Bears Draft Leonard Floyd, OLB, Georgia

[dawhizz]

Figured he deserved his own thread. I'm sure there will be plenty of discussion.

[adam]

I didn't mind the pick, but losing a 4th to move up essentially past one team is a head scratcher. That means Floyd was rated that much higher than anyone else on their board which is surprising.

[Mongo3451]

Dude is freak athlete. If he can reach his potential, this will be a defining pick for the teams future. If not, he'll be a defining pick for Pace.

[bradjock]

I didn't mind the pick, but losing a 4th to move up essentially past one team is a head scratcher. That means Floyd was rated that much higher than anyone else on their board which is surprising.

 

Here's my thought on this:

1. I don't think we wanted to draft a secondary player this high. Fangio had a ton of luck with no-names this year

2. Based on Ryan Pace's philosophy, I don't think we wanted a high quality guy without a major medical red-flag. That eliminated Tunsil and Jack.

3. The only top guys that dropped had major red flags

4. Several mocks had Floyd going to the Giants. The fact they reached for Apple when they didn't really need a corner makes me wonder if they were confounded

 

I hate that we gave up our 4th. But our #1 need was pass rush. In Fangio I trust. Good pick.

[jason]

Here's my thought on this:

1. I don't think we wanted to draft a secondary player this high. Fangio had a ton of luck with no-names this year

2. Based on Ryan Pace's philosophy, I don't think we wanted a high quality guy without a major medical red-flag. That eliminated Tunsil and Jack.

3. The only top guys that dropped had major red flags

4. Several mocks had Floyd going to the Giants. The fact they reached for Apple when they didn't really need a corner makes me wonder if they were confounded

 

I hate that we gave up our 4th. But our #1 need was pass rush. In Fangio I trust. Good pick.

 

 

Well said. Pretty spot on.

[jason]

So now the Bears have the following at OLB:

 

Floyd

Young

Houston

McPhee

 

Who gets traded? Both Young and McPhee came on hard last year, and McPhee was obviously the best of the bunch. They can't have a four-man rotation. It wouldn't maximize playing time for a first round pick like Floyd.

[bradjock]

So now the Bears have the following at OLB:

 

Floyd

Young

Houston

McPhee

 

Who gets traded? Both Young and McPhee came on hard last year, and McPhee was obviously the best of the bunch. They can't have a four-man rotation. It wouldn't maximize playing time for a first round pick like Floyd.

 

Nobody gets traded. For starters, none of these guys play 100% of snaps as we like to rotate defensive players. Young probably still wants to play in a 4-3 front but he looked pretty damn good the 2nd half of the season. Houston can easily slide into the DE spot. We are loading up on pass rushers.

[adam]

Nobody gets traded. For starters, none of these guys play 100% of snaps as we like to rotate defensive players. Young probably still wants to play in a 4-3 front but he looked pretty damn good the 2nd half of the season. Houston can easily slide into the DE spot. We are loading up on pass rushers.

How many LB's are we going to carry?

[scs787]

Floyd was said to be the top player on the Giants draft board so it makes sense. If they think he's Aldon Smith/Von Miller, I don't blame them for taking the pick.

 

I have been against an OLB, but I get it. Speed wasn't there among the OLBs.

[bradjock]

How many LB's are we going to carry?

 

I'm pretty certain we carried 9 most of last season. Assume that we keep Sam Acho, that gives us 5 OLB. We'll likely carry 4 ILB. Who are you worried about getting cut?

[scs787]

What is interesting is I read that Floyd played on the edge only 61% of the time. Lined up in the middle and in the slot from time to time.

 

His ability to stunt inside looks great. That is something the Bears didn't have with any of the slower guys. If I remember correctly Fangio had Smith stunt inside quite a bit. With the massive DL in front of him interior linemen are gonna have a heck of a hard time dealing with them and Floyd going from the outside in.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

So now the Bears have the following at OLB:

 

Floyd

Young

Houston

McPhee

 

Who gets traded? Both Young and McPhee came on hard last year, and McPhee was obviously the best of the bunch. They can't have a four-man rotation. It wouldn't maximize playing time for a first round pick like Floyd.

Young has the only contract that is easy to move for 2 parties. They also have Acho. If Pace gets a 4th back for Young, I would jump for joy.

[jason]

Floyd was said to be the top player on the Giants draft board so it makes sense. If they think he's Aldon Smith/Von Miller, I don't blame them for taking the pick.

 

I have been against an OLB, but I get it. Speed wasn't there among the OLBs.

 

I agree with the bolded. I didn't want OLB because I think Young, Houston, and McPhee do very well this year if they're healthy. Both Houston and Young were injured last year, and if not for those injuries they likely both get 10 sacks.

 

[jason]

delete

[DABEARSDABOMB]

I didn't mind the pick, but losing a 4th to move up essentially past one team is a head scratcher. That means Floyd was rated that much higher than anyone else on their board which is surprising.

Remember, Giants wanted him and we clearly had him above other people as well. Compare what we gave up to move up vs. what the Titans gave up (they gave up a 2nd rounder plus and got Conklin).

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Dude is freak athlete. If he can reach his potential, this will be a defining pick for the teams future. If not, he'll be a defining pick for Pace.

Very much a lot of boom / bust risk here.

[jason]

I just hope this is a sign that the Bears FO wants to add extreme athletes on defense. Guys who can explode to the QB, ball carrier, and tackles. I want speed on defense.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

I just hope this is a sign that the Bears FO wants to add extreme athletes on defense. Guys who can explode to the QB, ball carrier, and tackles. I want speed on defense.

I agree and when I think of Houston and Young, while I think they are both effective players, neither of them have a ton of speed and given the era of passing and the need for the LB's to cover, speed is king, and I want to see this d loaded with athletes. Plus, McPhee has had injuries in his career and its the NFL, guys will get hurt...really like this pick and I still would be fully on board with Jack or Smith (albeit, would not be okay taking Smith in the 2nd). I presume we will see Bears go Dline in the 2nd, but you have to wonder if they look RB or QB or S.

[dawhizz]

I'm not a huge PFF guy, but wanted to pass along their scouting report on Floyd:

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/...oyd-lb-georgia/

['TD']

Personally, hate it. It's arguably the Bears most talented position.

 

Edit:Spent my time tonight watching politics and didn't realize the draft was tonight. I was thinking it was May 2nd for some reason. I'm out as a fan until there is a new regime. I may stop by and give a comment from here and there to support the board and community.

 

I'm done as a super fan like others here until they get a competent GM. He's made too many mess ups in my personal opinion in his trades, and 2 fourths to get a position of strength with so many weaknesses while having so many needs is too much for me.

 

I hope there are people that get drafted that you can be excited about. Way too many trade mess ups for me with a horrible resume with this GM. Spent too long with the last horrible GMs.

[AZ54]

Personally, hate it. It's arguably the Bears most talented position.

 

Edit:Spent my time tonight watching politics and didn't realize the draft was tonight. I was thinking it was May 2nd for some reason. I'm out as a fan until there is a new regime. I may stop by and give a comment from here and there to support the board and community.

 

I'm done as a super fan like others here until they get a competent GM. He's made too many mess ups in my personal opinion in his trades, and 2 fourths to get a position of strength with so many weaknesses while having so many needs is too much for me.

 

I hope there are people that get drafted that you can be excited about. Way too many trade mess ups for me with a horrible resume with this GM. Spent too long with the last horrible GMs.

 

Floyd wasn't my first choice because I have concerns about his run stopping ability. However, what you point out as our strength is exactly what will help him succeed early in his career as a pass rusher. He wasn't drafted to stop the run, just to hunt QBs. We have other big bodies in McPhee, Houston that will handle the heavy lifting on the early downs. On the flip side when we play a team with a good move TE Floyd with his 4.6 speed can cover him when no other OLB on our roster can do so. To look at it another way, Floyd is faster and quicker than the WR the Vikings just drafted (Treadwell).

 

Add in that Fox, Fangio, Clint Hurtt, and all the scouts are very high on this kid. Whatever you might feel about Pace, I think we can absolutely trust Vic Fangio to not only identify the talent but also to get him coached up properly to rush off the edge. I have no idea why Georgia's coaches moved him all over the field (ILB, OLB, DE, sometimes he played NB). That clearly hindered his stats and led to the mystery of what position does Floyd play.

 

If we can add someone like Jaran Reed, A'Shawn Robinson, or my favorite Chris Jones in Rd 2 we will have taken our Dline from a weakness 12 months ago to a real strength. Any of those guys, along with Goldman or Hicks, are strong enough to drive an OG wide into the OT and that leaves a gap for Floyd to stunt into.

 

Behind that front we now have two very good ILB who are fast and know how to find the ball. With Floyd on the field they don't necessarily have to be the player who drops into coverage.

 

 

[killakrzydav]

I'm fine with the pick as well as the trade up. The giants were poised to take him at ten if we didn't act. I really hope this guy develops as rush lb is our biggest need.

[Stinger226]

Personally, hate it. It's arguably the Bears most talented position.

 

Edit:Spent my time tonight watching politics and didn't realize the draft was tonight. I was thinking it was May 2nd for some reason. I'm out as a fan until there is a new regime. I may stop by and give a comment from here and there to support the board and community.

 

I'm done as a super fan like others here until they get a competent GM. He's made too many mess ups in my personal opinion in his trades, and 2 fourths to get a position of strength with so many weaknesses while having so many needs is too much for me.

 

I hope there are people that get drafted that you can be excited about. Way too many trade mess ups for me with a horrible resume with this GM. Spent too long with the last horrible GMs.

This is way to early to jump ship, he has made some mistakes(McDonald), but his draft class last year had 4 contribute without our 1st rounder not on the field. The only important thing is we become a winning team. I think White becomes a stud this year, Grassu will need one more year of gaining functional strength and he will be a 6 year starter at OC. Goldman looks like he will be a blue chip pick, Amos at worst will be a average starter at S. Langford will be a pleasant player. We wont know how everything grades out for a couple of years but at least I can see what he is trying to do. He has brought in some good FAs , so going forward, I give him a B for all that he is did.

If all of us was out having a beer together, you would be the one in the group that would bitch because the waitress took to long to take our order. Would complain because the air conditioner isnt set low enough. Bitch because they dont have enough urinals in the bathroom.

As far as the pick, sitting here, I would have preferred someone else but the two most important players on the field are QB and pass rusher. We dont have a speed rusher on the team. If he turns out to be a 12 sack a year guy we will look back on this pick and give him cudos for recognizing that now. A safe pick would have been Hargraves, but there were questions with Jack, Tunsel. They went and got a player they wanted, I have to give them credit for that. A few years ago we waited for Donald to drop and he got picked one before us. They got who they wanted , now lets see what they do with that.

[adam]

I didn't like it at first, but Floyd may be one of the top 3 athletes in the draft. Even though we have decent veterans at the position, I don't see Houston or Young as long term solutions. You may even see one or both of them moved by the start of the season. Looking at some mocks, some had TB taking Floyd at 9, Giants at 10, and us at 11, so moving to 9 makes more sense assuming it was going to be the Giants pick. Then watching them scramble and reach for a pick sort of validated that.

 

 

[BearFan2000]

This is way to early to jump ship, he has made some mistakes(McDonald), but his draft class last year had 4 contribute without our 1st rounder not on the field. The only important thing is we become a winning team. I think White becomes a stud this year, Grassu will need one more year of gaining functional strength and he will be a 6 year starter at OC. Goldman looks like he will be a blue chip pick, Amos at worst will be a average starter at S. Langford will be a pleasant player. We wont know how everything grades out for a couple of years but at least I can see what he is trying to do. He has brought in some good FAs , so going forward, I give him a B for all that he is did.

If all of us was out having a beer together, you would be the one in the group that would bitch because the waitress took to long to take our order. Would complain because the air conditioner isnt set low enough. Bitch because they dont have enough urinals in the bathroom.

As far as the pick, sitting here, I would have preferred someone else but the two most important players on the field are QB and pass rusher. We dont have a speed rusher on the team. If he turns out to be a 12 sack a year guy we will look back on this pick and give him cudos for recognizing that now. A safe pick would have been Hargraves, but there were questions with Jack, Tunsel. They went and got a player they wanted, I have to give them credit for that. A few years ago we waited for Donald to drop and he got picked one before us. They got who they wanted , now lets see what they do with that.

 

I agree, it takes a few years before you get a real picture of how well a new GM, coaching staff, etc. works out. We need to have patience, the Trestman /emery experiment sunk this team to a new low and we as fans have to realize that it wouldn't get fixed overnight. Every GM and every coaching staff makes mistakes or misjudges players, they are human and we all are fooled by potential or there'd never be any busts in the NFL The difference between this staff and the previous is they seem to have a clue, and a vision, and a plan. They haven't entered the drafts last year and this year, like a student that didn't study for the final exam, they are prepared have their plan, and have prepared scenarios that may come up. We've had enough drafts in the past where they seemed to be making it up as they went, and you had to have google open cause we'd pick and you'd be like "Who???" No more drafting like we think we're the smartest person in the room while making the dumbest calls. We as fans don't have to agree with every move and we won't. This staff/FO gives me a sense encouragement, and optimism that we can turn this once proud franchise back into a consistent winner. I like the enthusiasm, vision, and most of the moves we've made. You can see the difference on the field even though we didn't make the playoffs, we finished under 500, the eye test spoke volumes to the difference between this past year's 6-10 team vs the 5-11 team the previous year under Emery/Trestman that felt more like 0-16 or worse. With them in charge the Bears had hit rock bottom and begun to dig for new lows. It was embarrassing and probably the first year I lost interest in watching the games simply cause I didn't want to put myself through that. While it was an up and down year as expected, I saw a team that didn't quit, played with enthusiasm, played their hearts out, record wise it wasn't good enough, but the wins will come. Building the solid foundation and changing the culture will be worth it down the road. The true test will be time, I have to say I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far.