Most Chicago Bears fans probably wouldn't describe the team as exciting heading into the 2017 season.

After all, Chicago posted all of three wins a year ago and seemed to get nationally panned for not only trading up for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky at No. 2, but overall leaning on smaller-school prospects during a critical rebuild.

In an overarching sense, though, 2017 is the most exciting the Bears have been in a long time before a season. The Jay Cutler era and most of the pieces along with it are firmly a thing of the past, and general manager Ryan Pace has the team headed into year three of a significant rebuild.

Said rebuild includes the first quarterback drafted in a class, new faces starting at various positions and young talent competing across the board. Pace and the Bears never advertised 2017 as the year for a playoff push, but that doesn't mean fans can't have fun along the way while thinking about the future.

Here are eight reasons to get excited about the 2017 Bears.

The Jordan Howard Show Gets Renewed for Another Season

Running back Jordan Howard is a pretty great nod to Pace's ability to find mid-round talents who can make a difference.

Howard exploded on to the scene as a rookie last year, taking 252 carries and turning it into 1,313 yards and six touchdowns on a 5.2 per-carry average. If it weren't for a guy named Ezekiel Elliot, the Indiana product would've been a bigger national star.

It's not too late for Howard to claim the status, though. He doesn't figure to see an uptick in carry totals next year (he was right around Matt Forte's normal usage), but his production won't drop off either.

Howard has the benefit of rushing behind one of the league's top interior lines. Josh Sitton and Kyle Long ranked as the ninth and 27th guards in the league, respectively, at Pro Football Focus. Cody Whitehair, another rookie, ranked fifth among centers.

The offensive line healthy and an improved passing game means Howard will once again be the star of the show for the Bears.

Kevin White and Cameron Meredith Get Consistency at QB

Technically speaking, Cameron Meredith had a breakout year last season while leading the team in receiving.

But not really.

The 24-year-old wideout caught 66 passes for 888 yards and four touchdowns, but like the rest of the team, he never had consistent play under center, bouncing from Jay Cutler to Matt Barkley and others.

Up-and-down sample size or not, it's clear Meredith can be at worst a No. 2 receiver in an offense.

As for Kevin White, fans are well-versed on the topic. He only played in four games last year but flashed when on the field. His staying on the field and getting consistent quarterback play could lead to a breakout worth of his No. 7 slot in the 2015 draft.

Veteran quarterback Mike Glennon makes this all possible. Though he was never given a fair shot in Tampa Bay, he's got the makings of a quarterback who can stay on the field for most of the season.

Love or hate the Bears bringing him on board, he's a major upgrade compared to last year and helps the likes of Meredith and White develop at a respectable clip—hence Pace willing to throw big cash his way to ensure he comes to town.

Dowell Loggains Gets a Chance to Diversify Offense

Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains has a lot going on for him this summer.

He's got a new potential franchise quarterback to toy with, who at worst is a stopgap solution. He has White and Meredith on top of free-agent adds like deep threat Markus Wheaton and slot man Kendall Wright.

Elsewhere, Loggains has a new surefire blocker at tight end with Dion Sims, as well as high-upside rookie and mismatch creator Adam Shaheen.

Perhaps most importantly, Loggains gets an electric change-of-pace back in rookie Tarik Cohen to complement Howard. A year ago, he didn't have anyone to turn to while attempting to keep Howard fresh, with guys like Jeremy Langford and Ka'Deem Carey simply not doing enough to stay on the field.

Loggains had to keep it simple last year. His rookie back was a stud, but he could never nail down a consistent offense because quarterbacks kept going in and out of the lineup, as did players at skill positions—and the crew most commonly on the field struggled in a big way with drops.

Health provided, this all changes in 2017. Loggains can trot out a consistent attack, and his quarterback can air it out deep, utilize mismatches or hit a home run threat out of the backfield. The effort to retool the entire offense, on paper, has been a major success.

Improved Defensive Depth Across the Board

A year ago, Bears fans could read the news leading up to a game concerning defensive injuries and have a pretty good idea as to where opponents would exploit all day Sunday.

If Eddie Goldman was hurt, offenses would rush up the middle no problem. If Jerrell Freeman was suspended or Danny Trevathan injured, teams would not only run, but target guys like Nick Kwiatkoski in the passing game. If Tracy Porter was hobbled, pass after pass.

This year feels different thanks to the work done by Pace and the front office. The defensive line has new faces like John Jenkins and Jaye Howard who can step in and put up starter-quality performances in a pinch.

The linebacking corps has a new face in Dan Skuta. In the secondary, the starters last year have been pushed to backup roles.

This doesn't sound like much to get excited about in the grand scheme of things. But the Bears are through the rough part of a rebuild where the quality depth necessary to compete just isn't there.

It is now, and the next-man-up philosophy can actually happen in Chicago again.

A New-Look Secondary

Bears fans won't recognize Chicago's secondary at first in 2017.

That's a good thing.

Tired of ineffective play on the edges, Pace went out and grabbed Marcus Cooper and Prince Amukamara in free agency. At the least, they're press-cover guys who should mesh well with what defensive coordinator Vic Fangio wants them to do. Their taking starting slots means guys like Kyle Fuller become backups tasked with competing for snaps.

At safety, Quintin Demps—who picked off six passes last year—arrives and starts right away. He's a huge upgrade compared to what the Bears trotted out last year, and fourth-round pick Eddie Jackson out of Alabama might just steal the other starting spot thanks to his strong blend of instincts and range.

The immediate impact of the new-look secondary might not be apparent right out of the gates. But the new veterans are at least a big upgrade on last year's unit and push young guys to be better.

At worst, the new faces are stopgaps until Pace can get notable prospects in town. But any improvement is better than last year and should help the retooled offense stay in games.

Leonard Floyd

What else needs to be said?

Leonard Floyd helped fans warm to the idea of his selection at No. 9 in the 2016 NFL draft in a hurry. He only appeared in 12 games last year, yet he notched seven sacks, two hits and 27 hurries, according to PFF.

Roughly half of Floyd's snaps last year came as a pass rusher, meaning the coaching staff trusts him to play well against the run and expects him to keep budding as a coverage player.

Floyd flashed everything an elite pass-rusher at the NFL level should be last year, showing the strength, burst and bend necessary to fluster quarterbacks. For head coach John Fox, it's all about getting out of the adapting zone and into the full-time job zone, as captured by ESPN.com's Jeff Dickerson.

"And this league is about playing strength, it's not just size. But he didn't have an issue with playing strength. Like I said before, he's going to develop. I mean, he's a professional athlete now. He's not going to biology or social science or whatever course load you take now. He's going to train year-round now," Fox said.

It's reasonable to expect a big jump from Floyd in his second year. The fact the rest of the unit around him should be improved only tops off the exciting note.

Glimpses of Pace's Plan

As mentioned, this is a building year for the Bears.

With Cutler gone, guys like Eddie Royal are the last gasps of a transition to a new-look approach. Not only does Pace have a new quarterback under center, several new weapons around Howard promise for an attack that can actually answer when the defense coughs up points.

Defensively, the odd spot of weakness remains, such as at defensive end. But a massive rebuild to the linebacking corps recently, followed by this year's assault on the secondary, should get the Bears back to a defensive-minded approach.

More than anything, Pace's desire to have sheer athletes on the field is something to watch. He's got speedsters on offense like Wheaton and Cohen now, not to mention matchup problems like Shaheen. Defensively, joining Floyd are bigger boundary corners and rangy safeties.

Pace's plan is far from complete. But an improvement on the field in 2017 will be a direct testament to his sticking to the script while molding the roster.

Trubisky Time

What, think we forgot something? 

Trubisky will see the field in 2017. It's bound to happen one way or another, no matter how much Pace wants to let his prized rookie signal-caller—who he just tied his future job to, by the way—sit and learn for a year.

Never mind the injury woes suffered by Bears quarterbacks last year—look at a note from Larry Meyer of the team's official website: "A Bears quarterback has started all 16 games only twice in the last 21 seasons. Rex Grossman accomplished the feat in 2006 when the Bears reached the Super Bowl and Jay Cutler matched the achievement in his first year with the team in 2009. In 13 of those seasons, the backup made at least three starts. And in seven of those years, at least three different quarterbacks started games."

If injury doesn't shuffle the lineup, Trubisky will get on the field a different way. Fans chanting for him probably won't do the trick, but a blowout in one direction or the other will. 

In today's NFL, a team at this stage of a rebuild would be foolish to fully keep a top-two pick off the field. Fans can expect to see Trubisky at spots in 2017.

It's hard to advise fans to not read too much into how the rookie plays when he takes the field. Rather than make the attempt, let's just say this—enjoy it.

All contract information courtesy of Spotrac unless otherwise specified. Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.