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I need to do something with all my NFL draft knowledge and if people aren't going to listen to me rant ad nauseam, I'm gonna start a thread that I welcome folks to engage with or mute immediately, do what's best for you.
The first thing that needs to be said is that mock drafts are dumb, you'll always gain a better understanding of a class when you sort by ranges and ceiling/basement for picks. Like Andrew Thomas can go 4th or he can go 20th, all of that is possible so why pin down exact spots?
That said, Andrew Thomas is very good and didn't benefit at all from having to block for Jake Fromm, who is bad and takes his sweet time waiting for routes to develop. Jedrick Wills also good, but I've recently been thinking... could Josh Jones be the best tackle in the draft?
There's a little bit of parallel between this OT class and the one from 2008, where I see Jones being the Duane Brown last picked of the big names but quietly have the best career. He needs to work on his kick slide a little, but he checks every box that can't be taught.
I fucking LOVE Jones, might be my OT-2, but I'm also saying this because clearly Ryan Pace clearly loves this guy. He's repeatedly publicly scouted a guy that's a good bit out of his pick range. Pace wants to trade up? 43 and 50 could net him a pick in the early 20s so... maybe?
I think it's far more likely that Pace did his due diligence on a guy that is mid-late first sleeper, a highly recruited physical stud that's ready to plug and play, just in case there is a run of WRs and QBs early enough to push Jones down to 43 or really close to it.
Because the thing I am fairly fucking certain will happen is that Pace is gonna go after the best DB available at 43. He's scouted every DB in that range (except my boy Gladney) and I can see him assembling a very thought out order. However, my order would look like this:
This being the list of known visits with DBs by the Bears:
Fulton
Brooks
Dantzler
AJ Green
Chinn (who I don't like at all)
Kenny Robinson
Clemons
Dinson
J Davis (not an NFL body)
Fulton
Brooks
Dantzler
AJ Green
Chinn (who I don't like at all)
Kenny Robinson
Clemons
Dinson
J Davis (not an NFL body)
I think only Fulton and Brooks are worth that 43rd pick and the rest are targets at 50. I would also love to see Winfield and Gladney as a possibilities at 43, and definitely not Diggs. Jaylon Johnson I don't want earlier than 50 either, he needs a lot of fine tuning.
On Chinn, I extremely do not love this guy. He's a physically gifted, built to be a dynamic do it all safety but I didn't see that refinement, good tackling angles, and frankly lower level domination to warrant anything more than a 3rd on him. Kinda Taylor Mays-esque.
Chinn very well could be great as a pro, it's just that he likely won't contribute in year one unless he's schemed to freelance. Especially not good for the Bears, drafting another small school physically gifted but under polished prospect in round 2 is a bad idea.
If anyone should freelance, it's Eddie. Letting him take away the entire middle of the field with his eyes and instincts is a must, and getting a guy that can patrol the intermediate and fill gap assignments to allow that is crucial to getting this defense back on top
It's a shame they didn't visit virtually with Winfield, who I love. He's a bit small but he has a supreme nose for the ball, he takes GREAT angles, and good playmaking skills in him. He's not a traditional in box safety but his wide set of good traits are useful in any system
On that, I want people to take a look at how every year, between pics 50 and the last pick of the second round, there’s always 2 to 4 pro bowlers taken in that range. The best thing to do would be to address the secondary at 43 and then BPA at 50. One gem always slides below 50
It’s not just about where Pace has been visibly scouting, there needs to be a widespread acknowledgment that quality cornerbacks are really always first and early second rounders. And we need one not just immediately, but Fuller won’t be good forever.
The same can be virtually said about offense of tackles, and both are difficult to acquire in free agency as a value. This position needs to be addressed imperatively this weekend, I’m really hoping somehow Fulton slips to 43.
