For as long as I've been a Bears fan, I've been an NFL draft fan. I've watched the whole thing, every year, since I was in elementary school. And, as a nasty side-effect, I have, unknowingly at the time, defended countless Bears drafts that did not warrant it. I have written flowery defenses of Brandin Hardin, Tron LeFavor, and Juaquin Iglesias, seen the playmaking potential in Dustin Lyman, and argued that Brock Vereen was a “steal.” This is to say, I am not, typically speaking, negative about Bears drafts.
I have mentioned in several threads that I am negative about this one. Or was. I’m still deciding. Because the more I think about it, I think my problem with the draft is perhaps mine and not Pace’s. As I look over those drafts in the 2000s that I have defended, there is very little to be excited about looking back. Bright spots here and there, sure, but largely uninspiring. To contrast that, Pace’s drafts have consisted, almost uniformly (with the exception of Tayo Fabuluje), of useful NFL players, which is, it should be said, a true rarity in the NFL. Those who have not yet contributed much have been injured, which it itself a problem, but not a predictable one, in most instances. And that is much more than I can say for the guys who occupied that chair previously. But those past experiences still poison my current evaluation of this draft in various ways. I think it’s fair to say that, had someone posted this actual Bears draft as a mock draft prior to the draft, it would not have been met with praise by me or by many on this board. When I look at the actual players, I am able to recognize the same problems with them I would have had if it was proposed, but also recognize what past draft failure have done to my current thinking:
Trubisky – He was my favorite QB in the draft. And it is undeniably exciting to have the Bears draft my favorite QB in the draft. It’s the trade up I still have a problem with. We’ve all seen all the conflicting stories of who would have moved up, who they would have taken, etc. I think I ultimately come down on the opinion that the Bears could have stayed at 3 and still gotten Trubisky, but there is a lot of contradiction in those stories. But here’s the contradiction I am more bothered by: I have seen some Bears fans who both (1) praise Pace’s drafting ability, and (2) argue that two 3rds and a 4th is not giving up much to move up. And to me those two statements are, if not contradictory, at least in conflict. Because if you think Pace is a great drafter, then those mid round picks really do mean a lot, because that’s three more quality shots you give him to add a quality player. I believe that we could have stayed at 3 and gotten Trubisky, and still given Pace three more shots at quality players.
Shaheen – I saw two mock drafts posted here prior to the draft which proposed Shaheen as a Bears draft pick – both had him in the 4th round. So, when I saw him picked, it felt like we reached, and I felt like I did when we drafted Mark Bradley, Roosevelt Williams, and Dan Bazuin in the 2nd round – picks I tried to rationalize at the time only to find that those players were unworthy of my defense. My other issue is that there is virtually no recent precedent for a small school TE taken in the first two rounds of the draft, let alone one who went on to a quality NFL career. The closest I was able to find is Jim Kleinsasser, who was drafted out of North Dakota by the Vikings, and turned into a decent player. So, we can say he will play early, make an impact, be a quality first year contributor, but I’m struggling to find a precedent for that. I guess Antonio Gates, but that seems like a tall order . . .
Jackson – The Bears have been trying to solve safety with mid round picks since Mike Brown left in 2009. Chris Conte, Brandin Hardin, Brock Vereen, Adrian Amos, Deon Bush. No solution. This pick just immediately reminded me of Brock Vereen, another safety we traded up to get in the 4th round, under the auspices that he was the last possible starting safety on the board. We all convinced ourselves he would be an immediate starter, just like we’re doing with Jackson. Maybe it will work out this time. Maybe he’ll be more Rashad Johnson, another Alabama FS taken in the middle rounds who has enjoyed a decent career.
Cohen – Everyone says, you can still get possible starters in the 4th round. But it’s unlikely that Cohen ever starts a game in his career. Now, I understand the value of role players. But again, this is where past Bears drafts poison me. I remember a plan for getting Evan Rodriguez, Frank Murphy, and Garrett Wolfe touches. But we never saw the touches, let alone the production. I understand the argument that he is the next Darren Sproales. But there’s a next Darren Sproales in almost every draft. There were at least four in this draft (Cohen, Christian McCaffrey, TJ Logan, Donnell Pumphrey). But most “next Darren Sproaleses” (Dri Archer, De’Anthony Thomas, Jacquizz Rodgers, Tyler Ervin to name just a few) never become Darren Sproales and never provide the impact to justify their draft position. The Bears say they have a plan for Cohen. I really hope so.
Morgan – I saw a lot of mock drafts. I never saw anyone give the Bears a guard. Maybe he’ll be a good, long time starter. But it’s hard for me to believe, down to your last chance to improve the roster going into the year, that this was the best option.
But, as I mention to start, Pace has earned the benefit of the doubt, I think. I have problems with the draft, but it may be a “me” problem. I sincerely hope so. The one thing I know is that making a mock draft for the Bears going forward is essentially pointless. Because Pace is not going by need. At all. He’s looking at his board and taking the highest guy on it, no matter what. A lesser GM probably would have gotten to the 5th round pick and said “this is really small school heavy, I need to take a guy people have heard of.” He didn’t do that, he (presumably) looked at this board, found the guy at the top, and took him. I can’t fault him for that. It’s a completely reasonable approach. But if this team doesn’t start winning, soon, we’ll see a new face in that chair. And I don’t want that to happen, because for all of my issues with the draft, deep down, (I think) I trust Pace.
