BearFan PHX

To the age old discussion - I prefer game film to combine stats. Booker is a heck of a player, no matter what his combine numbers or some pundits may say.

I havent watched too much tape yet, but i did watch some on Campbell. More than just highlight reels, i watched a couple of games against quality opponents on the end zone cam. I know that his arms are shorter than ideal, but im not sure that 's enough to make him only an NFL guard. If he's even there at #10, I think he can play LT for us. There are other guys, like Booker, to look at. I havent done anywhere near enough work to suggest one over the other, or anyone else, so Im not saying Campbell should be the pick (yet?), but I do think he can play LT at a high level in the NFL, even with shorter arms. Some guys need longer arms, and some guys manage to get it done on the field with less than ideal measurables. My opinion at the moment is that Campbell is one of those guys. But hey, he may be gone by pick #10, we might prefer a guy like Booker if he isnt, or an edge rush who's name i dont even know yet LOL

theres always that coach that thinks they can do it. Thank goodness that doesnt seem to be us anymore.

But it also means teams retaining their own good players. Like Smith.

Generically, I agree. Im just leaving the door open in case Johnson covets Jeanty. Im not predicting it, or even endorsing it.

unless we are going DL or RB with our first pick, or our scouts find something that we arent all seeing, I think we would like to trade down.

especially after what happened to KC in the Superbowl

we absolutely need to build the line, but we dont need to spend insane amounts of money on one player. Trey Smith isnt a god. He'd be nice to have, but we do have other options for sure.

seems like it yes. if we want a first round IOL, a trade down is probably the best way to do it.

that is logically sound. Ill say it even more vaguely (lol): Unless they think a true blue chipper is available at an impact position, with the way the talent is allotted in this draft, a trade down makes the most sense to get a similar level of talent and pick up more picks at the same time. And pick 10 is generically too rich to pick an interior offensive lineman. What's kind of fun is that we have no idea what kind of guy Ben Johnson is when it comes to draft philosophy. Some may say that Poles is the one picking, but you can bet this coaching staff is going to have a lot to say about it.

Im starting to get a sense of some stuff, but i havent really looked at the DL yet. I currently think Unless Will Campbell is there AND they think he can play LT (and not guard) OR They like another LT (to stay at LT) OR Ashton Jeanty is there and they think he is a real difference maker Then I agree we will look at OL and a trade down would be the best option. I don't imagine taking an IOL at #10, but with a trade down it could make all kinds of sense. This draft is deep for IOL and DL, so more picks is a good thing this year. Ive heard some say that there is no difference in talent between pick #10 thru the end of the 2nd round. That's probably an overstatement if you take it literally, but it's a good year to trade back if you dont think a major impact player is available at #10.

no need to be snarky - I literally said "LOL Im kidding"

Looks like the Chiefs are going to franchise tag Trey Smith.

Look at how teams do after cutting or trading Swift: The Eagles won the Superbowl. The Lions won the division, had their best offensive season ever and were in the discussion for the Superbowl. Therefore, logically, the sooner we cut or trade Swift, the sooner we will win a Superbowl! LOL yes Im kidding, but Im not kidding that Swift isnt good enough. Id even rather have Montgomery than Swift. Having a home run hitter is great, but having someone who routinely threatens to get 4+ yards a carry even if they never break big gains will bring those safeties down into the box, and open up play action and the deep passing game. I wonder if Roschon Johnson will have a resurgence. I thought he was a tough runner.

but Johnson was all in on drafting Gibbs, and signing Montgomery. That means he didnt have faith in Swift for his offense. Im not saying we will cut or trade Swift this year, but I am saying I dont think he is our long term solution, so it will happen this year or next year.

oh for SURE, far from a lock. I think he will be our swing tackle at best. If Kiran isnt our starter (and I dont see that from where he was last year, but who knows this year) then he will have to battle Kiran for the swing tackle spot. This is nothing against Braxton Jones, we got a LOT of value out of him for a 5th round pick, but we need to start winning games, not giving ourselves pats on the back for how cheaply we lost. The whole league knows that when you need a sack, you bull rush Braxton. So he has to be replaced one way or another.

I'm not taking any positions on this yet. What Ive seen tells me he's a stud. But I haven't done enough homework yet to know if Id take him at #10 over, say, Will Campbell. Or trade down. But if Jeanty is as Ive read him to be, and 5 good minutes of YouTube film tell me he is (lol) then I think he's in the conversation at #10.

I read that to mean that they didnt think Swift was the long term answer, and they signed Montgomery as a stop gap measure until they could find the guy they really wanted to feature, which they eventually did. So will Johnson think Swift is the long term answer? I doubt it, but i wouldnt be shocked if he kept him this year and replaced him next year? or replaced him this year is an option too, but it doesnt need to be for him to know Swift isnt the long term answer he's looking for? For sure! The scheme and coaching is a big part of is and so is... Absolutely. Dont tell me Emmitt Smith was a better back than Payton. He just had that line. The RB position as a marquis player is an antiquated idea. Then again, everything old is new again, as evidenced by defenses keeping a second safety back more to counter the passing game, and then the Lions and Eagles showing the league how to defeat that with a strong running game again. But 4-5 years, sounds about right, and of course that's on a rookie contract so you arent overpaying him with cap room, just draft capital if you draft him early-ish. But yeah, the days of backs usually getting that big second contract are probably over. There may be a few exceptions, but in general I agree with all of this.

My guess is that Braxton Jones wont be the starter at LOT by mid season, and maybe not at all.

The Lions traded Swift away when Johnson was the OC, so there's that. That said, we are in a better position to cut or trade him next year capwise. So he may stick around for money reasons. But I still think there is some chance we could draft Jeanty just because he is next level. 2nd and 3rd round backs arent next level, in fact most RBs arent next level, most are inferior to Swift. But if we did pick Jeanty it would have to be in the context of a real plan to upgrade the OL of course.

I absolutely agree that we have to fix the OL and get an edge rusher. That said I am not sure that we couldnt pick Jeanty with the #10 pick either. Not predicting it, but i think it's one option. Probably depdns on free agency and how the rest of the draft looks to us in rounds 2 and 3

Lying season begins

Apparently the Bears scheduled a meeting with Ashton Jeanty right out of the gate. Some may read this to mean that we are very interested in drafting him, and we probably are. Doesn't mean we would pick him over other players we'd also be interested in drafting at that spot. But I also take it to mean that it increases the idea of someone trading up to get him if he is on the board when our pick comes, seeing that we have interest.

this is where Im leaning. Again, I havent done any predraft work, so im speaking generally. I dont know if there is an edge thats worthy of a top 10 pick, or three of them. But unless there is a blue chip LOT available at #10, Id trade down, or look Jeanty, Edge or TE - again if there are players worthy of it. Coleston Loveland is interesting at TE if we trade down. We could probably get him and a second round talent edge rusher for our #10 pick. And of course, i want to see at least 2 OL picks in the top 100 for us.

I agree, except possibly for signing a tier 2 free agent, and drafting a rookie at the same position for the future? But I totally agree with you that we shouldnt be keeping people just because they were mediocre and cheap. Thats for sure. EDIT: What I agree about is not filling in a bunch of OL positions with low tier free agents and calling it a day. I am not against signing big names, but i am against filling the other holes with nobodies.