Noah Spence lit up the Senior Bowl and he's exactly what we don't have on defense at OLB. I expect that what Von Miller did only further elevated Spence's value around the league. I'm wondering what thoughts are about him? He will likely be there at #11 although that's not entirely certain if he stays out of trouble the next few months. He won't be there when we draft in Rd 2.

 

I don't see Pace going this route after what he went through with Ratliff, McDonald, and then the injury to White. White's situation is clearly different with the injury but the last thing Pace needs is back to back 1st Rd picks that have issues. I think he goes a safer route and at #11 should have some good options. For the same reason I don't see us taking Nkemdiche.

 

 

Noah Spence lit up the Senior Bowl and he's exactly what we don't have on defense at OLB. I expect that what Von Miller did only further elevated Spence's value around the league. I'm wondering what thoughts are about him? He will likely be there at #11 although that's not entirely certain if he stays out of trouble the next few months. He won't be there when we draft in Rd 2.

 

I don't see Pace going this route after what he went through with Ratliff, McDonald, and then the injury to White. White's situation is clearly different with the injury but the last thing Pace needs is back to back 1st Rd picks that have issues. I think he goes a safer route and at #11 should have some good options. For the same reason I don't see us taking Nkemdiche.

 

I think you're right about improving his draft stock, but I think it would be a horrible pick for the Bears. If the Bears were in a position for BPA that would be one thing, but they are not. And like it or not, the best players on the defense are pretty much all at the OLB position: McPhee, Houston, Young. Throw in Goldman wherever you'd like among the three. So, with that said, OLB is a bad pick for the Bears at 11. Especially when the starting ILBs are Christian Jones/SMC/John Timu, and the DEs are Jenkins/Ratliff/Ferguson/Sutton.

 

Spence looks highly intriguing, but I agree with Jason. I really like Houston in particular and of course ya got McPhee on the other side.

 

If were taking a player with issues, Adolphus Washington is a guy I'm looking at in the 2nd.

Hard to take a guy like Spence when the Bears have long term high value contracts in place for Houston and McPhee. Houston can feasibly be cut after this 2016 season, but more likely after the 2017 season. He will need to be a top 3 OLB to see his final year of the deal. FA is not friendly because he will likely be cut and the Bears will see no compensation when they lose him and a team like NE or GB can sign him and it wont count against theres. What the Bears need to do is spend a 6th or 7th on developmental prospect and let him learn for 2 years.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock-dr...expert/rob-rang

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock-dr...expert/rob-rang

 

Everyone when it comes to Spence think Bruce Irvin who had similar red flags!

Watched some video of Spence. For comparison I found some highlights of Von Miller too. IMO Spence is not as quick off the line as Miller is, and probably not as fast. He might be stronger at the point of attack than Miller (lower level of competition in 2015 makes it tougher to assess) but we also have guys who are quite good at that aspect right now in Houston, McPhee, and Young. The need, if we go in this direction at #11, is for an elite pass rushing edge player I'm not so sure Spence will play at that level.

 

We'll see how Spence performs at the combine or Pro Days and then we can better compare against Von Miller. Even without considering Spence's character issues and just going off what I see on the field, I still prefer the top targets I've been talking about: Myles Jack, DeForest Buckner, or Ronnie Stanley.

 

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/von-miller?id=2495202.