I love it.
Phil Emery obviously had a lot of holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball along with some offensive needs. He certainly could have filled all of them with 15 first-round choices, but given the standard seven selections with two sixth-rounders and no seventh-rounders, he did a tremendous job of continuing to revamp the areas of the club's roster most in need of a talent infusion. He also made smart picks late that should help the team now in filling roster spots with the chance to grow into more in the future. Let's take a quick look at the rationale for each player. Grades will range from the absurd F- (Cedric Benson) to the perfect A+ (Peanut Tillman); C represents a genuinely average selection (Stephen Paea) and there are no "E" grades such that the scale is A-B-C-D-F.
CB Kyle Fuller
Pick: Round 1, #14 overall
Height/Weight: 6'0", 190 lbs.
College: Virginia Tech
Analysis: Fuller is a perfect addition to this roster, a player who can play 60-70% of the team's snaps this year while providing a desperately needed infusion of young talent in the secondary. While many clamored for a safety in the first round, to me, Fuller was the best defensive back on the board. I saw him as the proper balance of physical and football skills, trumpeting his fit with our roster in a series of emails leading up to the draft. Perhaps Justin Gilbert's speed will translate into success at the top level or HaHa Clinton-Dix will be able to play a masterful center field. No matter. Given the information at hand, Fuller was a perfect addition as an NFL-ready corner with plus coverage and run-support skills.
Grade: A
DT Ego Ferguson
Pick: Round 2, #51 overall
Height/Weight: 6'3", 315 lbs.
College: LSU
Analysis: Ferguson is the first guy that brings up a key point with the draft: as a fan, I have access to 1/100th of the information that Phil Emery does. As such, I can feel like certain prospects would be a better fit for the team, but without knowing the prospects themselves, I really can't complain with individual picks. However, I do have 99/100ths of the information that Emery does when it comes to the 53-man roster and the team's salary cap situation. As such, I knew that at least one defensive tackle absolutely needed to be added to the roster and that a run-stuffer made plenty of sense. Ferguson fits the bill and likely would not have made it to the Bears in the third round (although, of course, he may have). I can't fault them for the particular player they drafted and I like a DT in the second round. Emery played this draft well, knowing that impact corners were limited to the top four while a handful of DTs would fall to the second and third rounds. The draft fell into his lap.
Having said that, I didn't love the film on Ferguson. He doesn't project to offer much, if any, pass rushing value, so he'll need to develop into a monster run-stuffer to justify the pick. It might happen, it might not. Regardless, it's hard not to respect a man who turns pro to help out his mom after she suffered a workplace injury that made cash tight for her; it speaks well of his character.
Grade: C+
DT Will Sutton
Pick: Round 3, #82 overall
Height/Weight: 6'0", 290 lbs.
College: Arizona State
Analysis: Sutton is a case study in scouting and projection. After absolutely manhandling the Pac-12 at 285 lbs. in 2012 (watch his strong Oregon State game here, especially his punishing strip sack early in the game), he got some bad advice and ballooned to 320 lbs. last year. The results weren't pretty. I watched his game tape against Stanford and Wisconsin; it was really, really ugly. Sutton had no burst and was easily removed from every play. As of draft day, he was back down to 290 and he figures to rotate with contract-year man Paea at the three-technique position. Sutton is a flawed prospect to be sure, but he represents potentially massive value thanks to his shrinking physique.
This was a superb pick by Emery, in part because the GM acknowledged the roster in assessing that the team could absorb two defensive tackles guaranteed to make the team; only Paea and Jeremiah Ratliff were safe bets to make the roster before the draft, and Ratliff should not be counted on as any every-down player. Both Nate Collins and Israel Idonije provide solid depth, but neither project as valuable starters. Both Ferguson and especially Sutton should be rotation players in Week One with the chance to grow into a useful tandem.
Grade: B
RB Ka'Deem Carey
Pick: Round 4, #117 overall
Height/Weight: 5'9", 207 lbs.
College: Arizona
Analysis: Any Bears fan knew that it was time to address the backup running back position. While Marion Barber and Michael Bush had their flashes, neither ever truly impressed with Barber torpedoed by the Tebow game and Bush done in by an eroding body. Carey represents a commitment to the reserve position in the form of a plus runner who will protect Matt Forte as a worse version of Forte himself, not as a complementary back. Carey isn't an exciting prospect to me, but he's better than the options drafted after him, and the backup RB spot was one of the truly glaring holes on the roster. I expected either tight end or running back to be the first offensive position selection, and I believe that Emery would have had a difficult decision on his hands had Washington's Austin Seferian-Jenkins slipped to #51. But when he came off the board early in the second round, there were no remaining dynamic athletes at the position, rendering RB the obvious choice. Carey is a good one, even if he doesn't offer the type of impact athleticism that suggests a future role as a feature back.
Grade: C-
S Brock Vereen
Pick: Round 4, #131 overall
Height/Weight: 6'0", 199 lbs.
College: Minnesota
Analysis: Unlike some, I am not opposed to trading up in the draft; sometimes, the best value comes from moving up even just a few spots. For example, in Emery's first draft as Bears GM in 2012 - in an otherwise dreadful draft for the rookie GM - Emery used #50 and #150 overall to move up just five spots to #45 where he selected Pro Bowl WR Alshon Jeffery. Sometimes the move you do make is the best one.
Unfortunately, while I had a year-long YouTube affair with Alshon before that draft, my limited exposure to Vereen has been quite poor. He doesn't appear to offer much help in run support. He is sufficiently athletic to morph into a starter at some point in time, but his play will need to improve multiple levels in order for this to happen. More alarmingly, his ball skills appear poor, he has a very hard time getting off blocks regardless of who is doing the blocking, and in three games of tape I saw precisely zero impact hits despite a few missed tackles. The front office likely enjoyed that Vereen played a lot of man-to-man coverage in college.
To me, Vereen is a fringe NFL-caliber athlete who doesn't look like he'll ever be good enough to start. To make matters worse, the Bears gave Denver next year's fifth-round-pick in order to move up 25 slots to select Vereen, obtaining the 246th pick this year as a small consolation prize. I like that Emery grabbed a safety he likes; I just don't like Vereen as a prospect with the cost of trading up placing this firmly in the miss pile.
Grade: F+
QB David Fales
Pick: Round 6, #183 overall
Height/Weight: 6'2", 212 lbs.
College: San Jose State
Analysis: Much has been made of Emery's study finding that no late-round quarterback drafted since 2005 has been developed into a full-time starter. That remains true. I don't think anyone in any front office expects Fales to develop into a regular starter. That says almost nothing about this pick. Fales should push Jordan Palmer for the #2 job this year and have the ability to stick as an in-house #2 option. Fales throws for good accuracy, but his arm strength is somewhere in between Juan Pierre and Craig Krenzel. Still, it's nice to find a sixth-rounder who is very likely to make the roster.
Grade: B-
P Pat O'Donnell
Pick: Round 6, #191 overall
Height/Weight: 6'4", 220 lbs.
College: Miami (FL)
Analysis: Many folks despise using a draft pick on a specialist, and I myself suggested that it wasn't worth it just 40 hours before the draft started. With that in mind, I can't give this pick a tremendous grade.
But I can love Pat O'Donnell. He is a near-lock to make the team and O'Donnell is a tremendous athlete who ran a 4.53 40 at the Combine. That's not a misprint. His highlight video shows him making some fantastic tackles. Obviously that's not why he was drafted, but it does convey even a bit more of the organizational focus on finding athletes. Anyway, O'Donnell has a huge leg and the team desperately needed a punter. They have traditionally focused on specialists and hopefully this can make a weakness into a position of strength. More on O'Donnell in a bit.
Grade: C
OT Charles Leno Jr.
Pick: Round 7, #246 overall
Height/Weight: 6'4", 303 lbs.
College: Boise State
Analysis: Offensive tackle was the one remaining spot on the roster where a rookie stands a reasonable chance of making the team. As such, why not take a flier on a late-round guy?
Leno appears to have strong agility for a man his size but I'm not convinced about his strength. He does look like he might be a better fit a guard, but it's too early to make such a decision on him. For now, suffice it to say that Leno will have a chance to make the team.
Grade: C
Closing Thoughts
As of today, this looks like an excellent draft from Emery. The only position of significant need that he did not address was tight end, and even that was a wise decision as this draft simply did not feature enough draftable tight ends. Of the eight draftees, the first seven all stand excellent odds of making the team. That's efficient use of the picks, especially considering that each pick was drafted in an appropriate spot.
To me, Emery managed a nice balance of acquiring talent to help the 2014 team while also adding pieces who have plenty of projection to grow into real contributors. Overall, I'd give him a B+ for a very strong draft.
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