INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time as the Bears’ general manager, Ryan Pace enters an offseason with his team coming off a winning record and division title. With those marks come fewer glaring needs to be filled — for the 2019 Bears, it’s kicker, running back and then potential replacements for Bryce Callahan and/or Adrian Amos. 
 
So it might seem like the Bears are in a position where they can target needs more than best player available in the 2019 NFL Draft, given there aren’t a ton of holes on the roster. On the surface, it sounds like it could make sense: Why bother drafting, say, a defensive lineman if the depth there is good and you need help at running back? 
 
But that strategy can quickly become counter-productive, Pace explained. 
 
“You have to be really careful with that because that's when you make mistakes,” Pace said. “We always say best player available, and every team says that. But best player available, and if it's really close, you can lean toward your need. But you better not manufacture it or push it up just for a need or you'll regret that.”
 
The point here being: Just because the Bears need a running back who fits their offense better than Jordan Howard doesn’t mean they’re going to take one in April’s draft. Say they get to their fourth-round pick, No. 126 overall, and have a fifth-round grade on the best running back available, but a fourth-round grade on a wide receiver. They’ll take the receiver, even if they already have three starters locked in at that position and don’t desperately “need” a player there. 
 
So with that backdrop, the Bears will look for some certain things in the running backs they scout this week in Indianapolis. 
 
“In this offense, you want to be able to have a guy that has really good vision that can make guys miss,” coach Matt Nagy said. “And at the same time, there's that balance of being a hybrid being able to make things happen in the pass game too, but yet to where you're not one-dimensional. That's not easy. 
 
“There are a lot of backs in this draft right now that are one-dimensional, there are some that are hybrids and there are some that are really just scat guys.”
 
That line about the one-dimensional backs is important. If the Bears only identify a handful of hybrid running backs who they like, those guys may not be available when they pick. And if they’re not available, the Bears aren’t going to pick a running back just because they need a running back. 
 
Consider: A year ago, the Bears got to the fifth round of the draft having not used any of their previous four picks on an edge rusher, despite a significant need for more depth in that unit (this, of course, was long before a Khalil Mack trade was even a possibility). The Bears chose defensive lineman Bilal Nichols despite having Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Jonathan Bullard and Roy Robertson-Harris already in place. Nichols turned out to be a good find, someone who made an impact on the league’s best defense in 2018 – and that’s why teams stick to taking the best player available. 
 
That philosophy, though, will make it challenging for the Bears to identify the right running back while also making sure he’s someone who will be available with one of their five picks.  
 
“To me, it's fun,” Nagy said. “I like watching the film to see where guys are at and that's for every position. It will be fun to just kind of critique all of these positions we have here offensively and defensively and make sure that with the few picks that we have, we make the most of it."