dawhizz

At this point, I wait until after the draft, or at least after the first round. The Giants purported ask is astronomical and if someone else wants to pay it, fine. If he’s still in NY on Friday, maybe There’s a deal to be had, but let’s just se what happens if he’s still there after the draft ends.

I don’t really like Woods or Banks. I guess I could live with Banks in the 2nd but really don’t want Woods in the first. Change it to an Edge and I’d be OK with it.

Relevant.

It’s really crazy how two completely unlikely random events - Trapilo getting majorly injured in the playoffs and Dalman retiring, affected this draft. Think how focused we could be if we don’t have to (potentially) address LT and C long-term.

I just have a hard time finding a fit. Beyond just not liking this DT class much, it seems like DA doesn't like the big, run-stuffing NT type which is, if anything, the strength of this class. By the end of the 2nd where we're picking, I can't get excited about any of the players really. Gracen Halton seems like the closest to a fit to what DA likes that might be worth that pick, but is he giving this team anything different than playing Shemar Turner/James Lynch/Kentavious Street/Dayo those snaps?

My best guess one week out: 1) Akheem Mesidor, DE, Miami - I believe he's falling due to age and I also believe Poles doesn't care. I think now that the Bears are at playoff team the goal is "get me grown men who can play now" and not "get me young guys who can develop (as you will see with my other picks. I would not have thought this pick was possible even a month ago but I think this is pretty possible now. 2a) Treydan Stukes, S, Arizona - Yes, another 25 year old. Has the speed and versatility the Bears defense appears to be looking for this offseason. 2b) DeZhaun Stribling, WR, Ole Miss - Came in for a Bears visit. Can play inside and outside and one of the better blocking WRs in the draft, which Ben will surely appreciate. Seems to be rising into this range, but maybe a trade down into the beginning of the third and picking up a 5th or something would work as well. 3) Logan Jones, C, Iowa - The third 25 year old - this probably won't happen but he seems to fit what the Bears want on the offensive line as far as combining movement skills with aggressive demeanor, and should be ready to challenge Bradbury right away or take over next year. 4) Charles Demmings, CB, Stephen F. Austin - This probably where you get another body at outside CB. I went back and forth between Demmings, who is fast but will have level of competition concerns, and Devin Moore from Florida, who might be more ready to play but has a concerning injury history, but I decided Moor was a little too much like Terrell Smith with the injuries. 7a) Aaron Graves, DT, Iowa - Just dart throws at this point, but Graves has played inside and outside and fits the Dennis Allen type. 7b) Cole Wisniewski, S, Texas, Tech - Even with an earlier safety, the Bears might need another body there as the depth is not great. Wisniewski is big and can play in the box in a safety/linebacker hybrid role.

5% trade up 55% stay put 40% trade down

What I want to come out of the draft with and where I think we could get it: Starting-caliber DE - 1st to 2nd round, maybe third if you trade up/down to the beginning of the round and someone is sliding (Derrick Moore?). Starting Safety - 1st to 3rd round, maybe fourth if you trade up/down to the beginning of the round and someone is dropping (Bud Clark?). Guy would could push right away to start at #2 CB - 1st to 3rd round Center that could conceivably start next year and/or push Bradbury this year if he struggles - 2nd to 5th round, unless they see Newman as the future at C in which case you maybe need a backup guard in that same range WR who dresses and could start in a 3WR set if needed - 2nd to 5th round After that I don't much care. DT makes sense if you think there is a difference maker in the 1st/2nd, but much after that I'd just as soon play the three guys they signed, plus snaps for Shemar Turner there to go with Grady Jackson and Gervon Dexter returning. That seems to me like a solid, if potentially unspectacular, DT group, which is fine doing into a draft that's pretty unspectacular at DT IMO (which I theorize is precisely why they signed those DTs in free agency). OT - I've resigned myself to the fact that OT is a real first round possibility and I'm (grudgingly) OK with it, though I'd still be pretty surprised if it happens. Maybe you take a mid round guy with a lot of LT experience (Markel Bell, Jude Bowry, JC Davis, etc.) to give you one more crack at a LT, but you currently have Jones, Willis, Benedet, and Kiran (I still believe!) to battle for the LT position and you probably aren't going to do much better than that this year outside of the first round (I think that's why they signed Jones and Willis but we shall see). LB depth would be nice if you love a guy (I can't help but think Kyle Louis could be a target) but I'm pretty much good with the depth there. RB - If you like one and see it as a value pick, great, if not, I'm OK with what we have for now. TE - Same as RB.

I just don’t see the Peter Woods thing. At all. Setting aside the fact that the Bears added 3 DTs in FA and have Shemar coming back to join Dexter and Grady, “athletically talented underachiever” has essentially never been a Poles draft pick type. There’s no precedent for it, and my sense is that Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson have even less interest in that type than Poles. Five career sacks in college and I’m spending a first round pick to make you my 3T? Are you kidding?

Passing this along as I ran across it today, on Poles’ search for players that fit DA’s defense. https://www.bleachernation.com/bears/2026/04/06/bears-gm-on-defense/ I am starting to think Meaidor is a real possibility. Poles singled him out in a recent interview with McShay. https://atozsports.com/nfl/chicago-bears-news/bears-ryan-poles-shares-his-true-feelings-on-akheem-mesidor-red-flag-age-2026-nfl-draft/ TJ Parker looks like the other decent first round pick fit at DE if they stay at 25. Keionte Scott looks like a reasonable second round pick target, though I’m a little hesitant to project a rookie changing positions to start at safety where the Bears kind of need an immediate starter.

Not really at 25, but the potential surprise pick in 2-4 rounds to me might be guard. I’m working under the assumption that they want to keep Newman at guard and take advantage of a pretty good center draft and draft a center in those rounds, but they did talk about Newman playing center after the draft, so it’s conceivable that they take a guard in there instead (and I’ve hardly looked at all at the guard crop) that might be an heir apparent to Thuney while Newman is the future center behind Bradberry.

That’s fine, I just think he’s demonstrably wrong about the visit thing. The only ones we know did are Hyppolite and Frazier based on post draft comments. Can’t seem to find one way or another with Trapilo, Turner, or Newman but: Loveland says he’s never been to Halas Hall during the Bears 1920 post draft video (at 8:35) Here’s the post draft media conference call where Burden says the Bears didn’t really talk to him much prior to the draft (which suggests to me the didn’t bring him in for a visit) - it’s at 4:15: Monongai says his only pre-draft interactions with the Bears was an informal at the combine and maybe a call during the process (at 0:50):

I’ve seen people say that all the players drafted had come in for a 30 visit (like Greg Gabriel) but I’m pretty sure that’s not true. If you watch the post-draft video from last year, Loveland pretty clearly says he’s never been to the Bears facility. I’m pretty sure Burden, Trapilo, and Turner didn’t visit either even though they met with those guys at the combine/senior bowl I think.

The more I look at this list and the guys I see mocked to the Bears, it’s hard for me to believe they would draft either Caleb Banks or Peter Woods without bringing them in for a visit given questions about their motor and productivity. Maybe they did and kept it quiet I guess.

I mentioned this in another thread but there literally 10-12 guys you could get in rounds 2-4 and maybe even 5 who seem like viable future starting centers. Whichever one they think is the best fit works for me.

It’s a really good center draft so I’d be shocked if the Bears don’t get a center of the future in the middle rounds. and I still don’t buy OT in the first round.

Also remember that as much as Poles talked about BPA, he also very clearly has position targets. I rewatched the Bears post draft video again recently and there’s a clip from in the draft room where he talks about how a trade down gives them the extra picks to address LB, DB, RB, and G day three, which is exactly what they end up doing. Now we don’t know what his targets will be, but that suggests that will be as much of a driver as pure BPA.

Some random thoughts on roster going into the draft: QB - Seems to be set RB - Maybe use one of those 7th round picks on a guy you like, as they had success there with Monongai, but I don't see a great need. Swift and Monongai are pretty good, Roschon Johnson has been injured but is useful if healthy, and there were preseason flashed from both Brittan Brown and Deion Hankins where I'm fine with them on the practice squad for emergencies. WR - I see as a bigger potential need/target. You only really have two semi-proven guys in Odunze and Burden, and all it takes is an injury to one of those guys (and both had injuries last year) and you are using Raymond or Walker at WR2. Loveland will get snaps at WR which maybe lessens the need, but a pick in the 2/3 range would not shock me, someone who can potentially work inside and outside like Germie Bernard. Ben likes his toys. TE - Loveland and Kmet will get a bunch of snaps and targets. You have Carlson as a blocker. If you like someone late either as a better blocking specialist or as a swiss army knife type (like Dan Villari that they brought in for a visit recently), I would have no problem with that. OT - There seems to be a fair amount of 1st round OT smoke with the Bears with names like Kadyn Proctor and Blake Miller being thrown around, but I don't really see it. Maybe if you get extra picks and you want to spend a mid-round pick on a guy with extended college experience at LT to give you another potential option (Kage Casey, Jude Bowry, etc.), but it seems like you have a competition between Jones, Benedet, and Willis set up. OG - Don't really see much of a need here. The caveat is if they see Luke Newman as the heir apparent at C - remember the Bears brass were talking about him as a center right after they drafted him, but I think during the season he worked more at G. But McFadden was brought back and did pretty well when asked at the end of the year and Newman looked promising. C - Makes a lot of sense to draft the heir apparent at C (unless it's Newman). There's like, literally ten centers that are bunched up in the middle rounds in this unusually deep center draft that I would have no problem with the Bears taking, so whoever and whenever they decide to address that is fine with me as long as it gets done. DT - Do the Bears have elite guys here? Probably not. But I don't quite get this as a big need. You got rid of your biggest underachiever from last year (Billings). Dexter was pretty good and is back. You brought in three new DTs who figure to make the roster and get snaps (Gallimore, Street, Lynch). Then you have Shemar Turner hopefully healthy and I think he makes more sense in the mix at DT than DE. Maybe if there is a 3T you love the value on you take him, but this is more of a NT draft and that doesn't seem to be the type of DT that appeals to Dennis Allen (I truly don't know what to make of the recent visit by Kayden McDonald but it's notable I guess that maybe they are looking beyond those historical trends). DE - You need some new blood. Ideally in the 1st or 2nd because after that you might as well just play Austin Booker more. Dayo is probably back and can't possibly be worse (right?) and maybe Shemar gets some snaps here. LB - I think I'm good here. Edwards and Bush will start with a nickel or D'Marco Jackson most of the time and Sanborn, Hyppolite, and a (hopefully) healthy Sewell are decent depth. Maybe there's a speedy guy they love like Kyle Louis but I would not make it a priority in the draft myself. CB - #2 CB is the biggest Bears need not enough people are talking about. You have guys to play nickel (Gordon, Lewis, Blackburn) but on the outside Stevenson is coming off a down year and Smith and Frazier are big question marks after they missed most of last year. It's a deep CB draft (and good draft for the bigger press corners DA seems to favor) but historically you can't plan on getting a starting caliber CB as a rookie much past the first round or two. I think guys like Colton Hood, Chris Johnson, Brandon Cisse, and Treydan Stukes are real 1/2 round possibilities. S - The other glaring need as the Bears don't seem to have a starting caliber safety on the roster next to Bryant. But this is a deep safety draft and you can historically draft a potential first year starter into the 3rd and maybe even 4th round. I can see Poles not buying into the value of a first round safety unless maybe Thieneman is there (I don't think he will be) so we might be looking at guys like Kilgore, Clark, Ramsey, Wheatley in the 2-4 round range. But seems to me you have to get someone who can at least potentially if not probably start as a rookie.

I don’t see it. I know he’s a good tackler but I don’t think he’s big enough for safety. More of a nickel if anything, though I think he could survive in the outside.

Saw Keionte Scott today, CB from Miami.

The big roster construction question for me is where do they project Shemar Turner playing mostly? If he's a DT, you have a pretty full DT group with Dexter, Turner, Jackson, Gallimore, and Street/Lynch. If they see him more as a DE, maybe you have room to add a DT. The complication there is the fact that they brought in Kayden McDonald for a 30 visit. He's not the typical Dennis Allen type DT, but we know it's a real visit because McDonald posted it on Instragram. It doesn't make sense to me to waste a 30 visit on a smokescreen, particularly on one that seems so out of character for the scheme, unless there was real interest. That might be an admission by the staff that stopping the run was a problem and would potentially open up the range of possible DT draft picks to more NT types like McDonald, Lee Hunter, Christen Miller ,and other bigger guys who are outside the typical lighter quicker DTs Allen has seemed to prefer in the past.

Oh I get it. I though you were talking about Zah.

What suggests to you that he is dumb?

I'm not ready to give up on him either. I still think he's pretty talented but took a step back last year. Hope he rights the ship because he's kind of important from a depth standpoint.

Was thinking about this signing and I wonder if it's time to put Kyler Gordon at outside CB and use Lewis more in the nickel. If you keep Gordon in the nickel, you have a bit of a void at #2 CB IMO unless someone out there really believes in Tyrique Stevenson. But if you put Gordon outside, then use some combination of Lewis/Stevenson/Blackwell inside (where I think Stevenson's tackling becomes more of an asset), then I think your CB lineup is looking a bit better. Now, maybe they are targeting a potential #2 CB in the draft which moots all this, but that approach makes sense to me. Then you still have guys like Terrell Smith (if he can ever stay healthy) and Zah Frazier as developing at outside CB.