dawhizz

Beyond Will Montgomery (who makes sense as a back-up for Grasu), there's no one else I really see as a "must add" right now. I know we have a bunch of cap space, but if we keep it, does that give us more flexibility to add guys who get cut in preseason/after the draft? If so, I would be fine sitting back for the most part and seeing who gets cut loose. I would agree that Tony Jefferson makes sense, but I also think the team likes Harold Jones-Quartay.

My thought is that our roster is already full of "catch first" TEs (Miller, Housler, Lee, Sinclair). If Miller manages to stay healthy, we're not going to get much production from a second pass-catching TE. If he doesn't, it's hard for me to see a big difference between the production, say, Nick Vannett would have and the production those other guys would have with the same number of snaps. And if what we need is a blocking TE, you don't need to use a pick in the first four rounds for that.

I know Henry in the 3rd is good value, but I think the secondary is the weak area for this team, and nothing here really helps that. I obviously don't know what DBs were available in the third for you, but I would tend to go that way (within reason) instead of Henry. OtherwiseI'd be good with it.

I don't want either Henry in the 2nd.

Good questions and ones I have been thinking about recently as well. My thoughts: 1) Do you think the Bears will draft a TE? Yes. 2) Do you think they will draft him in the first four rounds? No. This is a bad TE draft, by all accounts. My read is that some guys like Jerrell Adams and Nick Vannett who might be 5th or 6th round picks in another draft are getting 2nd/3rd/4th round consideration. But as I look down the list, I don't see any real difference between those guys and someone you would get in the 5th/6th, and while we only have one draft to go on, Pace doesn't seem like one who would reach to satisfy a perceived need if comparable talent could be had a round or two earlier. I'm going to say the Bears draft a TE with one of their 6th round picks. 3) What stats do you think Zach Miller, assuming he stays injury free, will have at the end of the year? If he was actually healthy the whole year, I'll say 70 catches, 700 yard, 7 TDs, which would put him in the top ten, but less than Bennett had in 2014. I'm also assuming a healthy Kevin White and Eddie Royal taking catches away from TE.

Looking at those names and some recent Bears drafts (2012 with Brandon Hardin & Evan Rodriguez and 2011 with Chris Conte), one thing I appreciate looking back at Pace's first draft is that we didn't have any reaches or picks that looked like an attempt to outthink the room - pretty much everyone was drafted at or around when you thought they would go before the draft. One year is too soon to call it a trend, but I hope to see that continue in this draft.

Now watch he be an all-pro (although that didn't work too well for Bostic in NE . . .)

I've heard exactly zero on this front, but what about Russell Okung? Just 27, which fits the Pace offseason strategy. Injury history is bad, but if healthy he gives you a top 5 LT and incredible O-line and shifts Leno to swing tackle.

Agree. Like Byron Marshall, Demarcus Ayers, and Jaydon Mickens as possible late round WR/return men.

I would go Pharoh Cooper instead of Sharpe in the 3rd so we could get a legit return man, but otherwise I'd be fine with it.

Came across this cap analysis: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/03/15/dur...y-cap-update-2/

Posted in wrong thread.

I like the trade and generally like the approach (though the numbering of picks instead of with their round number makes this a tough read). I would probably make some minor adjustments: - If we are going to draft a guy for safety, I would just as soon draft someone like Karl Joseph instead of projecting Redmond to S. - If we are going to draft a WR, I'd like someone with some return ability. My dream is Pharoh Cooper. - Got to go DL at some point, whether it's a back-up for Goldman or depth at DE. I don't think Schobert or Nicholas can play there. Using most of your original picks and approach, I would go more like: 1) Artie Burns, CB, Miami - Jackson might have more upside, but I like Burns a little more. 2) Shon Coleman, OT, Auburn 3) Karl Joseph, S, West Virginia 3) Pharoh Cooper, WR, South Carolina 4) Matt Ionaidis, DE, Temple 5) Willie Beavers, OT/G, Central Michigan - Can probably provide OG depth for now. 6) Dak Prescott, QB, Miss. St. 6) David Morgan, TE, Texas San Antonio 6) Joe Schobert, LB, Wisconsin 7) Antwaun Woods, NT, USC - Backup for Goldman.

I'm mostly OK with it, and my main concerns may be debatable: 1) I think if we draft a S, it should be more of a FS than a SS like Cash. I supposed it depends on where you see Amos fitting best, but coming off a year when he had 0 ints and 1 PD, I would think they would want a better coverage/takeaway guy. 2) Isn't Kaufusi more of a 4-3 DE? I'm willing to be proven wrong on this, but he doesn't seem big enough for 3-4 end.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of the new one and I don't see any problem with the original one we did. I would probably just replace Cravens with a DE (maybe Bullard?), Kafudi with an edge OLB (Joe Schobert maybe?) and Mouton with maybe a RB, I'd be good with it.

I heard we had about $25 million in cap room after adding Hicks, and that about $10 million of that would be reserved for the draft. So we have about $12 million left after Miller, though that might go up to $17 million if we move Bennett. Could still add some decent pieces in the secondary, I would think.

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).