Yes, it's the Offensive Line.

My 1-5 were more directed at fans who don't have the slightest idea what they are talking about. You want good players you draft them and you draft them early because with a few exceptions that prove the rule, higher in the draft = better players. 

Pace inherited an OL that was on its last legs or trending downward and IMO he has not sunk into it the resources he has needed to. 2 seconds and a 7th is what he has spent. As a result he's been forced to go into FA for the entire right side of the line. Many of us here have pleaded at draft time to draft prospect OL (and by prospect we didn't mean 6th and 7rd afterthoughts but 2nds, 3rds and 4th. But nooooooooooo...cover over the holes with FA and hope Long gets healthy. 

Now the Bears are going to have to try and rebuild an OL while adding a rookie QB to the mix. But we'll still have the arguments about don't draft G/C/RT early and since Pace won't have a high pick, don't draft a LT either. You can fix an OL that has a hole using FA but can you rebuild a whole OL? Guess we'll find out.

OK. Rant over....I'll go back to self-soothing with coffee and twitter videos.

Well, you can't really bitch about the OL and "lack of investment" and then say Pace was correct not to draft one, can you?

Let's make this clear:  Last year was considered a very strong draft for OTs and the proof is in the pudding.  There were 6 taken in the 1st round alone so that wasn't just "the draftniks" assessment.  It was obviously the assessment of lots of GMs and Scouting departments too.

The fact that the 2nd & 3rd rounders aren't yet starting doesn't mean very much, especially only 6 weeks into a season that had virtually no offseason rookie program and no preseason games.  Cole Kmet was one of our 2nd round picks and he's not starting either (#3 TE currently). 

Lemme see if I have this right....you're telling people they "shouldn't post about the draft" and "don't have the slightest idea what they are talking about" (both verbatim quotes) while you yourself are claiming that the fact no 2nd or 3rd round rookie OT is starting yet proves it.  OMG you can't be serious.  It's been only 6 games in a year with no offseason program and it takes 2-3 years minimum to fairly judge a draft class anyway.

Besides, I was wanting to draft an OT to get one in the pipeline for the future--as Ric and I pointed out, both our current starting Tackles are on un-cuttable contracts this season so they weren't going anywhere until at least 2021.

We have NOTHING in the pipeline at OT beyond Leno and Massie right now.  Maybe Coward if he gets a look at RT (he's a UDFA defensive convert) or Simmons (who's a 7th round rookie this year on the PS).  That's it.  Our swing tackle is a failed former Packer draftee with a long injury history who's on a short term deal.  We have no one ready to take over one of the starting OT positions for 2021 right now.

While I agree, the draft is fickle and no GM can hit on every selection, I certainly wouldn't call it a "pure crap shoot".  If that were true....i.e., if it was just random, then 7th round picks would become starters just as often as 1st rounders and that obviously is false.  There's some dumb luck involved sure, but it isn't a crap shoot.  Teams wouldn't spend millions every year on scouts and GMs if it were.

I trust a coach like McDermott's judgment, here. There has to be good reason to bench and cut a guy you just extended this offseason, especially when your OL isn't that great.

The Coward-DL-to-OL-conversion project looks like its running out of runway.  This is his shot to nail down a starting job on the OL and if he can't get it done this season (and he didn't last year either), it's probably time to move on.