dawhizz

My problem with this trade is that you are bringing a rookie QB into a situation without a supporting cast to succeed. While it would be smarter to let him sit for a year, they will want to start their rookie QB because I can't imagine this new LA franchise doing anything else. But who does he have to throw to? They didn't upgrade their skill positions at all and are stuck with Kenny Britt, Brian Quick, Tavon Austin, and Lance Kendricks. That's not a recipe for success and they aren't going to upgrade that group appreciably with a third and 2 fourth round picks.

If Stanley is there at #11 and the Titans call and offer #15 and their 3rd, do you take Stanley or trade down?

1. I'm at the point with Elliott where I would be OK with the pick, but I'm not so secretly hoping someone above us takes him because I think we have other needs and I want to see what Langford can do. 2. I think it's a lack of pure edge rush guys from the OLB spot that is pushing him up more than usual. Most of the "edge" guys seem like better fits at DE or are frankly more equally good defending the pass as the run as opposed to a guy who you can project as a 12 sack a year guy, so if there's a team high who there is a perception needs a pass-rusher, Floyd is the guy that it makes the most sense to project to that spot. I don't think I've seen any actual indication that the Bears like him or are interested in him, which probably means they love him . . . 3. Lawson seems like a better fit if we want a versatile guy who can play DE and OLB, but Dodd is bigger if we are looking for a straight-up 3-4 DE and I've heard some persuasive arguments on Dodd that make me like him a lot. 4. I'm on the Hargreaves bandwagon because despite his height, he's thicker than most 5'10" CBs so he can be more physical than them. 5. Seems like they've shown interest in Vigil since we signed Freeman/Travethan. We currently have a couple of former UDFAs backing up those guys in Timo and Anderson, and while they did OK when they were in there, if we like Vigil more and he's there in the later rounds, why not? Freeman's only on a three year deal and he's turning 30, so if he starts to decline, we might need someone to step in sooner than we'd like. 6. I like trading back as well, but there's a lot of talk about how valuable 2nd and 3rd round picks are this year because you might like a guy in the early 2nd just as much as someone you could get in the late 3rd (see Peter King's MMQB column yesterday), so teams might be reluctant to part with those picks. 7. Pretty much.

FYI, they gave them Leonard Floyd/Vernon Butler/Alex Lewis/Eric Murray in one scenario and William Jackson/Austin Hooper/Charles Tapper/Juston Burris in another.

The Path to the Draft episode today on NFL Network had a Bears War Room feature where they talk about the roster and picks in the first few rounds that they think would make sense. They've been doing these for all the teams leading up to the draft. It will probably be rebroadcast a few times in the next 24 hours, but I'm not sure about availability after that.

Darn auto-correct.

I see where the Bears are bringing in Lynch for a workout now. I think it's pretty clear we will be drafting a QB relatively high between the fact that Fales is our current #2, we didn't make any attempt to sign a veteran QB (as far as I can tell) and we've shown some level of interest in just about every QB projected to go in the first 5 rounds. I'm very interested to see who they get. I'm personally not a fan of drafting Wentz/Goff/Lynch in the first considering our other needs and I don't really like Conner Cook or Hackenberg, and while Prescott's my favorite, I could get behind Prescott, Hogan, Brissett, Sudfeld, or even Kessler or Allen.

I think the other related question is, if we do want a NT, what kind of NT do we want? Ian Williams is only 6'1" 305. So if we were looking at the body type at the nose, it would be really interesting if we envision, for instance, Goldman and Hicks at the DEs and take Sheldon Rankins and put him at the NT (I've even heard some draft profiles suggesting he could play the nose in a 3-4). To be honest, I just don't know enough about what Fangio wants in his DL to determine that, but it would be one way to go.

It's that time of year when some of us are spending way too much time looking at draft guides/highlights/etc. So inspired by the recent All Athlete Draft I saw posted, any other fun All "Something" drafts you can put together for the Bears. I can make a very credible "all Florida" draft with one little cheat that I actually wouldn't be upset with for the Bears: 1. Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida 2. Jonathan Bullard, DE, Florida 3. Keanu Neal, S, Florida 4. Demarcus Robinson, WR, Florida 4. Kelvin Taylor, RB, Florida 5. Antonio Morrison, ILB, Florida 6. Jeff Driskell, QB, Louisiana Tech (but formerly of Florida) 6. Alex McAllister, OLB, Florida 7. Jake McGee, TE, Florida Any other schools this would work for? How about an all injured draft? All same first name? All undersized? Just trying to kill time to get me through the next three weeks . . .

Enough that you would take him at #11? Because that's probably what it's going to take.

He wouldn't be my first choice, but I wouldn't hate it. He's thin, but has good height and athleticism for the OLB spot. The Bears could rotate him in while he adds weight. My main concern would be the effect the added weight has on his quickness, but that's a concern for a lot of rookies.

I think there's a lot of fluff in the PFF approach, but it does force me to look into prospects no one else is talking about. They certainly march to their own beat. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/...und-mock-draft/

I might even take Dodd over Lawson in that situation, particularly if we want a pass-rusher we can plug and play at 3-4 DE. I think Lawson can play both 3-4 DE and OLB, but Dodd is bigger and taller and seems like a better fit to stick at DE right away. He might be viewed as a bit of a reach, but for what the Bears need, he fits the bill, I think.

Is Lawson still available? I would take him over Robinson and probably Rankins. I sure as hell don't want Treadwell at #11.

I might do it for #11. But I would jump on a pick swap of firsts and a conditional 2017 pick based on starts production that could be worth as much as a 3rd.

Did you do this from FanSpeak, or just looking at draft boards? I did a Fanspeak draft today with a similar approach to yours (except I'm not a fan of a TE early) and came out with this: 1) Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida 2) Vernon Butler, DE, Louisiana Tech 3) Sean Davis, S, Maryland 4) Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame 4) Dak Prescott, QB, Miss St. 5) Joe Haeg, OT, North Dakota St. 6) Ben Braunecker, TE, Harvard 6) Josh Ferguson, RB, Illinois 7) Malcolm Mitchell, WR, Georgia

I thought the same thing at first, but the more I look at it, I don't think that's true. The 49ers drafted some big corners when Fangio was there, but the main corners when the 49ers defense was most effective were Carlos Rogers (6'0" 195), Tarell Brown (5'11" 190) and Perrish Cox (5'11" 195), so it wasn't exactly biggest group. Plus they drafted Jimmie Ward while he was there as a CB/S and he was 5'11" 193. Then you look at the Bears CBs who have played under Fangio. Fuller is 6'0" 190, but Porter is 5'11" 190 and they gave snaps to 5'10" 185 Bryce Callahan (who is the current de facto nickel) and cut bigger guys like Al Louis Jean. At 5'10" 204, Hargreaves is not much different than those other guys, he's thicker, so he should be more effective jamming receivers at his size, and he's the clear cut best or second best corner in the class (depending on your position preference for Ramsey). Plus, he's known as a physical guy who supports the run and can effectively press, which is what Fangio wants from his CBs, so I don't really see Hargreaves' size being a deterrent.

Seems to me it might make more sense for a swap of Baldwin for Houston or Young and maybe one of our 6ths. Baldwin goes to a 3-4, Houston/Young goes to a 4-3. Both better fits.

Related question: Let's say he seems to be recovering fully from his injury and the Bears are at #11. Wentz, Bosa, Buckner, Stanley, Tunsil, Ramsey, Jack, Elliott, Goff, and Lawson are off the board. No one wants to trade up for the Bears pick. Would you be mad if they took Jaylon Smith at #11?

Tongue a little in cheek. Seems like a lot of people are really high on this signing and I'm not sure why, but 1 year deal for him. Sounds like mainly a special teamer and decent kick return man, but you don't want him starting on defense under any circumstances. I guess he and Deonte can battle it out over return man duties.

Lots of Bears rumors swirling on Twitter based on a tweet by Adam Caplan that newly-signed Ted Larsen will start at G for Bears. Some speculating Slauson might be traded. None of it makes any sense to me, but stay tuned and #inPacewetrust.

They pretty much replace Ducasse and Omameh, which is fine with me because I wasn't too impressed with either one.

(Sadly not THAT Manny Ramirez) Better backup option than Ducasse, IMO, and can backup Grasu at C. Yet another former Bronco under Fox. One year deal.

I guess it depends on whether the Bears see Amos as a FS or SS. I thought he played mostly FS last year, but he didn't have many impact coverage plays. Then I saw something from Brad Biggs this morning saying they saw him as a SS, but on the Bears website he's listed as a FS. So I guess he's a FS?

It's funny on the safeties this year - I just can't seem to get a consensus of who is projected in which round, much moreso than any other position in the draft. For instance, I looked this evening on the way safeties were ranked by the sites that FanSpeak uses for its mocks, and even if I only look at the rankings that have been updated in the last two weeks, they are all over the map: - Three sites rank Neal as the #1 safety, but I've also seen him ranked #156, #164, #168, and #229 overall. - Karl Joseph and Jeremy Cash are the only safeties ranked in the double digits in every ranking (Joseph ranges from #49 to #91 overall and Cash ranges from #34 to #80). Therefore, it seems logical to conclude those guys will be 2nd to 3rd round picks. Thompson has a high rank of #23 and a low rank of #104, so he's probably a 2nd/3rd rounder too. - Bell is probably also a 2nd to 3rd rounder based on the rankings, though one site ranked him #17 overall (With the First Pick) and another ranked him #121 overall (Kyle Crabbs). - Killebrew, Green, and Davis are the only remaining safeties not to be ranked in the 200s by anybody. - KJ Dillon has the unique distinction of being ranked #15 by Kyle Crabbs and #325 by Draftec. To make a long story even longer, I don't think anyone really knows where most of these guys will go. I actually like quite a few of them, though, as I've mentioned, I think Sean Davis makes the most sense for what we know of Fangio. I'm not a big fan of Killebrew, Cash, or Green (I don't like drafting a safety that can't cover), but hopefully we picks someone sometime and they are good.