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The Bears have a lot of holes left to fill, and they won't be able to fill them all through the draft. The Bears will probably sign a couple more free agents before the draft. Here are the positions we still need a player in, not in order of necessity: DE, OLB, ILB, S, CB OC/OG, OT, WR The first draft pick is going to solidify one of those positions. It will either go to the offensive line, or to the defense. If it goes offense, it will be Quentin Nelson OG from ND. He would be a force, and a really good step toward building an OL that is probably the weakest unit on the team now. The other biggest weakness is LB. Unless you're ready to roll with Acho and Kwitkowski, you're going to want to put someone there. Travathan is getting older too. We saw how good the defense was for a moment when Travathan and Freeman were in there, and how porous it was when Freeman was out. When Travathan was out too, it was awful. The common wisdom on high defensive picks is to take pass rushers if possible, but playmakers are really what you want. Impact players who can change the game. If the Bears like one of the pass rushers, or a safety or corner as an impact player, and you get an Ed Reed, Richard Sherman or a dominant pass rusher to work with Floyd, then great. But Tremaine Edmunds is a real difference maker at the less sexy position of ILB, and that's a real need for us, both this year and going forward. Will Travathan be there in a couple years? Is Kwitkowski the MVP of Super Bowl 55? For a lot of reasons that have alread been discussed, Edmunds is a real option in the first round. So the first pick could go either way, and the second pick could go to the other side of the ball, Edmunds and an OG for example, or Nelson and a LB or DE. But it is just as likely we could double up. Nelson and an OT int he 2nd, or Edmunds and a pass rusher. My point here is that whatever we do, we will still have real holes. We have no pick int he 3rd round, but we have 2 in the 4th. Maybe Pace will hit on a player there, but unless he hits twice, we're gonna be short somewhere. OG, OT, ILB, DE are ALL needs. We are short a really good S too, and a young CB would be nice too. Maybe next year. So assuming we don't pull two 4th round rabbits out of the draft hat, we are still gong to be short. So the questions right now are: depth players like Acho, Kwitkowski, Bullard, Grasu and anyone on the OL vs. the free agent market at LB, DE & OL. We're gonna get a lot better after this draft, but we're still gonna be a few players short.

I think it's only fair that Phillips got sick from too many ups and downs due to the coaching choices he'd previously made, since we as fans had to do that too.

or at least the defensive front 7. I almost certainly would agree, except for what I see in Edmunds. I think he can be a crazy difference maker at ILB. Imagine having Urlacher there whenever you happen to be in cover 2, and then a beast of a man coverage guy when youre in man, AND a great spy on running QBs, which is more and more common, and hes a pretty good pass rusher too, especially when it's a surprise. I could imagine Fangio really coveting a player like that.

I agree with a lot of what's been said here. I'm just not sure that if Nelson, Chubb (Landry?) and Edmunds are there that Nelson would be the pick. He's awesome, but so is Edmunds.

Could be. Even if you're right about Kush though I think they will make another OL free agency move, for the sake of competition. I do agree they obviously arent that excited about any of the free agent OL that are left standing out vs any others. They'll probably pick one up after someone else signs one first and the prices fall. Ditto at DE. But you're right, the more significant moves will be in the draft, and unless it's Nelson, I think it'll be the second round pick. It is possible if an impact defender is still avail in the 2nd we will wait, but without a 3rd we wait until the 4th round, and that's a big drop off. Either way, we're going to be a couple good players short of a complete team this year. I think we will take Edmunds at ILB, which will be GREAT in the 1st. But then in the 2nd we really need another player on D, at DE or OLB AND we need OL. I think we will take best player available of Edge Rusher/OLB, DE or OL. And then we are fishing in the 4th to answer a few remaining needs. We will be a couple players short this year, but we are that close to being a complete team, and we oughtta be looking much better. The actual "window" opens in 2019. Exciting to be so close. This will be a fun team to root for. 9-7 would be awesome.

for sure. a center could shift Whitehair to OG. There are a lot of ways to improve the line, and that's another reason why waiting for bargains in free agency makes sense. But I think we need an OG/OC AND an OT. We'll see what happens... I dont think we are going to take Nelson, if Chubb or Edmunds is there too.

Yeah they are! I like him already!

So I was gonna reply "Gabriel plays in the slot" cuz, like, everyone KNOWS he is a slot receiver. And I went to find some kind of link to cite it, and discovered that not only was I wrong, but that the misconception is widely thought to be true. So in case anyone else missed it like I did... https://247sports.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/B...ot-WR-106432377

I agree. We are a few pieces short of a real team. It's been a long time since that was true.

we have 2 picks in the 4th, but no 3rd rounder.

We're not done on the OL. In free agency I think we are at that point where there are a bunch of equally rated players around, and no one wants to be first to pay one. Pace is smart to bide his time. I also think that we will probably be taking an OG or OT in the 2nd round. Don't sleep on the OT position, no ones talking about it, but we may be looking there more than OG. I see at least 2 more players coming at OL before the draft and free agency are over.

I sure do like what I see from Tremaine Edmunds. If he is in the middle, I think he can do a lot of things for us, and Fangio would know just how to use him. In zone defense, he'd be another Urlacher, and imagine how much more effective that would be when we arent in cover 2 all the time. In man, he clearly has the skills to stay with TEs and even slot receivers. In this day and age of college running QBs, he is a spy too. He has the speed and tackling ability to shut that down in a hurry. And hes long enough for pass rush and as sure an open field tackler as Ive ever seen. He would be an excellent chess piece for Fangio.

well said, but not for Landry and a swap of first rounders too. You probably agreed when you said "something good in return"

Im not predicting that he will fall, Im saying, you play a game at #8, about which 8 players might get taken - not what you predict, but just every scenario. And if he falls to 8, then everyone would assume we werent interested and the team at 9 could pretty much know hed be available. So teams trading up would do business with them. Now we have insurance against that possibility. If the QBs all fall and everyone we think we're going to take goes first and no QBs go, were also screwed, but theres no lie we can tell to protect against that, becasue eveyrone knows theres no way we would be shopping Trublisky. So that's 4 out of the 8 possibles, 3 QBs and Barkley. Thats all Im saying, I totally agree he wont make it to 8, and I assume Pace knows that too. Still, it's a smart move to make. It also means that epople assume we're going WR with 8 too, if we need one SO bad that we'd trade Howard, so if say we have our eyes on a pass rusher, having done this smokescreen makes it less likely that a team who wants a pass rusher at 9, leapfrogs us to 7 to get him. that's all Im saying.

Howard isnt a change of pace back tho. Otherwise, all good points.

This is a smokescreen. They're thinking Barkley may fall, and they want people to think we aren't happy with Howard, so teams will think they may have to trade up with us if he's there. I'm sure it's part of a "top 8 players" game they are playing, and looking at how the board might fall. I wouldnt give it much thought. It's ALMOST plausible, but Landry isn't actually that good.

I just watched the Saquon Barkley highlight reel. I have to admit I hadnt seen him before. Damn he is a nasty runner. Wow.

Can you imagine the bears landing 4 players of that caliber? wow.

yes.

He let Alshon go because Alshon didn't want to be here. You can't make free agents good if there arent any, and you cant leave your depleted team with holes unaddressed. Pace has been clear that you build through the draft. He's increased the talent level consistently. Its as if someone thinks a world class poker player can cause the cards to come to him or her. They cant. They are good because over time they make the right bets, and dont throw away too much money on the bad bets. In this game thats FUTURE CAP SPACE. He didnt sign any of those guys to deals that he couldnt get out of. hes doing very well.

Free Agency isn't full of gems. Often times, especially with second tier players, you need to sign someone who you dont think is going to be awesome. In those cases, the question is the contract they sign. If they get paid like a major star, then you can blame the GM. But Pace has signed these players to very friendly deals, that allow him to cut them. These arent failures, they, like Fox, were stepping stones from awful to decent. If you think youre gonna get a hall of famer for $5mil a year, then Id say your expectations are too high. Teams are built during the draft, and when you have a team that was in the hole we were in, and you HAVE to pick Free Agents, then the question is the contracts, not the players.

Thank god Demps is gone - that guy was TERRIBLE.

I didnt know that! Also Ridley is thought by some to be too thin and not muscular enough to post up on west coast routes and take punishment. But who knows which WR Pace may or may not fancy.

yup Then again if you REALLY believe in Ridley, you take him at 8 too, and if you dont, then hes no bargain at 15?

Well, since it's an equal value trade, no one would be crazy to take it or not take it. It all depends on whether you have your eye on a particular player for #8. 21 and 22 will not have the same game breaking talent available that 8 will. But two players are better than one. Then again, your 2nd rounder drops etc etc. There is no crazy here, just an option that they might or might not want to exercise depending on their player value board.