bradjock

I’m sure you’re right. That being said, didn’t Floyd seem like a bit of a reach at #11? Then we traded up to get him. Granted, we pretty much did the exact same thing last year, where we not only reached for Trubisky but traded up to do it.

I gotta disagree. I was stunned as hell that we traded up for Floyd. Mocks had him going at 12 at the earliest. Most in the late teens. Last year there was so much speculation about who was the top QB in the draft and then we signed Mike Glennon. Who thought we’d trade up to get Trubisky? I’m currently happy with both those deals. But we spend all this time speculating on what might happen and nobody saw either of those deals coming. Two years ago with Kevin White went like we hoped and I feel like everybody was happy with that pick. Considering the value Pace places on impact players, that makes it less likely we move down.

Damn good insight. My guess is Chubb is the only player we’d move up for. If he’s there at 6 we are definitely calling. That being said, Pace gave up a lot last year. I feel like we REALLY want our #3 back. I predict we find a way to get it back.

Agree completely. NFL.com has Leonard Floyd as 6-6 242. Edmunds is 6-5 253. Pretty comparable. Meanwhile, Smith is 6-1 236 making him more of a pure ILB. While I’d be happy with Smith, ILB is not nearly as valuable of a position and it’s not nearly as great a need. After being a miserable Bear fan for over a year, I’m excited.

That’s crazy talk. When has Fangio not had at least 5 quality OLB’s? Two years ago, we had Pernell McPhee, Willie Young, and Lamarr Houston. We not only drafted Floyd, but we traded up to get him. Two years later, after we had to convince Fangio to return, we have Floyd, who shows flashes of brilliance but is inconsistent and hurt. Lynch from San Fran, who isn’t very good, and Sam Acho who makes a very nice #5 OLB. This is the position Fangio covets the most—and it sucks. I could see us drafting 3 OLBers.

You said OLB on’t be taken Round 1. You don’t think there’s a chance we take Edmunds at #8? I feel like the general consensus is most mocks having us taking Nelson or Edmunds. There’s some variation, but that is by far #1 and #2.

Agreed. That being said, I feel like it gets forgotten that Fangio craves versatile pass rushers more than anything else. `I feel like we kind of had to talk him into coming back, and so far his defense look way worse on paper. I have no problem if we take a flyer on Key in the 2nd round. He’s easily a 2nd round talent. I’m glad we’re bringing him in for a look.

I was glad to hear that. Howard’s one helluva a running back. But don’t forget, last year at this time we were telling Mike Glennon it was his team and even invited him to the draft party. At the same time, all we heard about was how badly the Bears were trying to trade down. I do believe Nagy when he said today Howard’s the featured back. But you gotta be skeptical of everything this time of year.

I agree 100% that if Nelson doesn’t make it to our pick, we go defense and then maybe an OT prospect later. But I don’t see Coward having anything to do with that. He’s still a long shot to make the team.

Yep. And I hope like hell we sign Meredith and that he’s so good this season that it turns out to be a bargain for the Bears. It’s assumed he will be a starter for us. On a side note, last year the Bears signed New Orlean’s TE Josh Hill to an offer sheet. The Saints were at the cap and it was kind of assumed he’d be a Chicago Bear. The Saints waited until the last minute and matched the offer. It could be Pace is going to pay back the favor and wait until the last minute.

That’s a really good analysis. However, I have a tough time believing that Pace wanted Meredith to test free agency so he could sign him to a two year deal that’s worth up to 12 million.

I agree Pace has had a good offseason, every GM makes mistakes, and 2.5 million is not huge deal with the 180 million+ salary cap. But he did make a 2.5 million mistake.

Pace could have had him for 2.9 million. If we’d lost him, we’d receive a 2nd round pick. Instead we have to decide to match, assuming the reports are correct, 5.4 million guaranteed and worth up to 9.6 million over 2 years. New Orleans is pretty cash strapped. They worked him out and were convinced that’s what he’s worth. How did Pace not screw up by undervaluing Meredith’s value? Especially after we signed Marcus Wheaton for 2 years 11 million, with 6 guaranteed.

But if we’d offered him the 2.9 million tender, for New Orleans to sign him, they’d have to give us their 2nd round pick. The consensus is that no team would give up a 2nd rounder for an injured and somewhat unproven Meredith. Not to mention, it’s hard to believe we’d be good with guaranteeing him 5.5 million worth up to 8+ million when we wouldn’t guarantee him 2.9. Which either means we misjudged the market or we really don’t like Meredith. Like you said, if we don’t resign him, we pry need to draft a guy. On a side note, assuming we keep Meredith, it’s concerning out top 3 non-slot WR’s (Robinson, Meredith, White) missed all of last season.

He is not a worthless at pass catching but he needs his full attention on the football In order to make the reception. He’s not a natural receiver and he struggles. Even if he can’t catch the ball, he’s still a valuable power runner. And I REALLY hope you’re right and that I’m eating crow at the end of the season. That being said, the only reason we’re discussing this is because there have been 2 rumors circulating that we were trying to trade him. Either those rumors were false or we really don’t feel like he’s a good fit for our system. It’s my opinion that we’d like to trade him but we’re not finding the value we want so he’ll likely stay.

I believe the 2nd round tender was for 2.9 million. Based on all the interest Meredith received, it would appear Pace read the market wrong. I don’t see how Pace can let him walk.

Agreed. Cam Meredith is a young talent and we certainly have the cap space. Although Pace is going to have a tough time answering why he didn’t give Meredith the 2.9 million tender. That’s a bad look for Pace. To make matter’s worse, while Chicago is where NFL receivers go to die, New Orleans with Breese is a place where receiver’s thrive. If Meredith is really good, that will be an even worse look for Pace. On a side note, as I’m a 2 time ISU grad, I’m personally rooting for Meredith to thrive with the Bears. He’s an easy guy to root for.

Yep-I think it’ll be closer to 800 because Howard will be on the sideline more. Yes Howard had 23 receptions last year, but it was a 5.4 average. His degree of difficulty on receptions were minimal because we didn’t trust him. He’s also not very good running off the edge. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great power runner, but Pace wants guys he can move all over the field. Benny Cunningham’s more of an ideal Pace guy because of his versatility as he had 240 receiving yards on 20 receptions. I’m sure Pace find lots of different ways to utilize Cohen. Assuming we keep Howard, I see us using him the way the Eagles used Lafayette Blount. He rushed for 766 yards with only 8 catches. Then mixed in guys like Jay Ajai, Wendell Smallwood, and would have used Sproles a bunch if he hadn’t gotten hurt.

Agreed 100%. That deal ain’t going to happen. But I believe he’s on the move. Consider: 1. Howard is a really good between the tackles runner and a bad receiver. In Nagy’s system, he rushes for 800 yards cause he’ll be on the sidelines. When that happens, Howard’s not happy and his value plummets. Nobody wins. Why not move him when his value is at his peak? If you disagree, name the last great Chiefs or Eagles running back who wasn’t a receiver. 2. This draft is really deep with runnning backs. What’s Howard’s value? Especially considering he’s not elite and he thrives in a particular system. I’m thinking he’s worth the Giants 3rd round pick. Again, please consider the value of a really good/not great running back, that fits a particular system. What’s he worth? 3. Do you believe Moon Mullin? I don’t think he reports that if it wasn’t from a credible source. The rumor was we give up Howard and the #8 to receive the Landry, the #11, and a 3rd round pick. That would have been a bad deal for the Bears. Cleveland gave up a 4th round and 7th round. Then they have to pay Landry 17 million and sign him to a long term deal. The big kicker for me is that the #8 for the Bears could be REALLY valuable if the right QB drops. It was smarter for us to just sign Allen Robinson and see what happens. In short, I think there were talks, but that the deal broke down. In shot, I think we trade Howard if the value is there.

Forget the star power. He missed all of last season. That being said, if he’s the guy that could put us over the edge to winning a Super Bowl, I’m all in. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Either way, he’s not on the Bears radar.

The problem is in this scheme, the ILB is somewhat undervalued. They are more of a glorified strong safety. If we are drafting a player at #8,, he HAS to be able to get to the quarterback. Fangio’s scheme’s are all about QB pressure. If he can do that, I’d be thrilled with him at #8.

I completely forgot about Jordan Morgan. But why didn’t we activate him last year? There were games we missed both starting guards. How could he not see the field?

I’m loving everything we’ve done in adding offensive weapons to help out Trubisky. The one thing I can’t understand was letting go of Josh Sitton. I got it at the time assuming that we would sign someone young and more athletic. Since then all we’ve done is resign Bradley Sowell—who is a back-up swing tackle. It also looks like Quenton Nelson will be long gone by the time we pick at #8. Dumping Sitton, we now have a gaping hole at o-line. At best, Bobbie Massie and Charles Leno are average. We plan on using Trubisky out of the shot gun a lot more. Can Cody Whitehair consistently release a shot gun snap on target? Will Kyle Long play more than 8 games? With Grasu’s limited size and knee problems, he’s more likely to be out of the league than being a productive lineman. Had we kept Josh Sitton, on paper we have an average offensive line an we’d need to draft some guys for an infusion of youth. As it is, we have a bad offensive line and I don’t see how it gets much better by the start of the season. Assuming Nelson is gone at 8, there is no o-lineman worthy of the 8th pick. Is the plan to take a guy in the 2nd round and make him a starter? I just really don’t understand what we’re doing.

I disagree with you being one of the few on th Allen Robinson wagon. I’m in. Don’t forget he bitched about Blake Bortles.

IMO, a free agent WR is out #1 priority. I think this because a). I don’t think we can draft a WR #1 after missing on Kevin White. . We want to help Mitch NOW, and rookie WR’s take time. C). We failed miserably at acquiring mid-level WRs. D). Last year we had what was arguably the worst WR group in the league. The good thing is we have $$$ and there are good WR available. Who do you want? All these guys have issues and concerns and this will cost. 1. Allen Robinson 2. Jarvis Landry 3. Sammy Watkins 4. Marquise Lee 5. Paul Richardson On a final thought, for those of you who like Albert Wilson, at best, he’s a 5’8” #4 WR.