AZ54

The biggest problem with Montgomery catching the football was that we didn't have a good QB at Iowa State for most of his career. That changed midway through the season when we started the true freshman from my current home town (Gilbert, AZ). I had to rewind the the game on the DVR when that flashed by on the screen. Anyway, I've seen him catch a few passes but even I have to rely on the scouting reports (and Nagy/Pace) for how good his receiving skills are.

He'll never be your home run hitter but he'll be the one who keeps the offense in 3rd and short.

At 215lbs he is not small and he does not go down easily. Defenders often need to bring a posse to bring him down. His short choppy stride limits his long speed but it's also what gets him excellent balance, even with contact, and quickness in his cuts. One of his draft profiles: https://thedraftnetwork.com/prospect-rankings Always comes into contact low, hot, and with the intent to knock someone's teeth out. Can drag tacklers or straight up run through second and third level defenders with excellent leg drive and natural leverage.

There are multiple plays here that Howard just could not make. What he did against W. Virginia around 2-4min mark was impressive.

I've been watching him for two years. He can do a little of everything except hit the long run. He ran behind a poor Oline but still got positive gains out of nothing. We'll see him jump cut and hit holes that Howard would need 2-3 steps to hit. That said I'm surprised we traded up for him as I expected we'd either draft someone with more speed, or just grab one of the RBBC types later in the draft. Pace must have had a solid 2nd Rd grade on him. I'll add this: If Nagy and Trubisky can get the passing game going consistently then Montgomery will feast on the light box defenses he'll see. His top speed is similar to Howard's but he's quicker.

3rd Rd - TE, RB (if the right one is there and really thats Henderson or Montgomery), and S. I'm typing this as Josh Oliver just came off hte board (I'm happy because I don't like him at least not in the 3rd).

I'd be happy with this draft.

It's just that with Nagy's offense I have a preference for adding a TE who can better help as a receiver.

I'm not a big fan of Josh Oliver. He's too much of a straight line player and IMO we already have someone like him in Shaheen.

I'm thinking this is where Pace is at. He'll take someone somewhere but won't force it. I tend to think however that he's closely eyeing Rodney Anderson and Bryce Love. If Pace and Nagy are content with Nall filling Howard's spot then they will be content to draft an injured 1st Rd talent and allow him to recover fully and then work his way into the rotation. Why not swing for the fences in the 4th or 5th Rd? If we have Nall in place then really we're looking at 2019 and 2020 draft classes to find our next RB. If either one recovers to what they were beforehand then we're in a pretty good spot heading into the playoff push. IMO Love has to be in an RBBC rotation anyway as I don't think he'll consistently sustain more than 15-18 carries a game at the NFL level. I know what Anderson's injuries were but I don't know if these were all Kevin White type issues or if the film shows he got his body wedged into a really bad spot when the injury happened. I think his knee injury was a non-contact injury on a cut.

I suspect Robbie will take a bit less to be back home with the kids. Quite a bit less. The Bears can't say anything or they are tampering. Lynch has to do something this weekend. He's heading into his 3rd season and it's time to start winning. Does he draft a kicker in the 7th? If he waits until after the draft the top UDFA kickers might not want to go to SF because there's still a chance Gould comes back. If he drafts a kicker then his leverage with Gould evaporates as does his trade leverage with teams around the league. Plus he's now looking at only getting a 2020 pick in exchange. Meanwhile Pace has gained the rights to 3 of the best FA kickers. When that phone rings on day 3 of the draft I'm pretty sure Pace says absolutely no to Lynch's first offer.

It's hard to watch these highlights, especially the receptions, and not wonder what Matt Nagy is thinking. Much of his highlights are against top competition, not the lesser programs Devin Singletary looks good against. The health concerns are real so I doubt we'd draft him in the 3rd Rd. I think we must add at least one player who can contribute somewhere, even if as a reliable depth player who could handle a starting role (OG, CB, S, TE). But in the 4th Rd I could forgive Pace for a taking chance on Anderson. Rodney Anderson vs. Roquan Smith...

He's an interesting prospect but he's not anywhere close to the athlete Aaron Donald is. In the NFL, once he gets in shape for it, he'll be a two-gap player who occasionally will take advantage of a mistake by the OG to get upfield for a big play. I think Nichols was better as a prospect because of his height and length.

I'm not big on Ximines he runs too hot and cold for my likes in the 3rd Rd. In the 4th maybe. Other than that I like the picks. This is the first time I've seen Nauta mentioned because I haven't done a ton of research on TEs. I like him especially in the 5th Rd.

Hard to see how a 3rd Rd pick costs too much, unless you're talking opportunity cost.

unsigned FA: Ndamukong Suh, Wilkerson, Ansah, Jernigan and more. I don't know what's left in the tank for many of them but we could find some help at least as a depth/rotation player if we wanted to. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/defensive-line/

Sanders I was high on but his fumbling problems make me nervous and so I lean more toward Henderson in the 3rd Rd. Singletary's lack of explosiveness is worriesome at the NFL level. It's one thing for a bigger back like Barnes to lack explosiveness because he has the strength to run through tackles. I feel like Singletary will be the second coming of Mizzell although he's quicker in his cuts. Beyond those few it's just a bunch of guys who all offer a slightly different twist but can be productive in RBBC roles. There has been little discussion of Justice Hill here. He's fast and can hit the home run at any time but when I watched him in a game he tends to run into traffic too often for my liking. For a smaller RB you'd like to see him take the soft edge on tacklers. That lack of vision is concerning for me. That said, he should still be in the mix for us on day 3.

Nichols had quite a few splash plays but he also got moved around off the LOS a lot last year. I like his future potential and he's definitely in the rotation but he has things to improve upon.

Interior Oline help is a definite possibility in the draft. I'm not a fan of Ted Larsen at all but I give him credit because he's 32 and has managed to scrape together a decent NFL career given his talent. We still have plenty of cap space and if we go through the draft without picking someone at OG then I think Pace picks up another FA veteran who gets cut after the draft. That could happen at S or CB. Last year in the draft he avoided reaching for OLB help when the draft didn't fall his way. Any way we slice up the picks having 4 in the top 150 adds good depth a several positions.

I'd love to see Pace draft him in the 3rd Rd. I don't view DE as a big need, much like I don't view OG as big need. There is some depth there but adding a player like Tillery would make our Dline stupid good. How do you even run against that front with fast ILBs in Trevathan and Smith right behind them. We've had some good defenses since 1985/6 seasons and they always get compared to that team but haven't measured up. IMO adding Tillery to this front 7 could put this defense in that category.

It's an unusual year without a pick in the first two rounds. I have to believe an extensive amount of work goes into grading players in the top 75. This year without the worry of sorting out all those players in great detail I expect they're spending more time focused on the players in the second half of the draft and in particular the potential UDFAs. Pace has often excelled in this part of the draft. With that in mind here's a plan to add 4 players in the top 150. Pace will wait to see who falls to him but if he doesn't find a target who falls to him (perhaps Hooker, Henderson, Sanders) I could see him trading back to the late 3rd Rd. Based on the trade value chart at Draftek if he drops back past 95 overall (NYG, NE, CAR, JAX) he can pick up another 4th Rd pick. Using the Giants at 95 we could get #132 in the 4th Rd. We then sit at 95, 126, 132, 162 (5th). It's not widely talked about but we're sitting with the following 2020 picks: 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th Two of the 5th are conditional but even if we have just one we still have 9 picks next year. I suspect Pace uses them to get another pick in the top 150. Using the Giants again we give them #162 and one of next year's 5th Rd picks to move up to #143 near the top of the 5th Rd. Now we have 95, 126, 132, and 143 plus our two 7th Rd picks. Let's go get some players This year's draft rankings have prospects all over the place. For RBs David Montgomery is either a solid 2nd Rd pick and the 2nd best back in the draft of he's a late 3rd Rd pick. I'll use a combination of Great Blue North rankings, Draft Network, NFL.com, Gil Brandt's top 150 and Drafttek. Nothing too scientific I just want some confidence a player will be available where I'm picking them. 95: TE Jace Sternberger Two years in a row Nagy has been knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. In both games he lost his main TE target. I'm betting he wants a little more insurance against that happening again in 2019. Shaheen remains a question mark at this point. 126: RB Trayveon Williams Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He fits the versatility Nagy wants in his RBs and he joins the RBBC. 132: CB David Long He's our future starter at NB. 5'11" and under 200lbs but with 4.45 forty, 6.45s 3-cone, and 39" vertical he has the explosiveness you want inside. 143: S Malik Gant He has some limitations in coverage but he's sticky early on routes and he's a solid player in run support. Loves to hunt down the ball carrier and paired with Eddie Jackson covering things over the top he could develop into a solid starter. 222: OLB Justin Hollins Floyd-like quickness and speed. Floyd-like strength. He needs to spend a year in that new weight room at Halas Hall. If he dedicates himself to his craft he has all the athletic traits to develop into a starter but he should at least be a good backup. 238: S Nick Scott Why not add another S to the mix. He likes to hit and he has 4.4 speed so he should be able to compete for snaps on kick coverage. He has limited experience (1yr starter) but he could challenge for starting snaps down the road.

I don't think Davis is anything more than 1 year insurance policy to make sure we have good depth at RB, but not a #1. It's all RBBC and I have to think Nall is part of the plan here too. If that's correct Pace can grab a RB anywhere if the value is right, and he can even afford to take a chance on an injury risk like Love or Anderson on Day 3.

I like that draft.

That's a name I haven't heard in a long long time. Sorry to hear the tragic news but it's good to think about the memories.

He's ok and as a pick late in the draft he can fill a role but I doubt he'll ever be more than a #2 if not a #3. I don't think he's much different from Davis. We just paid Davis $3mil guaranteed. Rd 6/7 you can toss in Jalin Moore (App St) as a similar prospect. Myles Gaskin too but offers more power inside, Matt Colburn is a more compact version of Henderson with a bit less speed, and on the bigger side Alex Barnes.