Draft...

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

It seems they didn't deem LT as a must get priority as a lot of fans have. As I said before, they will let Braxton and Kiran compete and bring a player in to develop because Braxton probably won't be here next year.

They drafted an OT in the 2nd round, only the 56th player taken. Why would they use a 2nd on the position when they used a 3rd last year unless they thought they needed more competition (i.e. an upgrade) at that position? 2nd round is pretty high priority.

Also, Banks might have been the pick if he was still on the board. We cant know that?
 

[AZ54]

8 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

They drafted an OT in the 2nd round, only the 56th player taken. Why would they use a 2nd on the position when they used a 3rd last year unless they thought they needed more competition (i.e. an upgrade) at that position? 2nd round is pretty high priority.

Also, Banks might have been the pick if he was still on the board. We cant know that?
 

Poles admitted they had modeled 3 OTs going in the top 9 so he wasn't surprised by the fact it went down that way.  My interpretation of this is if the team really felt LT was a critical need they'd have traded up somewhere to make that happen sooner.  Either into the top 9 or back into Rd 1 early Rd 2 for someone like Simmons or Ersery.  I suspect that means they really like Kiran's potential to be the starter and we drafted a swing OT in Rd 2 to compete with Jones/Kiran.   I could be wrong too if they think Kiran is the backup IOL.  We'll know soon when we get reports out of OTAs.  

[BearFan PHX]

25 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Poles admitted they had modeled 3 OTs going in the top 9 so he wasn't surprised by the fact it went down that way.  My interpretation of this is if the team really felt LT was a critical need they'd have traded up somewhere to make that happen sooner.  Either into the top 9 or back into Rd 1 early Rd 2 for someone like Simmons or Ersery.  I suspect that means they really like Kiran's potential to be the starter and we drafted a swing OT in Rd 2 to compete with Jones/Kiran.   I could be wrong too if they think Kiran is the backup IOL.  We'll know soon when we get reports out of OTAs.  

I guess, but if you really like Kiran, why spend a 2nd rounder on an OT? Maybe Kiran is the swing, and now Tapilo is the most likely starter?

[AZ54]

On 4/26/2025 at 10:02 AM, BearFan PHX said:

I guess, but if you really like Kiran, why spend a 2nd rounder on an OT? Maybe Kiran is the swing, and now Tapilo is the most likely starter?

I don't know that anyone can trust that based on what was seen last year from Kiran.  I do know that coaches have had a little bit of time to be around the players before the draft.   They'll have a feel for where Kiran is at physically based on workouts.  They have tape on him from a couple games and college.

IMO they bought an insurance policy.  Not the best one either.  There can also be some thought that we'll just primarily work Kmet on the left side whoever is there at LT.  There's going to be a big question mark at this position until we see what happens in Week 1.  Then we either have a full blown crisis or we settle down and start to see some decent offense.  

[Stinger226]

Poles said they were bringing in competition for Jones and Kiran. Why? Jones isn't ready to play yet. Also Jones would have to play top ball to even considered to get a contract. So they speculate he might not be here, so they draft a T. 

It's just speculation that they would have drafted Banks if available. Not any different than me saying they were drafting Loveland anyways. Both are opinions that can't be proven.

We have to assume by their actions and also their statements that they are fine with Braxton and Kiran as their LTs this year. The ( we need a LT) was clearly fan based chatter.

[BearFan PHX]

3 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Poles said they were bringing in competition for Jones and Kiran. Why? Jones isn't ready to play yet. Also Jones would have to play top ball to even considered to get a contract. So they speculate he might not be here, so they draft a T. 

It's just speculation that they would have drafted Banks if available. Not any different than me saying they were drafting Loveland anyways. Both are opinions that can't be proven.

We have to assume by their actions and also their statements that they are fine with Braxton and Kiran as their LTs this year. The ( we need a LT) was clearly fan based chatter.

no we dont have to assume that at all, and the argument he is making isn't that they would have taken Banks so that proves anything. Thats your strawman version of it.

What he is saying is that Braxton at his best is easily now the worst OL we have on the starting 5, and he is injured and wont be back for a while. And Kiran has nothing but possibilities - nothing good on tape. In fact the most generous thing we can do is to not hold him accountable for how he looked last year. And fairly, we are doing that. He is a clean slate. But that's not any positive evidence of anything.

And lastly, whatever you think of Zapilo, they spent a 2nd round pick on him. That means they are not happy at LT.

This narrative you keep trying to resurrect died a logical death when they spent a 2nd round pick on LT. There is no evidence they are feeling fine with Jones and Amagadje at all. We can hope Amagadje will develop, but the 2nd round pick says the Bears arent gambling on that at all.

[Stinger226]

This is funny we are both projecting we think we know what they are thinking. 

When the season starts and we see who is starting will answer the question.  So I will say now, if healthy, it's Jones , if not Kiran. You can fit your rookie RT in that mix anyway you want to.  We can take on this conversation in training camp . again.

Your narrative died when they didn't take a OL at 10. Lying season is over, when they say they like Braxton and Kiran it takes on a whole new light.

 

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

no we dont have to assume that at all, and the argument he is making isn't that they would have taken Banks so that proves anything. Thats your strawman version of it.

What he is saying is that Braxton at his best is easily now the worst OL we have on the starting 5, and he is injured and wont be back for a while. And Kiran has nothing but possibilities - nothing good on tape. In fact the most generous thing we can do is to not hold him accountable for how he looked last year. And fairly, we are doing that. He is a clean slate. But that's not any positive evidence of anything.

And lastly, whatever you think of Zapilo, they spent a 2nd round pick on him. That means they are not happy at LT.

This narrative you keep trying to resurrect died a logical death when they spent a 2nd round pick on LT. There is no evidence they are feeling fine with Jones and Amagadje at all. We can hope Amagadje will develop, but the 2nd round pick says the Bears arent gambling on that at all.

Exactly.  We're carrying 4 OTs on the roster right now with 1st Rd pick, 2nd Rd pick, 3rd Rd pick (albeit a late 1st/2nd Rd grade), and a 5th Rd pick.  There was chatter that Kiran could play inside but that is not why he was drafted. 

That's two years in a row with significant draft capital toward fixing LT.   We have to assume the team is happy with Darnell Wright.  Something is going to give I just don't know when.   

OTAs and snaps at LT will give us our first insight.  Braxton will be on the sidelines.  Whatever they try first is what they feel gives them the best option to succeed.  If they are splitting first team snaps out of the gate then it's a wide open competition.   Do they even try Darnell at LT early this offseason?   

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

Your narrative died when they didn't take a OL at 10. Lying season is over, when they say they like Braxton and Kiran it takes on a whole new light.

Banks was already gone. How did my narrative die? We cant know what they would have done.

But they DID spend a 2nd rounder on LT so they must think they need something - even if its more competition? They didnt take a OG or OC? So they felt LT was something that needed addressing. With a high pick.

No matter who ends up starting, they did what they did, taking an LT.

Youre not making any sense.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

45 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Exactly.  We're carrying 4 OTs on the roster right now with 1st Rd pick, 2nd Rd pick, 3rd Rd pick (albeit a late 1st/2nd Rd grade), and a 5th Rd pick.  There was chatter that Kiran could play inside but that is not why he was drafted. 

That's two years in a row with significant draft capital toward fixing LT.   We have to assume the team is happy with Darnell Wright.  Something is going to give I just don't know when.   

OTAs and snaps at LT will give us our first insight.  Braxton will be on the sidelines.  Whatever they try first is what they feel gives them the best option to succeed.  If they are splitting first team snaps out of the gate then it's a wide open competition.   Do they even try Darnell at LT early this offseason?   

Johnson said there is no depth chart yet. Everyone competes for their position.  Who plays L or R will also be examined. 

They might look at Darnell as LT, but I think they are best to leave him.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

This is funny we are both projecting we think we know what they are thinking. 

When the season starts and we see who is starting will answer the question.  So I will say now, if healthy, it's Jones , if not Kiran. You can fit your rookie RT in that mix anyway you want to.  We can take on this conversation in training camp . again.

Your narrative died when they didn't take a OL at 10. Lying season is over, when they say they like Braxton and Kiran it takes on a whole new light.

 

They drafted an OT in second round. They had no LT prospects available at 10. We literally have no idea whether they would have taken Banks if he was there - my guess is they would have, but either way - when you take a guy in 2nd round I’m presuming it means they liked the prospect they are getting and also see them pushing the incumbents. 
 

You don’t take people in 2nd round if you don’t think they have a shot at making an impact this year or the following year. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

14 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Johnson said there is no depth chart yet. Everyone competes for their position.  Who plays L or R will also be examined. 

They might look at Darnell as LT, but I think they are best to leave him.

It might be they like this guy as a RT prospect and have doubts on Jones and think Wright can play LT so this becomes the combo. I don’t love it but I like our new oline coach so I’ll trust what he figures out. 

[Stinger226]

36 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Banks was already gone. How did my narrative die? We cant know what they would have done.

But they DID spend a 2nd rounder on LT so they must think they need something - even if its more competition? They didnt take a OG or OC? So they felt LT was something that needed addressing. With a high pick.

No matter who ends up starting, they did what they did, taking an LT.

Youre not making any sense.

My reference was to not taking Ersery with pick 39 or 41. I thought they would draft one later to compete but not be ready until 26. You do admit he's a RT that they probably change to LT. That doesn't scream day 1 starter.

There is no way they change Wright to LT.  Why Create two Question marks. If Tripoli is super  T, they will just plug him in at LT.

[BearFan PHX]

3 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

My reference was to not taking Ersery with pick 39 or 41. I thought they would draft one later to compete but not be ready until 26. You do admit he's a RT that they probably change to LT. That doesn't scream day 1 starter.

There is no way they change Wright to LT.  Why Create two Question marks. If Tripoli is super  T, they will just plug him in at LT.

well I cant PROVE it, but I think Poles thought Ersery would still be there after the trade back. I think he got too cute - correctly predicted no teams ahead of him would take Ersery, but failed to cover for the possibility that the Texans (or someone) would trade up for him.

Thats where I think Poles got too cute. He is so focused on being disciplined and not reaching, but sometimes, straining for that extra 5th round pick isnt worth taking a chance on losing a guy you need.

And that's *IF* they see Ersery the way I do, which I will never know if they did or not. But my guess is they traded down too far or too much.

The prize for trading down was getting either Burden or Turner. You could have had either one and Ersery without the trade. But to get both, you had to downgrade Ersery to Trapilo.

Again, depending on how they had Ersery and Trapilo evaluated, this either worked, or we got screwed by the Texans.

And it felt like we made the same error each time with HBs, just missing big names each time.

It felt like the year that Aaron Donald went one pick before us.

[Stinger226]

4 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

well I cant PROVE it, but I think Poles thought Ersery would still be there after the trade back. I think he got too cute - correctly predicted no teams ahead of him would take Ersery, but failed to cover for the possibility that the Texans (or someone) would trade up for him.

Thats where I think Poles got too cute. He is so focused on being disciplined and not reaching, but sometimes, straining for that extra 5th round pick isnt worth taking a chance on losing a guy you need.

And that's *IF* they see Ersery the way I do, which I will never know if they did or not. But my guess is they traded down too far or too much.

The prize for trading down was getting either Burden or Turner. You could have had either one and Ersery without the trade. But to get both, you had to downgrade Ersery to Trapilo.

Again, depending on how they had Ersery and Trapilo evaluated, this either worked, or we got screwed by the Texans.

And it felt like we made the same error each time with HBs, just missing big names each time.

It felt like the year that Aaron Donald went one pick before us.

I think in any draft you have a plan and back up plan. Most fans and journalists would be happy with Ersery at 39 and Kaleb Johnson at 41.  I think they planned on trading back in a deep draft. Waiting until the the 4 th  round wasn't getting you another 2nd round pick. 

Burden pick popped up and they couldn't pass it up. He literally could be the best WR in the draft. So that left 41 to trade back . 

I think Trapilo was next inline if Ersery was gone or they liked him better. He's a RT that will get the chance to try LT in the NFL.

I'm guessing here but they next targeted Cam Skattebo in the 4th. He got taken so they got more picks and had Kyle Monangai as their next choice knowing he would be there late. 

This is not the year one player puts them over the top. They had certain players they wanted so they stuck to a plan.

Their draft board isn't put together with what media and fans thought was the best players. They actually have their own scouting department.

Belicheck said once if you pick who the fans want you  will one day end up in the stands with them. ( Don't remember the quote exactly)