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Maybe. While I agree that Nelson is plug and play and Edmunds will take a minute to develop, I'm not sure that you can't get better OL later in the draft than playmaking defenders. Either will upgrade our team a lot.

So the Bears have re-signed CB Marcus Cooper and long snapper Patrick Scales. I think we will probably see 2 OL and at least one pick on the defensive front seven in our first four picks. We could use another body at safety and WR, but the front seven and the OL are the obvious places that still need upgrades. I wouldn't be shocked to see us take 3 OL if you include the 5th round or later.

When I've seen Equanimeous St Brown available in the 4th on these mock simulators, Ive taken him. He wont be there of course. I don't disagree about the WRs, but by the time you get to the 4th, there's no one I really want, and I love the idea of 2 x OL and an impact first rounder on D. If we get Edmunds, and a good OL with 1 and 2, that'd be great. If theres another OL available in the 4th worth having, or a DE, so much the better.

And here is with no trades... R1 P8 Tremaine Edmunds ILB R2 P7 Billy Price C/OG R4 P5 Orlando Brown OT (again willing to take a flyer on a top talent with issues with a later pick) R4 P15 Isaac Yiadom CB R5 P8 Kyzir White S R6 P7 Hercules Mataafa OLB/Edge R7 P6 Eddy Pineiro K This would also be a great draft.

I don't think the game is very realistic, but it's fun! I traded from 8 to 11 with Miami, and again from 11 to 13 with Washington, picking up a 2nd round pick each time. R1 P13 Tremaine Edmunds ILB R2 P7 Billy Price OG R2 P10 Tyrell Crosby OT R2 P12 Arden Key DE (with three 2nd rounders, I was willing to take a chance on his character) R4 P5 Isaac Yiadom CB R4 P15 Kyzir White S R5 P8 Will Clapp C/OG R6 P7 Auden Tate WR R7 P6 John Atkins DT That would be beyond incredible.

I don't disagree, but imagine where we will be after the 2019 draft... I still want Edmunds, even if Nelson is there. And then a OG or OT in the 2nd.

QUOTE (Mongo3451 @ Mar 26 2018, 08:29 PM) Truly we have holes to fill, but I believe we have less than you think. Looking at what we picked up will help Trubisky, Trubisky will help the OL. Plus, the OL will have a healthy Long and a years growth for the younger guys. Greater TOP instantly helps the D. Scoring more points helps on a belll curve. If we can hit on White and Merideth the offense is looking great. I'm expecting a heavy defensive draft with an OL pick. If we hit on a couple of defenders, we are competing. Please pardon any typos. I can barely see on this phone. I do think we have crossed over the threshold where we might win more games than we lose, or are right at 8-8. We are definitely getting better. But I'm just saying we will still have some holes. Not saying they will be fatal. Leno and Massie might be serviceable for example, but I'd still call them holes in the sense that they arent a positive force at their positions, just holding the fort down. I think that's where we are on OG, OT x 2, OC, DE, OLB, ILB, S and possibly CB. 2-3 players will get drafted to fill those holes at the level I'm speaking of, but we have 4 holes at least, so I think we won't be fully complete.

The Bears have a lot of holes left to fill, and they won't be able to fill them all through the draft. The Bears will probably sign a couple more free agents before the draft. Here are the positions we still need a player in, not in order of necessity: DE, OLB, ILB, S, CB OC/OG, OT, WR The first draft pick is going to solidify one of those positions. It will either go to the offensive line, or to the defense. If it goes offense, it will be Quentin Nelson OG from ND. He would be a force, and a really good step toward building an OL that is probably the weakest unit on the team now. The other biggest weakness is LB. Unless you're ready to roll with Acho and Kwitkowski, you're going to want to put someone there. Travathan is getting older too. We saw how good the defense was for a moment when Travathan and Freeman were in there, and how porous it was when Freeman was out. When Travathan was out too, it was awful. The common wisdom on high defensive picks is to take pass rushers if possible, but playmakers are really what you want. Impact players who can change the game. If the Bears like one of the pass rushers, or a safety or corner as an impact player, and you get an Ed Reed, Richard Sherman or a dominant pass rusher to work with Floyd, then great. But Tremaine Edmunds is a real difference maker at the less sexy position of ILB, and that's a real need for us, both this year and going forward. Will Travathan be there in a couple years? Is Kwitkowski the MVP of Super Bowl 55? For a lot of reasons that have alread been discussed, Edmunds is a real option in the first round. So the first pick could go either way, and the second pick could go to the other side of the ball, Edmunds and an OG for example, or Nelson and a LB or DE. But it is just as likely we could double up. Nelson and an OT int he 2nd, or Edmunds and a pass rusher. My point here is that whatever we do, we will still have real holes. We have no pick int he 3rd round, but we have 2 in the 4th. Maybe Pace will hit on a player there, but unless he hits twice, we're gonna be short somewhere. OG, OT, ILB, DE are ALL needs. We are short a really good S too, and a young CB would be nice too. Maybe next year. So assuming we don't pull two 4th round rabbits out of the draft hat, we are still gong to be short. So the questions right now are: depth players like Acho, Kwitkowski, Bullard, Grasu and anyone on the OL vs. the free agent market at LB, DE & OL. We're gonna get a lot better after this draft, but we're still gonna be a few players short.

I think it's only fair that Phillips got sick from too many ups and downs due to the coaching choices he'd previously made, since we as fans had to do that too.

or at least the defensive front 7. I almost certainly would agree, except for what I see in Edmunds. I think he can be a crazy difference maker at ILB. Imagine having Urlacher there whenever you happen to be in cover 2, and then a beast of a man coverage guy when youre in man, AND a great spy on running QBs, which is more and more common, and hes a pretty good pass rusher too, especially when it's a surprise. I could imagine Fangio really coveting a player like that.

I agree with a lot of what's been said here. I'm just not sure that if Nelson, Chubb (Landry?) and Edmunds are there that Nelson would be the pick. He's awesome, but so is Edmunds.

Could be. Even if you're right about Kush though I think they will make another OL free agency move, for the sake of competition. I do agree they obviously arent that excited about any of the free agent OL that are left standing out vs any others. They'll probably pick one up after someone else signs one first and the prices fall. Ditto at DE. But you're right, the more significant moves will be in the draft, and unless it's Nelson, I think it'll be the second round pick. It is possible if an impact defender is still avail in the 2nd we will wait, but without a 3rd we wait until the 4th round, and that's a big drop off. Either way, we're going to be a couple good players short of a complete team this year. I think we will take Edmunds at ILB, which will be GREAT in the 1st. But then in the 2nd we really need another player on D, at DE or OLB AND we need OL. I think we will take best player available of Edge Rusher/OLB, DE or OL. And then we are fishing in the 4th to answer a few remaining needs. We will be a couple players short this year, but we are that close to being a complete team, and we oughtta be looking much better. The actual "window" opens in 2019. Exciting to be so close. This will be a fun team to root for. 9-7 would be awesome.

for sure. a center could shift Whitehair to OG. There are a lot of ways to improve the line, and that's another reason why waiting for bargains in free agency makes sense. But I think we need an OG/OC AND an OT. We'll see what happens... I dont think we are going to take Nelson, if Chubb or Edmunds is there too.

Yeah they are! I like him already!

So I was gonna reply "Gabriel plays in the slot" cuz, like, everyone KNOWS he is a slot receiver. And I went to find some kind of link to cite it, and discovered that not only was I wrong, but that the misconception is widely thought to be true. So in case anyone else missed it like I did... https://247sports.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/B...ot-WR-106432377

I agree. We are a few pieces short of a real team. It's been a long time since that was true.

we have 2 picks in the 4th, but no 3rd rounder.

We're not done on the OL. In free agency I think we are at that point where there are a bunch of equally rated players around, and no one wants to be first to pay one. Pace is smart to bide his time. I also think that we will probably be taking an OG or OT in the 2nd round. Don't sleep on the OT position, no ones talking about it, but we may be looking there more than OG. I see at least 2 more players coming at OL before the draft and free agency are over.

I sure do like what I see from Tremaine Edmunds. If he is in the middle, I think he can do a lot of things for us, and Fangio would know just how to use him. In zone defense, he'd be another Urlacher, and imagine how much more effective that would be when we arent in cover 2 all the time. In man, he clearly has the skills to stay with TEs and even slot receivers. In this day and age of college running QBs, he is a spy too. He has the speed and tackling ability to shut that down in a hurry. And hes long enough for pass rush and as sure an open field tackler as Ive ever seen. He would be an excellent chess piece for Fangio.

well said, but not for Landry and a swap of first rounders too. You probably agreed when you said "something good in return"

Im not predicting that he will fall, Im saying, you play a game at #8, about which 8 players might get taken - not what you predict, but just every scenario. And if he falls to 8, then everyone would assume we werent interested and the team at 9 could pretty much know hed be available. So teams trading up would do business with them. Now we have insurance against that possibility. If the QBs all fall and everyone we think we're going to take goes first and no QBs go, were also screwed, but theres no lie we can tell to protect against that, becasue eveyrone knows theres no way we would be shopping Trublisky. So that's 4 out of the 8 possibles, 3 QBs and Barkley. Thats all Im saying, I totally agree he wont make it to 8, and I assume Pace knows that too. Still, it's a smart move to make. It also means that epople assume we're going WR with 8 too, if we need one SO bad that we'd trade Howard, so if say we have our eyes on a pass rusher, having done this smokescreen makes it less likely that a team who wants a pass rusher at 9, leapfrogs us to 7 to get him. that's all Im saying.

Howard isnt a change of pace back tho. Otherwise, all good points.

This is a smokescreen. They're thinking Barkley may fall, and they want people to think we aren't happy with Howard, so teams will think they may have to trade up with us if he's there. I'm sure it's part of a "top 8 players" game they are playing, and looking at how the board might fall. I wouldnt give it much thought. It's ALMOST plausible, but Landry isn't actually that good.

I just watched the Saquon Barkley highlight reel. I have to admit I hadnt seen him before. Damn he is a nasty runner. Wow.

Can you imagine the bears landing 4 players of that caliber? wow.