simply saying the talent level isn't nearly as high as it could be, which I'm not sure how you deny considering the two players I mentioned have been to 3 pro bowls in 2 years between them. And the reason its not as high as it could be is cos the GM missed a couple of FA's from our biggest rival in our own division who were right under his nose. Great work! Do you know what Prince's pay grade was last season? Cos saying he played above it is just laughable. Prince was like the 4th highest paid guy on the team last year. He had 0 INT's. His ROI was $1mil per PDef. Those kinda numbers suggest you shouldn't even bring him back. If they do it should be at a lower salary. They do. Amos is playing better cos he's finally playing nearer the line at SS, not a great deal to do with Pace. Jackson was a good pick, but now your shifting the conversation. I'm being critical of Pace's FA acquisitions and you're essentially saying that Pace did a good job with the secondary because he made good draft picks. Try to stay on point better please.
Some interesting bits in this CBS article: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...s-teams-wait-on-patriots-panthers-more-notes/ Says it's between "the Bears and the Colts" for McDaniels, and he thinks the Bears will lean to DeFillipo. La Confora isn't always totally wrong.
