The Bears may not have to make much of a choice at all on Thursday night.
During a pre-draft press conference on Wednesday, Bears General Manager Ryan Pace said that the team has identified three players worthy of being picked with the third overall pick in this year’s draft. That means that they will have one of those players available when they are on the board regardless of what happens with the top two selections, assuming, of course, that the Bears don’t trade down.
If they do, Pace says they have “a cloud of names” that would fit for a lower spot in the first round but said that the team’s general approach to making the pick will remain the same at any spot.
“You get yourself into trouble if you’re not sticking with our philosophy of best player available,” Pace said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “When you start trying to manufacture things or create things, that’s when teams get into dangerous water. I think, if we just stay with the guys we have a consensus on and best player available, we’ll be in good shape.”
Pace didn’t offer any hints about which players would qualify for that description or about what positions they might play, but the wait to find out won’t extend too much longer.