DABEARSDABOMB

I still fully believe that we will draft a QB in the 1st round. I don't know which one or where we will pick him, but I don't see us not drafting a QB in the 1st round.

Agreed. If we trade down, I'd be open, but even then, I don't see how we pass upon the safeties / DB's available (if we did move down). That said, Howard projects to be a beast.

Interesting. Deep CB draft...I think we need to draft at least 2 DB's and a TE in this draft (take advantage of the depth at those two positions in this draft).

I'm not as high on Allen, but for a long time he was the 2nd overall talent on a lot of the big boards, so it isn't like him going at 3 is some reach. I personally was suspect given the rumors around our shoulders, but none of us know what is true vs. pure rumor as so much misinformation goes out.

Honestly...I didn't think the positions they targeted were all that bad. We could argue whether the right players, etc.

He has been on my list of guys I'd grab in the 4th/5th and I think he'll be good. He also comes from a program that has a pretty good history of developing TE's that go on to be solid pro's. I'd be surprised if Kittle isn't at the very least a very solid TE (who can both pass and catch the ball). I think he's a good fit for what the Bears do from a TE perspective (given the focus on running, they'll want a guy like Kittle who can help with blocking and also be able to leverage on routes...helps better disguise playcalling as well).

I think I posted this in another thread, but as whole, I'd like the following positions drafted (especially given the strength of this draft at DB / TE). QB - 1 WR - 1 TE - 1 DB - 2 (CB / S) My preference is to trade down to make it happen (but I have no idea who would be that interested in moving up).

It also sounds like Sanchez was a good mentor to Dak, so not only is it an insurance policy for cheap (as you develop your QB), but he also is a guy who can help mentor our guy (and who knows, Sanchez could stay as the backup a year from now if Glennon doesn't look that great and/or if we turn the reigns over to the guy who starts). For a backup, I don't dislike this move at all.

This draft has a lot of depth at DB / TE, two areas of major need for us. If we don't select at least one of each of those guys, I'll be stunned. I pretty much guarantee we draft a DB, TE, and QB in this draft. If we don't, it is foolish, imo. Too much talent at those spots in this draft to ignore, imo. They could bust, but the chance of getting a good DB / TE in the 3rd and beyond in this draft is much higher then in most drafts (especially at TE). Most of the guys we signed, were body guys, with some upside, but not guys to build around. People who will help short-term, but long-term we need to find pieces. I presume we are going safety in the 1st, with QB, another DB, and a TE (probably a wideout as well) all being picks. If we don't go safety in the 1st, I see a speed rusher with us likely grabbing two DB's, a TE, Wr, and a QB. Not sure what else we do, but I do kind of expect us to get somewhere close to that in terms of those particular positions.

Prayers for him and his family!

Another follow-on is when was the last time Michigan (Brady) or Tennessee (Manning) developed a QB? Not always the best way to look at things. I think if we stay at 3, Thomas has a good probability of being the guy. I personally think we move down.

Pace has to say he is committed to Glennon as the starter (anything otherwise would basically give you no leverage if you want to move around in the draft).

Pats have Gronk already getting paid a ton, so a bit different of a dynamic there. I think more interesting is that Marty is getting paid almost the same as our blocking TE (Simms) is getting. I hope to hell Simms has some hidden talent and actually can help expand our passing game.

I think we will draft one of those QB's and might trade-up to get them. Kizer will probably be there (unless he has a great pro-day). Mahomes is the other name not listed who I think we will be looking at in the 2nd round. Watson seems like a guy we like a lot.

Fangio wasn't exactly kind when he discussed Bullard. He didn't develop at all like they had hoped. Now I think part of that is Fangio does the whole tough love thing as a sign of motivation, but he didn't get much playing time late, which was a sign of what the Bears thought of his preparation and where he was at. This will be a big off-season and training camp for him. Hopefully he responds cause the talent is there.

I'd be stunned if we don't draft a QB by the 2nd round. I can't see us just sitting around waiting.

You said it so much more succinctly then my last post.

No. White hasn't played in basically two seasons and even when he has, he hasn't busted out a bunch of 100+ yard games. Wright is a good slot guy and Meredith is a guy who flashed. I'd say right now, Meredith is our best receiver and that means we currently have the worst wide receiving core (or one of the worst) in the league. When you combine it with our #1 TE who has basically had one healthy season in like 10, I'd say as a whole, our receiving talent is extremely sub-par. Could White turn into a stud and Meredith as well...sure...anything is possible...but at this point in the season, I'd say we have one of the weakest receiving corps in the league. I can't even fathom how we sat on the sideline and ignored the cheap deals Alshon/Pryor got.

Good post and I agree with a lot of the points. If Pace has another draft like he did last year, that will move the needle well. Pace has also done his best work kind of more on the "discount" free agent path. There was no silver bullet FA move that was going to make this team 8 wins better so in reality, it is most important that we don't tie up our cap space with bad contracts during this window.

I must not be very smart, cause this seems like a no brainer.

I wonder if the Bears are interested in him?

I think the Bears will sign him and it will be a good move. I actually don't think we have much at OLB. Young is a good rotational guy...Houston will get cut and McPhee is perennially hurt.

Alshon turned down a multi-year deal from the Vikings. I believe others had offered him multi-year deals as well. I think it told me two things, he wanted out of Chicago, and two, that he believes he can have a big season and make more next year. Bennett played a big part in the Patriots superbowl run and I had read where he had offers from a half dozen teams. I never complained when we dumped Marshall and I understand moving Bennett, but there is no denying that BEnnett, Marshall, and Jeffrey were playmakers when they were on the field (at their respective position) and we have done nothing to replace any of those three guys with players even close to as good as any of them at their respective position.

My view is, we had very few playmakers and now we lost Alshon. We have basically the worse WR corps in the leg and our #1 TE has one healthy season in like 8 years. Cutler is a better QB then Glennon (that said I was never advocating to keep Glennon). Demps move is a good move, but Simms does nothing to make this team better (he is not a difference maker and giving that much money for a "blocking" TE just seems foolish. And I thought we were planning on drafting a young QB, so the fact that we have actually reduced our offensive playmakers is a scary thing. Everyone talks about Alshon's injuries, but he's played in every game he was eligible to play in for 3 of the last 4 years and the other season he played in 9 games. Guy flat out could play. Even if we just gave him a $1yr 16M deal I'd have been fine with it cause at least it would give any young QB we bring in (i.e., whomever we draft), a good target to develop. When I look at our offense, we have a great RB and a solid oline (with some upside, albeit, Kyle Long's injury situation is concerning). That is basically it (Kevin White is crap until proven otherwise). When I look at our defense, Floyd is the only guy who looks like he even has a chance to be special. That is freaking alarming. Pace's future won't be decided by this free agency though...it will be decided by how we do in the draft and whether we can land a franchise QB. Right now, with what we've done, I think it is more likely we win 5 games.

Meh....this is a strong TE draft and this is just another guy who is a backup. Seems similar to a lot of the other crappy TE's we have. I expect us to draft one, if not two TE's. That said, I now see that we gave him $10M guaranteed, which is just dumb. THis is a loaded TE draft...we suck...this guy isn't dynamic...freaking draft a TE or two. I hope I'm missing out on something, but I'm quite alarmed at how we have gotten worse a day into free agency (not better). I didn't expect us to blow the doors down either, but we literally have had an awful couple weeks (really going back to us losing Alshon for nothing).