dawhizz

I've always thought Dodd and Calhoun were better suited to 4-3 DE, and that Lawson could kind of go either way, with Floyd as probably the best fit at OLB in a 3-4. I would agree that there's not a Von Miller in this draft, but Floyd is the closest thing after Bosa.

Must have been a deflating feeling for Belicheck . . .

I expect it's a minimum deal. Just 27 years old (sense a theme?). I thought he played well at the end of the year and would be fine with him as the #2/#3 TE.

I'll interested to see where Pace turns his attention next. Based on the Bears needs and the age of players Pace seems to be targeting (no one over 30, basically), these seem like the best fits to me. -S - Someone elsewhere has mentioned Tony Jefferson, but he does make sense as a young safety coming from a strong Cardinals defense maybe poised for a breakout (like what we are hoping to see with Hicks). -CB - Not a lot here, but Nolan Carroll was arguably the best CB on a bad Philly defense last year, and at 6'1" has the size Fangio tends to favor in his CBs. - TE - Beyond the rumors or Miller and Jared Cook, Rhett Ellison from the Vikings might be a consideration. He's been stuck behind a good young TE, but is a former 4th round pick out of USC who ran a 4.69 40 coming out of the draft and has averaged over 10 yards per reception. - OT - I'd love to see them kick the tires on Kelvin Beacham from the Steelers, who is coming off an ACL injury, but is just 27 and is an upgrade from Leno if healthy.

I'm not really a Raji fan, but to be fair, Hicks played mostly 3-4 DE, while Raji was a pure run-stuffing NT. Not sure sacks or even tackles are an accurate reflection of their comparative value or impact. I mean, Ted Washington was making the Pro Bowl as a 3-4 NT with 35-40 tackles and 2-4 sacks a year.

That's from two days ago (before Hicks' visit even).

I'm not sure your argument that we should spend a high first round pick on a QB is helped by saying we need a guy like Ben (high 1st round pick), Rodgers (late first round pick), Brady (6th round pick), Bree's (2nd round pick) , or Luck (consensus best player in the draft and#1 pick) rather than a guy like Alex Smith (#1 pick). I have no problem drafting a QB high in a good QB draft and certainly see the value in that. I just don't think this is one of those.

See, I think the DL is in much better shape than OL (especially if we get Hicks or a comparable FA DE). We resigned Unrein, who did OK last year. You have previous draft picks Ferguson and Sutton, who haven't stayed healthy, but have flashed some when they've been out there. McPhee plays DE sometimes and Houston is still usable there. Compare that with the OL. Right now the starters look good: Leno-Slauson-Grasu-Long-Massie. But we have no one I've ever heard of to step in if any of those guys get hurt or if Leno falters in his first full year. I follow the Bears and I've never heard of these guys, outside of Tayo, who hasn't done anything yet. Martin Wallace? Jason Weaver? TJ Henry? Nick Becton? (I even made one of those names up, and you probably didn't notice.) You can get guard depth in the middle rounds, but this team is desperate (IMO) for a potential stud starter at LT or swing tackle to push Leno.

Based on what I know (or think I know) about the personnel, scheme, and this draft, there's really only two positions at #11 that make sense to me outside a pure "BPA" approach: -OT - Stanley would be considered a slight slide and Conklin or Decker might be considered a slight reach, but you currently have an "OK" Leno at LT and zero depth behind the starters, so ideally you draft an OT in the first two rounds to challenge Leno - winner gets LT and loser is the - very important - swing tackle, cause you don't want a situation where Massie or Leno gets hurt and you are moving Long back to tackle and shuffling the line again. -DE - Buckner or Robinson seem are great fits at 3-4 DE. As someone above said, this is a deep DL draft in general, but I'm not sure that the 3-4 DE market is quite as deep, so if you need a difference maker and immediate starter (and I think the Bears might), those guys make sense. Beyond that, I feel like a trade down would make the most sense. -I get the Elliott argument, I just have such a hard time taking a first round running back, knowing how much depth and value there is generally. -I would usually put CB on the list, but popular consensus is that Hargreaves and Alexander and the #1 and #2 CB, and neither has the size that Fangio seems to typically prefer. If you trade down, you should reap a decent haul in compensation, plus still put you in position to take a better fit at CB like Apple, Jackson, Burns, or Howard. I guess it would come down to how important Fangio sees size as in his CBs and/or whether they see one guy as clearly a tier above the rest. -The QB argument just doesn't track for me. My read of this QB draft is that it's more the draft where you take a first round QB because you need a QB, not one where you take one because he's BPA. Maybe Pace and company falls in love with someone, and if so, great, but from what I've seen of these projected 1st round QBs, I can't see any of them being the kind of guy you get enamored with. I think it's more likely that they determine that they really like someone in the 2nd/3rd tier and maybe take them higher than otherwise projected (someone like Brissett or Prescott or Sudfeld).

Meh. Personally, I'm of the opinion that if he should only get snaps at WR if we have multiple injuries at WR, and should only get snaps in the return game if the apocalypse is imminent. At least it's not a multi-year deal.

We do need a starting caliber DE. I personally fail to see how a guy who had 21 tackles last year is a "must get" (I'd be fine with Fairley and some others if Hicks wants too much). But I get your point.

Pretty good. 146 his first year, then 126, 95 (in 12 games), and 112 last year. More of s run stuffer/blitzer, which really compliments Trevathan.

Pretty much takes ILB off the board early, IMO. They now have two solid starters in middle and some young guys who showed some promise (Timu, Anderson, Jones maybe) to back them up. That's pretty much what you want.

I think he's pretty overrated. Would rather have Freeman.

Let's hope Hicks isn't a Trump supporter . . .

Along with Gresham and Hicks, ILB Jerrell Freeman also in for a visit today. Was a very productive player last year at age 30 and would really shore up our LB corps in the short term.

Looks like the Broncos could be in desperate need of a QB in the draft. So, would you consider a trade down if you got a big offer? They have picks at the end of the 1st (#31), 2nd (#63), and two at the end of the 3rd (#94 and #98). Just thinking out loud, but what if you could get all four of those picks, plus Bradley Roby (3rd year CB out of Ohio State who has been their nickel behind two pro bowlers) and another promising young player or future high pick?

Except that Rilidgers came on a minimum deal, and if there's 4 teams in on Mariani, he won't.

For those interested. Think it's streaming on chicagobears.com

I still think we need to prioritize CB in the draft. Porter's been up and down his whole career, we still don't know what we have in Fuller, we have inexperienced nickel & dime backs behind them. Depending on how the draft breaks, I could see a trade down in the first for a big CB like Apple or Jackson or target Burns or Howard in the 2nd/3rd.

He played S last year. I suspect he's being looked at along with Bruton as safety depth/possible starter depending on how the draft shakes out.

From what I saw on Twitter, it's: 2016 - $6.25m 2017 - $3.25m 2018 - $7.05m 2019 - $7.05m

I imagine Miller will resign, then get a veteran DT and find a S.

Kyle Long sounds happy. Apparently they train together.

According to Jason Cole with Bleacher Report.