Bears Draft 3 Non-FBS Players After Trading Up for Mitchell Trubisky

The Chicago Bears continue to have one of the more polarizing drafts.

After moving up to the second overall pick to select Mitchell Trubisky, the Bears proceeded to take three players from non-FBS schools over their next four selections:

Round	Pick	Player	School
2	45	Adam Shaheen, TE	Ashland
4	119	Tarik Cohen, RB	North Carolina A&T
5	147	Jordan Morgan, OG	Kutztown

According to ESPN Stats & Information (via ESPN.com's Jeff Dickerson), Chicago hasn't selected three non-FBS players since 2002.

If the New England Patriots took three non-FBS players in the first round, then head coach Bill Belichick would likely be praised for thinking outside the box and extending his scouting network beyond the traditional college football powers.

But Bears general manager Ryan Pace doesn't have anywhere near the reputation Belichick has, and the Bears are coming off a 3-13 season. Chicago isn't adding pieces to what is already a contending team. 

Pace's strategy in 2017 is extremely risky for a franchise that needs to build through the draft. The South Bend Tribune's Tyler James summed everything up well:

Pace does, however, deserve credit for sticking his neck out when he could be going the most risk-averse route possible. The Athletic's Dan Durkin tweeted how this is Pace's roster now:

If Trubisky becomes the Bears' quarterback of the future and the rest of the 2017 draft delivers impressive returns, then Pace will be hailed as a genius. Should the Bears finish near the bottom of the league again, though, the 2017 draft could be Pace's last as Chicago's GM.