How Bears’ Darnell Mooney Saved Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace Jobs

As crazy as it sounds, has rookie Darnell Mooney saved Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace’s jobs this year?

When asked why he thought Nagy and Pace were making significant strides to win a Super Bowl, George McCaskey pointed to key staff decisions like drafting Mooney in the fifth round of the 2020 Draft.

“We added more talented players this year,” said McCaskey. “Darnell Mooney is a good example. A lower round draft pick that Ryan and Matt found that blossomed this year and has become a key part of our offense.

“We have to keep doing more of this.”

Mooney has been an influential offensive player this year, jumping Anthony Miller and Riley Ridley on the depths board. He caught 61 balls for 631 yards and four touchdowns. Those 61 catches broke Harlon Hill’s franchise record for most receptions by a rookie that stood in 1954.

In reality, Mooney alone did not save Pace’s job. During his tenure, Pace has shown a penchant for picking well in the midst of drafts. Other notable selections include David Montgomery (No.73 overall), Eddie Jackson (No.112 overall), Tarik Cohen (No.119 overall) and Bilal Nichols (No.145 overall). Until the end of this season, Javon Wims (No. 224 overall) also looked like a bargain.

But for every great midrange pick, there’s a terrible early-round pick to undo it. Sure, Roquan Smith (No.8 overall) showed the makings of a cornerstone player after a campaign in 2020. But Mitchell Trubisky (No.2 overall), Kevin White (No.7 overall) , Leonard Floyd (No. 9 overall) were all busts. When you have the chance to make the top 10, you need to hit an impact player. Unfortunately for the Bears, Pace sniffed three of his four chances.

But if there was ever a position to make up for these misfires, it is the quarterback position. Again, Pace – and to some extent Nagy – have failed several times to get it right. Nagy certainly has nothing to do with signing Mike Glennon, but he was brought in to develop Trubisky. It was a flop. Plus, he collaborated with Pace to trade for Nick Foles, who looked even worse than Trubisky at times this season.

Despite all these failures, the pair will have the chance to collaborate again to correct the position of the quarterback. Maybe they’ll hit other midrange draft picks as well.