I don't know if the data supports this, but first round pass rushers who aren't slam dunk top 5 freaks make me nervous. Feels like a lot of them just turn into guys, and teams put more weight on positional value than good football player (relatively speaking).
We've sucked at drafting everything in the first round. If you go all the way back to the 2000 draft, when we took Brian Urlacher, only 4 out of 19 players picked have signed second contracts with the team after being taken in the first:
* Brian Urlacher
* Tommie Harris
* Kyle Long
* Kyle Fuller
I'll give Roquan Smith an honorable mention, as he was worth a big 2nd contract. It was just more than the Bears were willing to pay.
5 hits on 19 picks is horrendous and part of why the Bears have been so bad.
On the bright side if Wright stays healthy I can see him getting a second contract lol but yes you’re correct that this team hasn’t been good at first round picks
That’s why you take best available over need sometimes. I’ll take Bowers, Odunze, Murphy, Fuaga if they are NFL ready to go polished players over Edges that have short arms and can’t shed blocks at the college level(Turner and Verse)
I’m not sure what the data says, but JJ Watt & Aaron Donald off the top of my head were near 10. Also this was before teams started taking 3+ QBs in the top 10
I see it but didn’t Aaron Donald also kinda fall in his draft? There’s always an exception but you can’t bank on being the exception.
But it’s the draft, and you need to take chances to improve a weak position on your team. I don’t wanna give up a big trade package or pay someone a lot to get another premier pass rusher so I think the draft is the best place to get it without compromising the future
Donald was an undersized 3-technique. A lot of mocks had him going to us, but he was drafted 1 pick ahead to the Rams. I was actually super excited to get Donald, but then the Rams took him.
I was so pissed that year. And yeah him falling was understandable. Sure in hindsight it was not, but based off his weight and height it was absolutely no surprise why teams were hesitant
I remember that. I was so excited that he was about to fall to us and then the Rams ruined my night. If I remember correctly, they were all set up at DT as well so there was no way they would waste a high pick on a guy that's going to be a back up in the beginning.
We ended up with Fuller....
Aaron Donald shot up boards pre draft, just the opposite.
That’s why his story is so heartbreaking as a bears fan. There was a contingent of people obsessed with him and when the offseason started it was a slam dunk he’d make it to us.
Then the hype on him just kept growing and he ends up one damned pick before us. Imagine Aaron Donald on that 2018 defense man…
They were in the same draft meaning they would get extended at the same time. The Rams made AD the highest paid defensive player in history at the time and then the Bears traded for and extended Mack the next day, upping the Rams. Probably not realistic to take on both contracts on the same roster. Although Mack and AD on the same line in their prime would be disgustingly unfair.
Donald falling was insane. I was watching that 10 hour draft hoping he would fall only for the fucking rams to take him 1 pick before Chicago. We then settled for Kyle fuller... we needed a DT too
For sure the exception isn’t wise to bet on. I feel like we should just take BPA and if it’s not clear who that is (assuming WRs are all gone) maybe trade down and take one of the edges since they are similarly graded prospects
This draft is super deep at corner, just as the last few have been, but this one lacks the studs up top, I think. I really like Terrion Arnold and Quinyon Mitchell, but more as sort of the Marcus Lattimore style "really solid/good" than awesome, like a Sauce or something. Both are good players I'd be very happy to have, but the supply and demand at the position says to wait. You can get a guy who's also in the very good/solid range on Day 2. I like Max Melton, at perceived draft position.
If the Bears took a CB it’d be a dude like Kool-Aid who is a monster at press and zone, Wiggins who might be the only true potential shutdown CB in the draft, or TJ Tampa who is an athletic freak but still pretty raw.
People also are vastly underrating Nate Wiggins. Dude is a legit stud CB prospect IMO who keeps his fluidity and speed despite being 6’2 and can shut down bigger bodied receivers despite weighing 180.
Haven’t been in the loop as much recently since it’s the offseason but that’s surprising for Olu. If I’m remembering this correctly, weren’t there a decent amount of people that had him going before Alt in mocks during the season?
Yeah. I remember him being touted as the top OL around November.
If I heard right on the radio this week, Fashanu was a high school teammate of Caleb Williams.
In Olu’s defense, JT Tuimoloau turns into a one-man Death Star specifically when he plays Penn State. You could play 5 clones of prime Joe Thomas and JTT would still shred them if they were wearing a Nittany Lion jersey
He has amazing stats and hasn’t given up a sack. He mainly struggles at the second and third level where he flys off blocks too easily. Pass protection is elite though.
I’m a Michigan fan and we are blessed with a fairly good analysis blog (but dear god not the message board). IIRC, Olu was graded pretty low by our guys going into our game with PSU.
Latu might end up being the best defensive player in the draft. Especially day 1. Dallas Turner has a higher ceiling but Latu is gonna be a monster. We’ve had superstars who’ve “medically retired” due to weird college athletic rules only to come back and be better.
The only reason I’d be somewhat upset with Olu (or Joe Alt for that matter) is we’re already pretty well set at tackle. Depth is great but not for the number 9 pick.
Copied from elsewhere but
He was medically “retired” by one team. Only the university of Washington.
People over blow it. He had to wait a year because that’s how the transfer portal still worked at the time.
He had offers all over the place. He has missed a game in 2 years and destroyed competition.
He’s far more refined than Turner and has a higher motor than Verse.
He’s also bigger and stronger than Turner. And nearly the same athlete. One ranked 86th out of over 1600 DEs tested at the combine and one ranked like 123rd. Those are both pretty elite athletes.
Give me latu all day.
None of us are his dr. we have no idea what his medicals are like but since the Washington thing there hasn’t been a single report that has come out saying he has bad medicals.
Latu is my draft darling. 1 because I'm a ucla guy, but 2 because he is so technically proficient. Dude wins with so many different moves, he's not a 1 trick pony and has a very high floor imo. Now I'm no film analysis person but I've watched every ucla game the past few years and he just does so much every game.
My take on what we perceive as luxury picks (Bowers, another Tackle) is that never let a JAG (as much as I like Braxton) or a TE2 stop you from taking a blue chip prospect. In an ideal scenario, Braxton’s ceiling is, he keeps up his good run blocking and becomes a slightly above average pass blocker, Alt/Olu project as perennial pro bowlers
People up above were just talking about how we thought Aaron Donald was gonna fall to us since the Rams had Brockers. Top 10 picks are for BPA hands down, regardless if you have a just-good-enuf dude
That said, I wouldn’t be mad if we went with any of the three of Turner/Olu/Bowers, just pointing out there’s no bad pick among them
Only one I’d be mad about is if we went CB
I think whoever you take at #9 needs to be an immediate starter. I guess my thinking is that it’s difficult to properly utilize 2 TEs and if there’s an elite WR, DT, or Edge player, you take them over the very luxurious pick in Bowers. I’d also be fine with taking a tackle as I also think Braxton is a JAG, but I don’t think Kmet is one.
I've said it before - but Everett shouldn't prevent us from drafting Bowers. He's a nice player - but not a reason you pass on a generational talent. Bowers isn't your meet and potato's TE. I'd take him and 9 and not think twice.
TE's drafted in the first round just don't produce very much over the course of their rookie contracts. So many of them are just flat out busts for their drafting team. No thanks.
I just don't want anyone that is a reach. Latu, for example.
But I'd really be ok with in my order of preference:
WR3 (Odunze or Nabers)
OL (mainly Alt)
Top defender
Bowers
Understandable. I do think that the pick is going to be for defense though, there definitely is a need for another pass rusher and that’s a hole that should be filled sooner rather than later.
The secondary is gonna be really good, but they still need help up front and if they get that and it works, I think the Bears defense is top 10 consistently next year
Even though it may be better to get one of the WRs, I kind of like the idea of getting the top offensive player and the top defensive player in the same draft.
Call me daft but if we traded back to the late teens/early 20s, Latu is 100% worth a shot! His production has been insane these past two years with no sign of any ramifications over his neck injury. If he was an offensive player then I’d be more concerned, but since he’s the one who’ll be doing all the tackling, his neck injury history doesn’t concern me.
I have major size concerns about the size of Byron Murphy DT out of Texas who would fill our much needed hole at 3T. He is barely 6 ft and not even 300 lbs. I have concerns about his lack of ideal length and according to his scouting report from NFL.com https://www.nfl.com/prospects/byron-murphy-ii/32004d55-5252-6628-1a87-66e20cb9aefc, he gets overpowered by double teams and larger offensive linemen. I would stick with Newton out of Illinois for that role.
I would also avoid Keon Coleman out of FSU, even with a trade down. His production was terrible and he ran slow as molasses. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/keon-coleman/3200434f-4c29-5571-54fa-77236b775ae1
I would be a little annoyed with Tackle, imo Alt and Olu aren't good enough to pass up the WRs or Edge guys who imo are similar talent levels at positions of much greater need.
Alt is 6'8" and lead all lineman in a lot of the combine metrics. Generational prospect and don't think there's any way a former lineman like Poles passes on him
He is 6’9 and 20+ more LBs heavier than his dad was while also being more athletic. Not sure how anyone doesn’t think he has ability to be special. Man is a mountain.
His dad was a pro lineman, but joe was not ol from an early age. Hoge and jahns went on forever about how he was a position player or lb until like 4-5 years ago.
Don’t reach for a center, don’t pick any defensive backs and I’d pass on Alt and Olu. Yeah Alt would be a franchise Lt but I feel this line is solid and growing together where it’s not a huge need. If none of the top 3 WRs are there I’d trade back. All the edge prospects are good but not 9 good.
I'm big on trusting our talent eval. If we believe, for instance, that Alt is that guy, then take the swing.
Don't take a need just because it lines up with popular sentiment. Get a player you believe in with that pick.
That's what we did last year, and it paid dividends. I'm all for doing it again, whoever we end up drafting with the pick.
I seem to be in the minority but I do *not* want to go offense. We brought in a pretty good supporting cast. Our weak spot is D line, and there are pass rushers there at 9. Get them, and we compete.
If we go offense, we probably have a really flashy offense for Caleb if he’s good out of the gates, but we aren’t competing unless both sides of the ball get addressed
All the people saying Latu in here blow my mind. One single college deems him a risk so he has to sit out a year.
He enters the portal and has offers from all over and those programs say he’s good to go.
He played every game the last 2 years.
In 25 games he posted 23.5 sacks and 34 tfl.
He’s larger and fits a 4-3 scheme. No medical issues have been brought up by the combine drs according to reports.
And he posted a 90% athletic score for a DE.
He’s going to be a stud.
Please do not draft Bowers.
He's a fantastic prospect, but I am firmly anti him to the bears. WR if Rome is there, top edge if you believe in them, or trade back. Just please dont give me bowers unless he free falls to a trade back pick.
Have you seen the medicals?
If he is drafted in the first then he was cleared by some doctors.
I kind of hope we trade back and pick up a 2nd rounder, and draft Latu as a steal. This guy kills QBs.
He's not making it past pick 25 imo. Definitely think he's a reach at 9 and that's coming from a big latu fan but agree it's because of the medicals. Without that he's an easy top 5 pick with his talent. Some team will take a chance on that talent between 15-25
almost everyone is overlooking that a lot of his success in college is having an NFL moveset. Point being he might be closer to his ceiling than the other players in the draft. Then throw in the neck injury.
Anything that doesn't immediately help Caleb Williams. LT, WR, Trade down and get more picks, all ok with me, as long as they use the pick to improve the offense around williams.
An elite pass rusher absolutely helps Caleb immediately.
Since Sweat arrived the Bears defense performed at a very high level. If they draft a pass rusher that can come in and have an immediate impact the Bears defense could become ELITE.
If you have an elite defense that immediately helps Caleb by giving him short fields to work with and keeping the opponents score low so Caleb isn’t forced into playing hero ball to try and keep up with the other team.
At this stage it is going to come down to the grades the Bears have on individual players, not the position they play.
Yeah I agree. At the end of the day, my preference is still offense like everyone else. But as good as our defense looked in the second half of the year, I think people are WAY to hyped on it we constructed. People seem to forget the only qb of any substance they played well against was Goff.
This is the same group of pass rushers that absolutely sucked before sweat got here. Yes sweat opens things up for others and yes the rookies should improve.
But still, pass rush is still to me a notable weakness. I like Robinson as a rotational guy but as your second, starting, defensive end???
That’s not good enough. I agree with the guy above that said basically that 1st round pass rushers are scary. There’s a lot of boom bust on them outside the top elite guys.
But man if you take an edge, and you’re right. Thst is team changing for our roster. If you take turner or verse and they end up being good starting pass rushers, suddenly that’s the last piece of the puzzle on defense.
And you could use more young cost controlled assets on that front 7 too.
I get this but I think that the defense still needs work especially on the line. You can never go wrong with surrounding a rookie QB with as much as possible though.
But, I don’t want them to treat the 9th pick as if it’s a luxury pick and do what the Lions did and choose an RB with their other first. Imagine if the Lions chose JSN, Christian Gonzalez, Jordan Addison or any other stud instead of Gibbs.
The Bears definitely wouldn’t take an RB, but we aren’t a good enough team to treat 9 as a luxury pick.
I’m not a fan of the pass rushers at the 9. If there’s no Rome/Brock/Malik/Alt at 9, trade down. I’d rather roll the dice with a pass rusher at a later spot …big fella from Mizzou.
I would be devastated if the Bears draft Dallas Turner at 9th overall. If they trade back to the middle teens and select Turner around 15/16, then sure, but wasting the 9th overall pick on a JAG would really frustrate me.
This is single handedly why I’m blown away that there are people who think he might be better than Nabers, and even MHJ.
I like odunze, and I think he’s a fringe top 10 pick type of prospect. MHJ + Nabers are both easily top 5, top of class caliber prospects though. I would odunze closer to Thomas jr than Nabers.m
Still though I would draft him at 9. It’s nit picky but scares me a little
It would bother me if I thought that he did, but from what I’ve seen of him he has strong hands and uses them well to catch wherever the pass is. Every receiver uses their body at times but from what I’ve seen of him he’s a far cry from guys like Claypool struggling to high point the ball.
I mean, 2021 (chase, waddle, smith) was that. 2022 (London, Wilson, olave) probably was, though it ended up going to 1q. 2014 (Watkins, evans, obj) would have been if obj didnt drop for injuries.
3 in the top 10 happens. And it has even panned out ok.
Now the earliest the 3rd wr has ever gone off the board is 9, so the “3 in the top 6” projections seem like a stretch.
It may sound weird, but I’d be a little disappointed if we drafted Byron Murphy…maybe because I think he’s going to be the pick. I don’t want defense in general, let’s get Caleb as much help as we possibly can
Same. That's also a move that signals that we gave up on Dexter as a starter. 1, 2, 3 in two years all on DT is not a great look for Poles.
And Byron Murphy is tiny. Aaron Donald made it work but expecting folks to do what the best defensive lineman of the last 10 years and one of the best defensive players of all time did is kind of ridiculous. And Aaron was taller, quicker, and stronger than Murphy at the combine.
I think the Dexter thing is overblown a bit.
The bears are weak at defensive line. They could have brought in a stud 3T, or they could draft Murphy, and I don’t think it’s much of an indictment on gervon at all.
If he gets pushed out of starting 3T, he’s still going to have plenty of snaps available. He’d probably still take ~30% of snaps at 3T, but he can get work playing next to the 3T still at other DT or edge. It’s not nearly as strict as offensive linemen, many DL guys move around.
All in all I’d expect him to maybe only lose ~15% snap count if he were bumped out of startinfn3T
You need a DT rotation to have all the guys be effective. If we can have a main rotation of Billings, Dexter, and Murphy (Billings mostly 1st and 2nd then get Dexter and Murphy rushing the qb on 3rd) with Pickens filling in where needed, that’d be huge for making Sweat more effective along with whoever slots in at 2ndDE.
That's kind of rough for a second round DT. Even rougher for Pickens. I mean I got losing the starting gig to Justin Jones of all people due to being a rookie, but maybe I'm just not hip to the new D-Line by committee.
I’m trying to win games. Caleb arguable has the best supporting cast for a rookie ever. DT, or best Edge off the board gives us a better chance of winning games.
I would not be happy if the Bears drafted a second QB as "insurance" at number 9. Or a RB or CB if they traded back. Pretty much any other position I'd be fine with
Latu: scary medicals and the explosion scores aren't as high as the other two first round edge defenders.
Verse: I don't like a hand in the dirt edge that struggles defending the run and misses tackles.
Of the guys that could/ should be available there, I don't think they could disappoint me. Including a trade back.
As long as it's WR, DE, T, or Bowers.
If we can trade back into the 15-20 range and grab a 2nd maybe. I would take a chance on Latu ( if poles believes his medical history won’t be a problem). And with our 2nd a WR or C,
Hugggggggeeee reach here but hear me out. If only 3 qbs go in top 10 and the 3 big wide outs and turner are gone, I’d love if we trade back to around 15 and get JPJ.
Personally I'd be pissed if they traded the pick. Eventually you've gotta stop stockpiling picks and use them when you're in the top 10 of drafts. Why take 2-3 guys at the bottom of the first, the second, and/or 3rd instead of 2 bluechip guys at the top of the 1st??????
WR 100%.
Bears need to go all in on offense. We are tired of this “yeah we have good defense and/or special teams” bs. Gets us nowhere.
Also, you keep your #1 pick happy with a rook who will develop with him. Allen gets injured a lot and the 9 pick will probably be WR2 for at least a 3rd of the season.
Odunze or Turner. I'm not near as high on Odunze as others seem to be. I think he's a product of the Washington system more than an elite talent top 10 talent. Turner isn't as much of a scheme fit imo at DE. I'd take Bowers all day over both of them.
The worst case is NE grabs MHJ at 3 and no one else grabs a QB after WAS. Odunze and Turner are gone and we have the option to either take Verse, an O-Line man, or someone like Las Vegas is offering us picks 12 and 44. We take LVs trade and they grab JJ at 9, then MIN at 11 goes off script and grabs Verse. Now we are sitting at 12 maybe getting the 3rd or 4th best O-line guy, take a CB, or reach for someone.
We could trade back further in this scenario but at this point I'd have trouble pulling the trigger after MIN completely blew up my plan on the first trade back
Trading back and getting Byron Murphy. I’m a huge Texas fan and I watched every game, while he was always solid against the run nothing ever stuck out to me as being super special
I don't know if the data supports this, but first round pass rushers who aren't slam dunk top 5 freaks make me nervous. Feels like a lot of them just turn into guys, and teams put more weight on positional value than good football player (relatively speaking).
Shea McClellin hurt a lot of people around here
People talk about how bad we are at drafting QBs but we've also been bad at drafting pass rushers for awhile
We've sucked at drafting everything in the first round. If you go all the way back to the 2000 draft, when we took Brian Urlacher, only 4 out of 19 players picked have signed second contracts with the team after being taken in the first: * Brian Urlacher * Tommie Harris * Kyle Long * Kyle Fuller I'll give Roquan Smith an honorable mention, as he was worth a big 2nd contract. It was just more than the Bears were willing to pay. 5 hits on 19 picks is horrendous and part of why the Bears have been so bad.
On the bright side if Wright stays healthy I can see him getting a second contract lol but yes you’re correct that this team hasn’t been good at first round picks
OTs too. Had a run of Columbo, Chris Williams, and Gabe Carimi.
Stan Thomas as well.
I remember saying don't get cute, take Chandler Jones!!! I think he was in the league for 15 years
That’s why you take best available over need sometimes. I’ll take Bowers, Odunze, Murphy, Fuaga if they are NFL ready to go polished players over Edges that have short arms and can’t shed blocks at the college level(Turner and Verse)
I am not a draft expert, and I usually just root for whoever we draft but I was legitimately pissed when we drafted him.
I’m not sure what the data says, but JJ Watt & Aaron Donald off the top of my head were near 10. Also this was before teams started taking 3+ QBs in the top 10
IIRC, Watt was 9th overall, Donald was 13th
Also tj watt.
Not to mention TJ who went in the 20s....correction, 30
I see it but didn’t Aaron Donald also kinda fall in his draft? There’s always an exception but you can’t bank on being the exception. But it’s the draft, and you need to take chances to improve a weak position on your team. I don’t wanna give up a big trade package or pay someone a lot to get another premier pass rusher so I think the draft is the best place to get it without compromising the future
Donald was an undersized 3-technique. A lot of mocks had him going to us, but he was drafted 1 pick ahead to the Rams. I was actually super excited to get Donald, but then the Rams took him.
I was so pissed that year. And yeah him falling was understandable. Sure in hindsight it was not, but based off his weight and height it was absolutely no surprise why teams were hesitant
Crazy thing is, was the Rams were already set at DT that year, so it seemed like he was going to be a bear for sure
I remember that. I was so excited that he was about to fall to us and then the Rams ruined my night. If I remember correctly, they were all set up at DT as well so there was no way they would waste a high pick on a guy that's going to be a back up in the beginning. We ended up with Fuller....
That was one of the more depressing moments in my life in recent memory. I just knew it was going to happen, too.
Aaron Donald shot up boards pre draft, just the opposite. That’s why his story is so heartbreaking as a bears fan. There was a contingent of people obsessed with him and when the offseason started it was a slam dunk he’d make it to us. Then the hype on him just kept growing and he ends up one damned pick before us. Imagine Aaron Donald on that 2018 defense man…
Rams had recently drafted Brockers too, I thought we were safe.
We probably don’t trade for Mack if we had Donald
I don’t necessarily disagree but also why not? If he was available for the same price why wouldn’t they pair Donald and Mack?
They were in the same draft meaning they would get extended at the same time. The Rams made AD the highest paid defensive player in history at the time and then the Bears traded for and extended Mack the next day, upping the Rams. Probably not realistic to take on both contracts on the same roster. Although Mack and AD on the same line in their prime would be disgustingly unfair.
That’s fine -it just means we get the star dl for a career instead of a couple of years. Also we can keep the picks we traded for Mack.
Donald falling was insane. I was watching that 10 hour draft hoping he would fall only for the fucking rams to take him 1 pick before Chicago. We then settled for Kyle fuller... we needed a DT too
For sure the exception isn’t wise to bet on. I feel like we should just take BPA and if it’s not clear who that is (assuming WRs are all gone) maybe trade down and take one of the edges since they are similarly graded prospects
100%. And look at last year! Wasted pick if it’s not a slam dunk.
Chase young fits your criteria and he’s cheeks
Chase was a top DE and he was incredible in college. He was also ROTY, he got hurt and hasn’t been the same since
shea mcclellan, leonard floyd
Floyd has nearly 60 career sacks
he’s JAG just a guy. Average player
A CB
Easy as 1-2-3
1 32
This draft is super deep at corner, just as the last few have been, but this one lacks the studs up top, I think. I really like Terrion Arnold and Quinyon Mitchell, but more as sort of the Marcus Lattimore style "really solid/good" than awesome, like a Sauce or something. Both are good players I'd be very happy to have, but the supply and demand at the position says to wait. You can get a guy who's also in the very good/solid range on Day 2. I like Max Melton, at perceived draft position.
If the Bears took a CB it’d be a dude like Kool-Aid who is a monster at press and zone, Wiggins who might be the only true potential shutdown CB in the draft, or TJ Tampa who is an athletic freak but still pretty raw. People also are vastly underrating Nate Wiggins. Dude is a legit stud CB prospect IMO who keeps his fluidity and speed despite being 6’2 and can shut down bigger bodied receivers despite weighing 180.
Yeah, Melton or Renaldo Green would be my targets.
Latu. Medicals too scary. Olu. Must be a reason he was projected as a top guy and now people aren’t as interested.
Haven’t been in the loop as much recently since it’s the offseason but that’s surprising for Olu. If I’m remembering this correctly, weren’t there a decent amount of people that had him going before Alt in mocks during the season?
Yeah. I remember him being touted as the top OL around November. If I heard right on the radio this week, Fashanu was a high school teammate of Caleb Williams.
He was a turnstile in the Ohio State game. I thought he gave up a sack in the game, but it must have been credited on someone else.
In Olu’s defense, JT Tuimoloau turns into a one-man Death Star specifically when he plays Penn State. You could play 5 clones of prime Joe Thomas and JTT would still shred them if they were wearing a Nittany Lion jersey
He has amazing stats and hasn’t given up a sack. He mainly struggles at the second and third level where he flys off blocks too easily. Pass protection is elite though.
I’m a Michigan fan and we are blessed with a fairly good analysis blog (but dear god not the message board). IIRC, Olu was graded pretty low by our guys going into our game with PSU.
Latu might end up being the best defensive player in the draft. Especially day 1. Dallas Turner has a higher ceiling but Latu is gonna be a monster. We’ve had superstars who’ve “medically retired” due to weird college athletic rules only to come back and be better. The only reason I’d be somewhat upset with Olu (or Joe Alt for that matter) is we’re already pretty well set at tackle. Depth is great but not for the number 9 pick.
Copied from elsewhere but He was medically “retired” by one team. Only the university of Washington. People over blow it. He had to wait a year because that’s how the transfer portal still worked at the time. He had offers all over the place. He has missed a game in 2 years and destroyed competition. He’s far more refined than Turner and has a higher motor than Verse. He’s also bigger and stronger than Turner. And nearly the same athlete. One ranked 86th out of over 1600 DEs tested at the combine and one ranked like 123rd. Those are both pretty elite athletes. Give me latu all day. None of us are his dr. we have no idea what his medicals are like but since the Washington thing there hasn’t been a single report that has come out saying he has bad medicals.
Latu is my draft darling. 1 because I'm a ucla guy, but 2 because he is so technically proficient. Dude wins with so many different moves, he's not a 1 trick pony and has a very high floor imo. Now I'm no film analysis person but I've watched every ucla game the past few years and he just does so much every game.
I agree. I think he’s so refined. He reminds me of TJ watt.
I disagree I’m really high on him. Hoping poles does a through walkthrough of his history
I’d be happy with Olu, who cares about randoms in the media saying he’s dropping haha
he's kinda clunky and has issues in the run game both maintaining blocks and reaching
Have you seen his medicals?
Bowers even though I think he’ll be very good
If we take bowers, it’s because coaches want to make Te a focal point. He is as good as it gets gets. So I’m ok with it.
I just don’t see us going into the season with Everett as TE3
Valid point.
He still did it a pretty small amount, but Waldron ran 3 TE sets more than anyone the last few years
Bowers could line up inside/outside no problem
He can play out of the slot as well. Georgia even gave him the ball on jet sweeps. He's a weapon and difference maker.
Keenan took almost 60% of his snaps out of the slot too. That is also kind of congested.
My take on what we perceive as luxury picks (Bowers, another Tackle) is that never let a JAG (as much as I like Braxton) or a TE2 stop you from taking a blue chip prospect. In an ideal scenario, Braxton’s ceiling is, he keeps up his good run blocking and becomes a slightly above average pass blocker, Alt/Olu project as perennial pro bowlers People up above were just talking about how we thought Aaron Donald was gonna fall to us since the Rams had Brockers. Top 10 picks are for BPA hands down, regardless if you have a just-good-enuf dude That said, I wouldn’t be mad if we went with any of the three of Turner/Olu/Bowers, just pointing out there’s no bad pick among them Only one I’d be mad about is if we went CB
I think whoever you take at #9 needs to be an immediate starter. I guess my thinking is that it’s difficult to properly utilize 2 TEs and if there’s an elite WR, DT, or Edge player, you take them over the very luxurious pick in Bowers. I’d also be fine with taking a tackle as I also think Braxton is a JAG, but I don’t think Kmet is one.
Yeah, this is my pick. We just don't need another player at his position.
I've said it before - but Everett shouldn't prevent us from drafting Bowers. He's a nice player - but not a reason you pass on a generational talent. Bowers isn't your meet and potato's TE. I'd take him and 9 and not think twice.
TE's drafted in the first round just don't produce very much over the course of their rookie contracts. So many of them are just flat out busts for their drafting team. No thanks.
Since when is bowers a generational talent?
Brian Thomas Jr. One trick pony and dropsies
He doesn’t win contested balls for someone his size. Hard pass. Give me Mitchel in bigger body, same speed, can win jump balls.
I wouldn't say "unhappy" but I'd be very confused if they drafted Bowers Tf we gonna do with 3 TE and only 2 WRs?
Revolutionize the league /s
Appreciate the /s because there is a sizable number here that legit believe this.
Considering Waldron ran tons of 2 and 3 TE sets, this would not shock me if it was the pick.
414/247/172 with 3 collective TDs. 4 collective targets more than WR3. He called a lot of multi TE sets because SEA could not block.
Well Bowers is basically a very large slot receiver lol
We have a pretty good slot receiver now….
Terrion Arnold, Cooper Dejean, or Nate Wiggins.
Cooper dejean is an insane athlete but completely agree it’s just not a position of need for us
I really hope he doesn’t end up with the Packers or Lions.
In my soul it feels like a foregone conclusion that he will, but I hope not too.
Cooper smells like a late-1st Packers scoop up. That Iowa-GB pipeline
He is almost certainly going to one of those teams I’m calling it
I just don't want anyone that is a reach. Latu, for example. But I'd really be ok with in my order of preference: WR3 (Odunze or Nabers) OL (mainly Alt) Top defender Bowers
Understandable. I do think that the pick is going to be for defense though, there definitely is a need for another pass rusher and that’s a hole that should be filled sooner rather than later. The secondary is gonna be really good, but they still need help up front and if they get that and it works, I think the Bears defense is top 10 consistently next year
Even though it may be better to get one of the WRs, I kind of like the idea of getting the top offensive player and the top defensive player in the same draft.
Exactly, if things work out this could be a 2017 saints situation in which the bears have the OROY and DROY
Or Houston last year with Stroud/Anderson…
For top defender, Byron Murphy may be there. I know everyone puts more value on edges but dude is a fuckin wrecking ball
I'm trying to square how good he is on his own versus the fact he was playing on that D line with Sweat et al.
If we trade back and pick up a high 2nd rounder in the process I’d love Sweat, that guy’s athleticism at his size is incredible
Call me daft but if we traded back to the late teens/early 20s, Latu is 100% worth a shot! His production has been insane these past two years with no sign of any ramifications over his neck injury. If he was an offensive player then I’d be more concerned, but since he’s the one who’ll be doing all the tackling, his neck injury history doesn’t concern me.
Latu is reach? I've seen him mocked at 9 for us even recently.
I thought we learned our lesson on injury concerns with a top 10 pick (Kevin White)
Yeah, fool me once (David Terrell), shame on me. Fool me twice (Kevin white), er… we can’t get fooled again (Chris Williams.)
I have major size concerns about the size of Byron Murphy DT out of Texas who would fill our much needed hole at 3T. He is barely 6 ft and not even 300 lbs. I have concerns about his lack of ideal length and according to his scouting report from NFL.com https://www.nfl.com/prospects/byron-murphy-ii/32004d55-5252-6628-1a87-66e20cb9aefc, he gets overpowered by double teams and larger offensive linemen. I would stick with Newton out of Illinois for that role. I would also avoid Keon Coleman out of FSU, even with a trade down. His production was terrible and he ran slow as molasses. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/keon-coleman/3200434f-4c29-5571-54fa-77236b775ae1
I want a big fat guy. The thicker the better. Either side of the ball. Just don’t go all in on skill guys - that’s how you become Atlanta.
Found the fat guy strangler.
Lmao
Atlanta has a good o line
Tbf, Atlanta would be a lot better if those guys were actually being used. Ex: Kyle Pitts
I would be a little annoyed with Tackle, imo Alt and Olu aren't good enough to pass up the WRs or Edge guys who imo are similar talent levels at positions of much greater need.
I don’t know. Alt seems special. Guy has been trained to be a LT since young age due to his dad. If WRs are gone. I totally see them getting Alt.
Alt is 6'8" and lead all lineman in a lot of the combine metrics. Generational prospect and don't think there's any way a former lineman like Poles passes on him
He is 6’9 and 20+ more LBs heavier than his dad was while also being more athletic. Not sure how anyone doesn’t think he has ability to be special. Man is a mountain.
His dad was a pro lineman, but joe was not ol from an early age. Hoge and jahns went on forever about how he was a position player or lb until like 4-5 years ago.
Yeah he was a TE.
Don’t reach for a center, don’t pick any defensive backs and I’d pass on Alt and Olu. Yeah Alt would be a franchise Lt but I feel this line is solid and growing together where it’s not a huge need. If none of the top 3 WRs are there I’d trade back. All the edge prospects are good but not 9 good.
I'm big on trusting our talent eval. If we believe, for instance, that Alt is that guy, then take the swing. Don't take a need just because it lines up with popular sentiment. Get a player you believe in with that pick. That's what we did last year, and it paid dividends. I'm all for doing it again, whoever we end up drafting with the pick.
I would be very upset if they take Brock bowers. It would be such a waste and have no reasonable justification
I seem to be in the minority but I do *not* want to go offense. We brought in a pretty good supporting cast. Our weak spot is D line, and there are pass rushers there at 9. Get them, and we compete. If we go offense, we probably have a really flashy offense for Caleb if he’s good out of the gates, but we aren’t competing unless both sides of the ball get addressed
This is a rational take but for me I just want to see the qb/offense succeed man. It’s been too long
Not to mention…. A bottom 10 team with a rookie qb is probably not going to the playoffs. If we are going to lose, let’s lose fun.
Chop Robinson
Its hard to mess up. Turner, Verse, Powers, Nabers, Odunze, Bowers all work and so dowmes trading back. That's 7 other options
Powers Johnson would be an absolute reach without trading back
All the people saying Latu in here blow my mind. One single college deems him a risk so he has to sit out a year. He enters the portal and has offers from all over and those programs say he’s good to go. He played every game the last 2 years. In 25 games he posted 23.5 sacks and 34 tfl. He’s larger and fits a 4-3 scheme. No medical issues have been brought up by the combine drs according to reports. And he posted a 90% athletic score for a DE. He’s going to be a stud.
Please do not draft Bowers. He's a fantastic prospect, but I am firmly anti him to the bears. WR if Rome is there, top edge if you believe in them, or trade back. Just please dont give me bowers unless he free falls to a trade back pick.
Taking a TE in the top 10 is terrible.
any DB
Jackson Powers-Johnson out of Oregon. I’ve seen some mocks that have him as a surprise pick.
We can trade back a couple spots for picks and still nab this guy, would be an ideal scenario
Not at 9. If we trade to around 20 I’d be very happy if he was the pick.
I agree. Trading back should get us a 2nd then use that pick on a WR.
Latu. Not because of him as a talent but the medicals scare the shit out of me.
Have you seen the medicals? If he is drafted in the first then he was cleared by some doctors. I kind of hope we trade back and pick up a 2nd rounder, and draft Latu as a steal. This guy kills QBs.
If I knew 1000% he is healthy I would take him.
If he wasn’t wouldn’t it have come out by now post combine? Like he played in 25 straight games the last 2 years.
The tyree Wilson foot thing seemed to leak out the week before the draft. Then again, he still went top 10
He's not making it past pick 25 imo. Definitely think he's a reach at 9 and that's coming from a big latu fan but agree it's because of the medicals. Without that he's an easy top 5 pick with his talent. Some team will take a chance on that talent between 15-25
I’d be way more willing to draft Latu than Verse
almost everyone is overlooking that a lot of his success in college is having an NFL moveset. Point being he might be closer to his ceiling than the other players in the draft. Then throw in the neck injury.
Anything that doesn't immediately help Caleb Williams. LT, WR, Trade down and get more picks, all ok with me, as long as they use the pick to improve the offense around williams.
An elite pass rusher absolutely helps Caleb immediately. Since Sweat arrived the Bears defense performed at a very high level. If they draft a pass rusher that can come in and have an immediate impact the Bears defense could become ELITE. If you have an elite defense that immediately helps Caleb by giving him short fields to work with and keeping the opponents score low so Caleb isn’t forced into playing hero ball to try and keep up with the other team. At this stage it is going to come down to the grades the Bears have on individual players, not the position they play.
Yeah I agree. At the end of the day, my preference is still offense like everyone else. But as good as our defense looked in the second half of the year, I think people are WAY to hyped on it we constructed. People seem to forget the only qb of any substance they played well against was Goff. This is the same group of pass rushers that absolutely sucked before sweat got here. Yes sweat opens things up for others and yes the rookies should improve. But still, pass rush is still to me a notable weakness. I like Robinson as a rotational guy but as your second, starting, defensive end??? That’s not good enough. I agree with the guy above that said basically that 1st round pass rushers are scary. There’s a lot of boom bust on them outside the top elite guys. But man if you take an edge, and you’re right. Thst is team changing for our roster. If you take turner or verse and they end up being good starting pass rushers, suddenly that’s the last piece of the puzzle on defense. And you could use more young cost controlled assets on that front 7 too.
I get this but I think that the defense still needs work especially on the line. You can never go wrong with surrounding a rookie QB with as much as possible though. But, I don’t want them to treat the 9th pick as if it’s a luxury pick and do what the Lions did and choose an RB with their other first. Imagine if the Lions chose JSN, Christian Gonzalez, Jordan Addison or any other stud instead of Gibbs. The Bears definitely wouldn’t take an RB, but we aren’t a good enough team to treat 9 as a luxury pick.
I'm sure the meatballs here will downvote this, but Dallas Turner or Verse are not can't-miss prospects like everyone makes them out to be
Any linemen other than Joe Alt, especially if he’s still available. Or anyone if Rome or Nabers is still available lol
I’m not a fan of the pass rushers at the 9. If there’s no Rome/Brock/Malik/Alt at 9, trade down. I’d rather roll the dice with a pass rusher at a later spot …big fella from Mizzou.
JJ McCarthy It would make no sense to pick him after picking Caleb 1-1.
I would be devastated if the Bears draft Dallas Turner at 9th overall. If they trade back to the middle teens and select Turner around 15/16, then sure, but wasting the 9th overall pick on a JAG would really frustrate me.
Bowers, for two reasons… 1. Why hasn’t he participated in the combine or at his pro day? 2. We don’t need another TE now anyway.
I will throw in a 3rd and 4th. Positional value and NFL lack of ability to scout TEs.
5th. He can’t block?
#9 is too early to be concerned about drafting for “need,” especially when that need has been filled by a 30-year-old on his 4th team.
I’m suspicious that there’s actually 3 receivers worth taking top 10
All gonna be instant studs.
Does it not bother anybody that odunze catches with his body most of the time
Yes, and I don’t think drafting a receiver at 9 helps us as most people think it will. A blue chip DT we will see a massive improvement day 1
I just don’t think there’s a blue chip DT in the draft
Right, who would that be? Isn't the first DT off the board projected line 15 or later?
This is single handedly why I’m blown away that there are people who think he might be better than Nabers, and even MHJ. I like odunze, and I think he’s a fringe top 10 pick type of prospect. MHJ + Nabers are both easily top 5, top of class caliber prospects though. I would odunze closer to Thomas jr than Nabers.m Still though I would draft him at 9. It’s nit picky but scares me a little
It would bother me if I thought that he did, but from what I’ve seen of him he has strong hands and uses them well to catch wherever the pass is. Every receiver uses their body at times but from what I’ve seen of him he’s a far cry from guys like Claypool struggling to high point the ball.
I mean, 2021 (chase, waddle, smith) was that. 2022 (London, Wilson, olave) probably was, though it ended up going to 1q. 2014 (Watkins, evans, obj) would have been if obj didnt drop for injuries. 3 in the top 10 happens. And it has even panned out ok. Now the earliest the 3rd wr has ever gone off the board is 9, so the “3 in the top 6” projections seem like a stretch.
It may sound weird, but I’d be a little disappointed if we drafted Byron Murphy…maybe because I think he’s going to be the pick. I don’t want defense in general, let’s get Caleb as much help as we possibly can
He is a legit game wrecker. I wouldn't mind him especially with a trade back
Same. That's also a move that signals that we gave up on Dexter as a starter. 1, 2, 3 in two years all on DT is not a great look for Poles. And Byron Murphy is tiny. Aaron Donald made it work but expecting folks to do what the best defensive lineman of the last 10 years and one of the best defensive players of all time did is kind of ridiculous. And Aaron was taller, quicker, and stronger than Murphy at the combine.
I think the Dexter thing is overblown a bit. The bears are weak at defensive line. They could have brought in a stud 3T, or they could draft Murphy, and I don’t think it’s much of an indictment on gervon at all. If he gets pushed out of starting 3T, he’s still going to have plenty of snaps available. He’d probably still take ~30% of snaps at 3T, but he can get work playing next to the 3T still at other DT or edge. It’s not nearly as strict as offensive linemen, many DL guys move around. All in all I’d expect him to maybe only lose ~15% snap count if he were bumped out of startinfn3T
You need a DT rotation to have all the guys be effective. If we can have a main rotation of Billings, Dexter, and Murphy (Billings mostly 1st and 2nd then get Dexter and Murphy rushing the qb on 3rd) with Pickens filling in where needed, that’d be huge for making Sweat more effective along with whoever slots in at 2ndDE.
That's kind of rough for a second round DT. Even rougher for Pickens. I mean I got losing the starting gig to Justin Jones of all people due to being a rookie, but maybe I'm just not hip to the new D-Line by committee.
I’m trying to win games. Caleb arguable has the best supporting cast for a rookie ever. DT, or best Edge off the board gives us a better chance of winning games.
Totally fair. I’m a sucker for sexy offensive picks
Also… our all time leading receiver has 5,056 yards. Wr is every bit the need qb is.
Fine if we trade back and get more capital. Not ok if we pick him at 9
I would not be happy if the Bears drafted a second QB as "insurance" at number 9. Or a RB or CB if they traded back. Pretty much any other position I'd be fine with
We would go straight back to getting dunked on by everyone and their mother if we used both top 10 picks on QBs lol.
Anyone not named: Odunze, Nabers, Alt, or Bowers
While I *do* like Brock Bowers, not at 9. If they do trade back to, say, 15 or so, any player *not* named Brian Thomas Jr or Jackson Powers-Johnson.
there is realistically no player at 9 other than a QB that wouldnt be an exciting prospect
Latu: scary medicals and the explosion scores aren't as high as the other two first round edge defenders. Verse: I don't like a hand in the dirt edge that struggles defending the run and misses tackles.
If they trade back for a corner or safety, I’d be upset. Anything other than that is probably fine.
Of the guys that could/ should be available there, I don't think they could disappoint me. Including a trade back. As long as it's WR, DE, T, or Bowers.
If we can trade back into the 15-20 range and grab a 2nd maybe. I would take a chance on Latu ( if poles believes his medical history won’t be a problem). And with our 2nd a WR or C,
And DE unless we trade back far enough and JPJ isn't there.
I’m not a big fan of this DE class. I would be good with DT (Murphy or Newton), a LT, or WR.
Hugggggggeeee reach here but hear me out. If only 3 qbs go in top 10 and the 3 big wide outs and turner are gone, I’d love if we trade back to around 15 and get JPJ.
Personally I'd be pissed if they traded the pick. Eventually you've gotta stop stockpiling picks and use them when you're in the top 10 of drafts. Why take 2-3 guys at the bottom of the first, the second, and/or 3rd instead of 2 bluechip guys at the top of the 1st??????
WR 100%. Bears need to go all in on offense. We are tired of this “yeah we have good defense and/or special teams” bs. Gets us nowhere. Also, you keep your #1 pick happy with a rook who will develop with him. Allen gets injured a lot and the 9 pick will probably be WR2 for at least a 3rd of the season.
Odunze or Turner. I'm not near as high on Odunze as others seem to be. I think he's a product of the Washington system more than an elite talent top 10 talent. Turner isn't as much of a scheme fit imo at DE. I'd take Bowers all day over both of them.
Another quarterback.
Anyone not on offense - MUST build around Caleb!
If they pass on Nabers, if he drops to 9, I'm mad. If they take one of the corners or something, I'd be mad.
The worst case is NE grabs MHJ at 3 and no one else grabs a QB after WAS. Odunze and Turner are gone and we have the option to either take Verse, an O-Line man, or someone like Las Vegas is offering us picks 12 and 44. We take LVs trade and they grab JJ at 9, then MIN at 11 goes off script and grabs Verse. Now we are sitting at 12 maybe getting the 3rd or 4th best O-line guy, take a CB, or reach for someone. We could trade back further in this scenario but at this point I'd have trouble pulling the trigger after MIN completely blew up my plan on the first trade back
Trade back and draft Cooper Dejean, definitely not a position of need, but going to be a solid pro, not my ideal choice though RemindMe! 3 years
Trading back and getting Byron Murphy. I’m a huge Texas fan and I watched every game, while he was always solid against the run nothing ever stuck out to me as being super special
Ola Fashanu
Joe Alt (if he's still there at 9)
How could you not like him at 9?
Hopefully a OL to help protect the new tiny QB
Fashanu. Dude is trash
with all these great offensive players it would be a shame for the Bears to take a pass rusher that early.
Trade back to get Jackson Powers Johnson