With Roquan Smith on board, the Bears' draft picture has cleared up in a major way...in that they won't draft another inside linebacker. Huh, that's it? Actually, I suppose that the forecast wasn't cleared up all that much.
The team's biggest positional needs remain at outside linebacker, wide receiver, cornerback, offensive line (the exact position is flexible), and defensive end. The team's biggest overall needs remain starting-caliber bodies and depth. It likely goes without saying that I'd love to see the Bears trade down from #39 tomorrow night. Unlike my pipe dream of Ryan Pace trading back in the 1st round, there's a reasonably good chance that he'll trade down tomorrow night: last year, Pace dropped from #36 to #45, picking up two 4th rounders in the process and improving his 7th into a 6th a year after picking up two 4th rounders for dropping from #41 to #49 before dropping again to #56, picking up an additional 4th rounder in the process. For a team that remains light on depth, such a move would be ideal, especially given the lack of a 3rd round pick tomorrow thanks to last year's Trubisky trade.
For this exercise, however, I'm going to presume that Pace stays put at #39.
Thankfully, the board has broken as well as could be hoped for the Bears.
The two positions of most glaring need are outside linebacker and wide receiver. Leonard Floyd, Aaron Lynch, and Sam Acho project as the rotation outside. Floyd is extremely injury prone, Lynch has 2.5 sacks total over the past two years, and Acho played each of the last three seasons on minimum salary deals. This need is glaring. Wide receiver isn't all that much prettier where the unplayable Josh Bellamy is 4th on the depth chart with two of the three wideouts ahead of him having missed nearly all of 2017 due to injury. Gulp. The defensive backfield needs another playable body or two while the offensive line need can be filled flexibly with a tackle prospect sliding in at guard or a center pushing Cody Whitehair back to guard.
There are some seriously strong options at #39, many of whom would have the opportunity to challenge for playing time on opening day. Here's my preference list for the pick:
1. OLB Arden Key (LSU)
----- This presumes that the front office is comfortable with Key. They're almost certainly not, so this is mostly a dream for another world.
2. OLB Harold Landry (Boston College)
----- Landry doesn't have Key's immense athleticism, but he's quick and insanely flexible. It might take him some time to grow into an every day role, but the Bears would be able to utilize his pass rushing skills immediately while he does that growing.
3. G Will Hernandez (UTEP)
----- I like him just as much as Quenton Nelson. So sue me.
4. C James Daniels (Iowa)
----- He should be a great fit for the interior of the line in Matt Nagy's offense given his impressive quickness.
5. OLB Rasheem Green (USC)
----- Crazy athletic, quite raw.
6. CB Holton Hill (Texas)
----- He's got that Tillman-esque build that I love.
7. WR Christian Kirk (Texas A&M)
----- He's grown on me over the past few months. He's got the quick-twitch movements to be a stud.
8. WR Courtland Sutton (SMU)
----- He's got the big frame and strong hands to be a plus receiver. He didn't have to play much in traffic or even regularly high-point the ball, but there's a dead homeless man's Alshon in there somewhere.
9. CB Isaiah Oliver (Colorado)
----- He might need a year or two to get outside, but he can help in the slot in the interim while developing his technique. The size/speed combo is there and it's tough to find.
10. G/C Austin Corbett (Nevada)
----- He's like Cody Whitehair 2.0.
11. CB Josh Jackson (Iowa)
----- I still don't know if he's fast enough to make it work.
11 is enough prospects for tonight. I do love Maurice Hurst and think that he'll make a fine pro. I just don't think he'll do it in a 3-4.
No comments:
Post a Comment