adam

If it is not autographed, or a rookie card, it is probably valued a lot less than you think. Autographed cardstock photos go from $100-200 for Butkus. Here is someone else that tried to sell one from an estate sale: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vtg-1968-dick-butkus-chicago-bears-24-440449876

I hope not, he would take reps away from Moore, Allen, etc, etc. That would be a last resort type of thing.

He really is a wasted pick, but compared to a guy like Claypool, it was Poles' draft pick. He clearly treats them differently as Velus is still on the roster and still has 2 years left on his rookie deal. If he is still this ineffective, I could see them cutting or trading him this season. Velus had less snaps on offense than Claypool, and Claypool wasn't even on the team for half the season. Velus also had less snaps than Taylor. He also had less snaps than he had his rookie year. So his entire usage was down. However, when given the chance, he was pretty good at KR. He has 38 career kickoff returns, and averages over 27 yards per return. He also did not return a punt in 2023. The muffs and fumbles were from his rookie year. He feels more like an arena football player, and this kickoff seems better suited for his athleticism compared to a normal kickoff. I honestly think he would be better at it than he is at anything else (low bar I know), but they have to use him for something.

With the new kickoff rules, he will at least be the KR this year.

Yeah, it seems like BPA but within a group of positions like you listed. I just think WR no later than pick 75 is all but guaranteed. If they don't trade down AND select an OT, Edge, or DT at #9, #75 almost has to be a WR, which I don't necessarily like to do, but Poles almost locks himself into that, otherwise, you don't have any starter quality WRs on rookie deals.

Pace did the smartest guy in the room thing and was too dead set on one guy, especially when it was against popular belief. Trubisky and Shaheen are two obvious ones. Poles has a methodical approach and the last few years sucked, but the core of this team is locked in for multiple years. Assuming they draft Williams and another starter with the other 1st round pick, this would be the list of starters and key subs with contracts thru the 2025 season as of today: Offense (11): Williams, Swift, Moore, Kmet, Wright, Jones, Davis, Bates, Everett (0.5), WR3/Johnson, Scott (8.5/3) Defense (15): Sweat, Walker, Billings, Dexter, Edmunds, Edwards, Johnson, Stevenson, Gordon, Brisker, Byard/Smith, Owens, Sewell, Pickens (11/4) ST (2): Santos, Jones (2) So only Jenkins and Allen would need to be extended to lock up the entire starting lineup thru the end of 2025. This doesn't even consider that they will be adding 3 more starters in next year's draft at a minimum with 3 picks in the top 60. So those all could be upgrades instead of hole fillers. An interesting note, by looking at it this way (contracts for starters for 2+ years), it really looks like they would be using #9 or the subsequent traded down pick on offense. The WRs with contracts thru 2025 are Moore, Jones, and Scott. That's it. They need more stability there, and even if Allen extends, that is a thin group. I expect a WR early. Edge is still possible, but DT seems unlikely with Billings, Dexter, and Pickens with 2+ years left on their contracts.

Add two more to the list of 30 visits and Senior Bowl attendees: Ben Sinnott/TE Jha'quan Jackson/WR Add Chop Robinson to 30 visit list. Odds are the Bears select at least one guy from the list of guys with 30 visits and Senior Bowl players: Ben Sinnott/TE Jha'quan Jackson/WR Dylan Laube/RB Elijah Jones/CB Cam Hart/CB Nehemiah Pritchett/CB Sinnott is the only one that makes sense. Jackson would be a returner only, and they already have that with Velus. RB and CB would be wasted picks.

A player can holdout, but can't go back to college as far as I know. They can re-enter the draft the following year.

That is an interesting way to look at it but it is the RB position group, which is completely devalued anyway. Also, Roschon was a backup his entire collegiate career, so he would not compare PFF rating-wise to starters.

Good year not to have 5th -7th round picks: https:/twitter.com/BrendanSugrue/status/1775158080822563292?s=20

??

The more I run through these mock drafts, the more I come to these conclusions: 1. If the Bears have a blue chipper at 9, they are not trading back. I think that includes the 3 WRs, Alt, and probably Turner. Unless someone is offering up a 2025 1st and a 2024 2nd, I think they are standing pat. 2. If they do trade back, I think they will trade back at least one more time and pickup a 2025 pick (instead of a 2024). So if they trade back and get back a 2nd, I can see them trading back in the 3rd to pickup a 2025 4th or something like that. 3. I don't think you are finding a starter after the 2nd round this year. So if the Bears don't trade back, besides Williams, #9 may be the only rookie starter.

Hometown: Hinsdale, IL < ? 10th ranked OT according to NFL.com NextGen Stats: https://www.nfl.com/combine/tracker/participants/ol/all-colleges/ PFF Grade of 89.5, but only played in 4 games. Had a 73.5 for a full season in 2022. His average draft position is #58 according to PFF.

Also, Sweat is on a long term deal which equates to a rookie's deal for the 2nd rounder. Bates has two years, and if he plays well, will probably be extended. So the only wild card is Allen but the Bears have an extra 4th. So the Bears don't really lose any roster flexibility with the loss of picks. The Bears had 10 picks last year and Williamson and Bell are gone. So they are already down to 8 after one year. So having 10+ picks feels good, but they can't and won't all play. Some won't make the team or just become PS fodder. The lack of depth of this draft makes using the later round picks on known commodities a brilliant strategy.

Great point, I forget about his positional flexibility. That would make a ton of sense.

Interesting, all 3 CBs with visits also played in the Senior Bowl: RB Dylan Laube, New Hampshire - Senior Bowl CB Elijah Jones, Boston College - Senior Bowl CB Cam Hart, Notre Dame - Senior Bowl CB Nehemiah Pritchett, CB, Auburn - Senior Bowl I hope they only draft one if they are planning to convert to Safety. Otherwise, that seems like an excessive pick.

I didn't realize they selected so many with a private visit. From 2023's draft, the Bears selected 4 players from the Senior Bowl, and 1 from the EW Shrine Game. Here is the breakdown: Wright - Visit + Senior Bowl Dexter - Visit Stevenson - Visit + Senior Bowl Pickens - Senior Bowl Johnson - Senior Bowl Scott - Visit Sewell - NONE Smith - EW Shrine Bell - NONE Williamson - NONE So out of 10 picks, 7 were in one of the categories, and 7 out of 8 if you exclude 7th rounders. I am going to see how many of the planned visits played in one of the games. Both Wright and Stevenson met multiple criteria.

I thought the quotes were about Fields, but they were actually talking about Claypool. I guess it applies to both.

Interesting to see 3 CBs on that list, and no DT or S?

I saw something about the Chiefs trying to re-sign him. Looks like a decent pick up, only 26.

It is so hard man. On one hand, the Bears have to replace Justin Jones and Ngakoue's snaps. Those are holes. WR3, TE3, and even OT to an extent are luxury picks. Just look at the JSN interview from the Super Bowl about the usage of the WR3 in Waldron's offense. On the other hand, if a blue chip player is sitting there at #9, like Alt or Odunze, you have to take them. My reasoning may be different than others, but if you don't expect to ever draft in the top 10 again, why would you trade out of it when you are there? However, if MHJ, Nabers, Odunze, and Alt are gone in the top 8, I would expect the Bears to trade down. On the top draft scenario, if the Bears move off of 9, I hope they get more than just 77+148 to do so. I want a 2nd round pick, even if it is later. The teams with the best pick slots for a trade for 9 that gives back a 2nd is JAX at 17+48, CIN at 18+49+149+214, and LAR at 19+52+99+217. The LAR one is interesting as that would be a mid-2nd rounder, a late 3rd rounder, and a late 6th rounder. Here is how that would look:

Me either. After Williams, I feel like it is pick your flavor. Penix, Daniels, Maye, McCarthy, and to an extent, Nix, provide teams with different options at QB that may fit their scheme better.

I didn't watch many Indiana games.

How do you evaluate a 23-year old QB playing against 18 year olds? He didn't really do anything until he was 22, and then was throwing to Odunze, Polk, and McMillan with a top 20 OT the last two seasons. How many QBs that joined the league at 23 or older (he will be 24 in May) succeeded in the NFL? I think the risk is that they have already developed, that you can't get much more out of them, so unless they are truly elite, then more than likely, they are already where they are going to be at. Since 1967, there have only been 5 QBs drafted in the first round who were 24 or older on opening day of their rookie season, and Penix would end up as the 3rd oldest. 1. Brandon Weeden 28.9 (6-19, 184 YPG) 2. Jim Druckenmiller 25.0 (1-0, 39.8 YPG) < - Michael Penix Jr - 24.3 > 3. Chad Pennington 24.2 (44-37, 200 YPG) 4. Ryan Tannehill 24.1 (81-70, 225 YPG) 5. Akili Smith 24.0 (3-14, 100.5 YPG)

OK, with 4 drafts in, we are starting to see some trends. The draft is sorted by average draft position, Orange boxes are Bears selections, Green is the most common selection with 75% or higher rate for that slot, and Green difference is the lowest variance so far. Just based off 4 drafts, Williams, Daniels, McCarthy, Maye, Harrison, and Alt are the only players always selected before #9. So it feels like the chance of any of those 6 at #9 is very low. Nabers, Turner, Odunze have selections inside and outside of the top 8. So there is a chance that one of them is there at #9.