The Bears are approaching what they hope will be the end of a run of top-10 picks as preparation for the draft ramps up this week at the scouting combine.

They hold the No. 8 pick after selecting Mitch Trubisky No. 2, Leonard Floyd No. 9 (they traded up from No. 11) and Kevin White No. 7 the previous three years. The last time the organization had four consecutive top-10 picks was the mid-1970s, when they landed the greatest player in franchise history, running back Walter Payton, fourth in 1975.

The fourth draft for general manager Ryan Pace will be the first time he will have the same college scouting director, Mark Sadowski, in consecutive years. The Bears retained Marty Barrett in that role in 2015, shifted to Joe Douglas in 2016 and promoted Sadowski after Douglas departed for the Eagles.

Action will be happening on all fronts in Indianapolis. Teams are able to gauge the market for the opening of free agency March 14. Well before the negotiating window opens March 12, clubs will have an idea of what price range agents are seeking for their clients, information that spills out in meetings all week. For a team such as the Bears, who are expected to be active in free agency, it’s a momentous period for Pace and first-year coach Matt Nagy.

So the storylines coming from Indianapolis will not be limited to the draft prospects who are evaluated in on-field tests, interviews and most importantly medical evaluations. Here are six topics to track in relation to the Bears:

1. Quarterbacks. The Bears will not be in the market for one, not high in the draft anyway, but there will be great focus on the position, and the more who stand out, the better for the Bears. It’s possible three quarterbacks will come off the board before their pick.

“It’s pretty deep, and there are five guys that are going to get blown off the board pretty quickly,” one college scouting director predicted.

UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield need to interview in 15-minute settings that could shape how teams view them moving into the spring. USC’s Sam Darnold, Wyoming’s Josh Allen, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, who missed the Senior Bowl with a foot injury, stand to gain or lose traction. The quarterbacks will throw Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, but the private workouts that follow will be more influential.

2. Kirk Cousins. The future of the soon-to-be-former Redskins quarterback doesn’t directly affect the Bears — unless it does. The Vikings loom as a potential suitor, and if they are able to add Cousins to a team that had the NFL’s No. 1 defense, that would be significant to the NFC North race.

Buzz about Cousins’ landing spot will only increase in Indianapolis, and he’s expected to get a market-setting deal before Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan likely use it as a starting point for negotiating their extensions. It has been speculated that Cousins could receive as much as $60 million guaranteed.

The surging market for quarterbacks is something the Bears hope to have to deal with after another couple of seasons with Trubisky. In the time being, they have the luxury of building a roster with a quarterback on a rookie contract, a small window that can be advantageous.

The Bears charged into the offseason by hiring coach Matt Nagy to replace John Fox, a move that triggered a slew of other staff changes in January. After Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis on Feb. 4, it won’t be long before league business heats up again. Here’s a rundown of meaningful dates and deadlines that make up the Bears’ 2018 offseason calendar. (Rich Campbell) (Rich Campbell)

3. Athletes. Pace’s first two drafts, especially when evaluating White and Floyd, focused on superior athletes with dynamic size/speed/strength ratios that gave them high ceilings. While White has been injured too often to develop and Floyd has been impressive but not yet spectacular, if Pace follows that path again, there’s one prospect who should dominate in Indianapolis: Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

Edmunds doesn’t turn 20 until May and has a size/speed combination that has drawn comparisons to Bears Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher. He’s listed at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, and while most expect he will measure a little shorter, he’ll create headlines for sure.

“He’s going to run a 4.45 (40-yard dash) and he will jump through the roof,” one college scouting director said.

Edmunds might be a better fit at inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme because he’s not a natural pass rusher, but he’s so young that it’s certainly possible the Bears and others could consider him at outside linebacker. No matter what base scheme a team uses, it will view Edmunds as a freak.

4. Top of the board. The eighth pick is a good spot for the Bears to be, especially with at least two quarterbacks figuring to go before then, because it could give Pace the first choice at a position. Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and Alabama cornerback/safety Minkah Fitzpatrick might be gone, but Edmunds, Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson and Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward are intriguing options who could step in and be elite performers immediately.

Ward would fill a pressing need, and the position isn’t nearly as deep in this draft as it was a year ago. Ward might run the 40 in the 4.3-second range.

“He’s the best one out there,” another college scouting director said. “He’s a better pure coverage guy than Marshon Lattimore was last year, but he’s not as big and doesn’t play as physical. He’s skinnier, thinner hips, but he can fly and he’s outstanding in coverage. Great feet.”

5. Need areas. The draft is short on wide receivers — the worst class in 10 years, according to one evaluator — and thin in edge rushers, another area of need for the Bears. But there should be depth for receivers starting in Round 2, and the Bears need to identify playmakers who can fit Nagy’s scheme. USC’s Uchenna Nwosu is an interesting outside linebacker who could be considered in Round 2. He’s a physical performer who can set the edge versus the run on the closed side of the formation.