AZ54

All I know so far is my rumor mill says Bears will be here at Cardinals on 23 Sep.

No need to worry about a practice squad guy who was going nowhere as a DT. At best he shows some promise at OG and makes the practice squad again. At worst someone else who is better makes the practice squad at OG.

It's not just smoking some marijuana. It's got to be really bad for a person to need help with an addiction. Beyond those concerns I just see him as a player who makes the easy plays. He rarely dominates the competition. Is that a result of his addiction issues hurting his desire? Perhaps. Assume he cleaned up before the 2017 season, and of course he also had that offseason shoulder surgery impacting his start to the 2017 season. But starting there and finishing the season, it is logical to assume if he's got his head on right that he's working full speed toward being a 1st Rd draft pick. Then he refused to work out at the Combine, followed by a 4.85 forty weeks later at his Pro Day. I'm not opposed to giving people second chances (so to speak since this is his first NFL draft), but for me these things all point to a guy who still doesn't have his act together. Or perhaps, as is his playing style, he simply does not love the game. Compare Key to someone like Josh Sweat who has worked very hard to recover from his knee injury and has outstanding athletic ability. I don't know the medical prognosis on Sweat's knee but assume it is decent enough that he'll play 4-5 years perhaps with some limited snaps as a 3rd down pass rusher. If I had to take a risk on one of these two players in Rd 2/3 I'd go with Sweat every time figuring I can at least get some exceptional play during his first contract.

It's hard to really know for sure but there are plenty of rumors out there about his drug addiction and going to rehab. https://www.secrant.com/rant/sec-football/arden-key/68713966/ https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/lsu/2017/02/15/lsu-star-de-arden-key-taking-leave-football/9795989 http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2018/04/lsu_de_arden_key_wont_help_bei.html http://www.profootballweekly.com/2018/04/05/way-we-hear-it-concern-over-lsus-arden-key-starts-with-his-outside-influences/aekqxhp/ That kind of approach almost never works in this kind of scrutinizing climate. It turned out that Key's disappearance in the spring was to check himself into rehab for a marijuana problem, Pro Football Weekly reported. Key returned to school after the rehab and was suspended for another failed drug test. That part of the story wasn't as concerning to teams as another choice Key made while he was isolated from the team, the report stated. Against the words of his team doctors, Key had his shoulder operated on. The school later looked at the shoulder and determined it was not a successful surgery, per the report.

I'm still not that high on him. Is he really going to be more dedicated to his craft when he's a millionaire? It's hard to see that happening. If we were adding him to a solid group and could take a chance it might be different but we must get it right on the OLB we draft.

I think it did come down in part to Meredith's ability to be ready for training camp. We have an entirely new offense and he's still relatively new the WR role. Then you have Meredith saying he thinks he'll be ready for training camp (paraphrasing what I've read). If he can't practice this offseason or in training camp how much will he really contribute during the season? It's really hard to play catch up with such a limited practice schedule during the regular season unless you already know the offense.

Why are you drafting two RTs? There's either a CB or WR there for the taking that should have better upside than Moore in the 5th.

He's been doing it for 10 years or more (going back to his college days). How could we not think he'd be a pain in the ass when Robinson gets healthy and Dez gets less snaps?

He absolutely can play some DE. Vea is a powerful beast but he's also quick, even in lateral movements. That lateral movement skill is where he differs from Goldman who has decent quickness for his size when he's moving forward. Vea does not have great endurance, but that's partly because of his body type. In college Washington used him all over the defensive front and as games wore on he was less effective. However, put him in the rotation and he will handle some early down snaps at DE, he'll be first backup for Goldman at NT, and can spell Hicks as well. Plus we will mix in some Bullard or RRH on passing downs. That much depth in a defensive front allows rotating DTs/DE's out on downs or for a series and it will make them incredibddddddly tough. Last year it was obvious HIcks was wearing out late in games, but he was playing a ton of snaps. Get Vea in the rotation and remove about 10-15% of Hicks snaps and he'll be even more effective. We'd be doing the same for Goldman. When Goldman, Hicks, and Vea have fresh legs each has plenty of pass rush. Our ILB will only worry about off-tackle runs so play action up the middle won't be as effective. I think the OLB will be shading a bit more to outside too having to worry less about the inside gap. That helps pass rush off the edge. In an odd way it's the opposite version of what our Oline could become if we draft Nelson. If you can take away or control something on the field, like the interior rush lanes, it simplifies what everyone else in back is concentrating on. Beast out on one interior line or the other.

Interesting signing. Young WR with some upside potential who can challenge White or a 3rd/4th Rd rookie for reps. We'll have 3 WRs on relatively equal footing albeit for different reasons. With his special teams experience Fowler could end up replacing Bellamy if White and the rookie are looking good and we keep 5 WRs. I think that's quite possible for a team that says it wants to run 3 TE sets often, plus having a guy like Cohen on the roster. Robinson, Gabriel, (White, Fowler, rookie) Bellamy.

Another Pro Bowl player on the roster would make some of the roster weak spots less visible on Sundays. If Robinson lights it up then Gabriel will be more effective. I feel the same way about putting Tremaine Edmunds in the middle of the D. A lot of little things should be harder for offenses to take advantage of. Add QNelson to the Oline and ,while our OTs aren't perfect Trubisky should always have a nice place to step forward and out of harms way, and the running lanes might be ridiculously big at times. Add Saquon Barkley and everyone else on offense looks better, except of course Jordan Howard because he won't be here. Of course if Trubisky develops as we hope he'd have a similar effect.

He's said to be working on learning how to run routes this offseason. That's not something you want to hear from a veteran WR. We already have Kevin White doing the same but with a better attitude. Then there is the fit among Robinson and Gabriel. It seems we need someone who can be more slot/outside WR who lines up on the same side as Gabriel, which I expect means someone who is going to run a wide variety of routes, and probably a WR with good quickness in/out of cuts for the slot. If we didn't have Robinson perhaps Dez would fill a need. I'll say we pass with Bryant's deficiencies, attitude, and his price tag as a bad fit for Trubisky in this offense. It was just last year Dez missed the start of training camp because he threw a party for his home town. http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article163049643.html

I will say this about Pace's decision on Meredith. With the original round tender he bought himself an extra month of time to evaluate his recovery from the knee injury. Maybe the signing of Gabriel should have been the clear signal of concerns about Meredith? To me it seemed more logical to bank on Meredith with Robinson and grab a fast slot WR type in the draft, which are easier to come by in the later rounds. With that tender he managed to hang onto Meredith long enough to get him back at Halas Hall with the Bears trainers for several days of work. I think at the end of the day that evaluation had to play a big part of the decision. If the injury concern was so high early on they could have simply left Meredith as an unrestricted FA and not even bothered with the $2mil tender. Technically the Bears could still have matched any offer Meredith received, it just wouldn't guarantee he'd stay. Pace hedged his bet with low enough risk and got some extra time to get more data on his recovery. I'll be watching Cam's numbers this season to see if he was right.

I'd be ok trading back to 12 and adding a 3rd Rd pick but I wouldn't move back any further. At 12 we can still get a player with excellent potential. Drop back to 23 and that becomes less clear. In this scenario if Nelson and Chubb are both gone yet Buffalo wants to pick at #8 so it means the last of the top 4 QBs remains on the board. Who are the other 4 players taken in the top 7: Barkley for sure, Edmunds, Ward, one of Fitzpatrick/James. We pick at 12 so knowing Buffalo takes the last top QB at 8, who gets taken at 9, 10, and 11? If Edmunds is gone I'd guess at 9 the 49ers grab whoever is left of Fitzpatrick/James. At 10 the Raiders take Roquan Smith. At 11 we have Miami and here is where the draft takes on a different persona because other than Vea, who might not be a fit in their scheme or needs their isn't any one player standing above the rest. I'll say they take Davenport to improve their pass rush. With #12 the Bears take Vea and nobody can run against the Bears front line for the next 4 years. Or the Dolphins take Vea and we take Davenport. If we don't take one of those two options, with player grades being relatively level at this point in the 1st Rd, we can choose from Ridley, Da'Ron Payne, Landry, or Jaire Alexander, Mike Hughes. Behind that group the question marks start getting bigger quickly. Just my opinion but looking at several draft boards I'd prefer to stay top 15 if we trade down from 8.

It's an unusual year because the 4th Rd presents a lot of good options for us. More typically it seems we're saying grab the player who falls out of the 3rd Rd. I'd like to stay at #8 at least until we sees who available. A trade back in the 2nd Rd of just 7-10 spots should net an additional 4th Rd pick and that could really help fill out the roster.

I liked Cam and was hoping, even expecting we'd match. I think he has the potential to be a solid #2 WR. I don't know his medical status and his availability for this season although I expected it would be no problem. In the course of the 5 days I expect Pace was in touch with agents for some of the FA WRs who are still out there and he has a good idea who he can bring in for depth and for how much money. He might have to wait a bit for their money to come down to match his price. Perhaps now that he's got his draft board put together he's confident he can find similar performance for a lot less money. When I say similar performance we have to keep in mind two things: New scheme and Meredith's fit and 2) His injury recovery prospects. I can't speak to either but Nagy has. Look at a few of the projected WR names available in Rds 4-6: Trequan Smith, Simmie Cobbs Jr., Allen Lazard, JMon Moore, Deontay Burnett, Daurice Fountain, Jaleel Scott, Auden Tate Adding someone like Deontay Burnett would pair well with the speed we already have on the roster.

GIven all the effort to surround Trubisky with weapons I'll be very surprised if we don't match the offer for Cam. Relying on either Kevin White or a rookie WR doesn't fit with that. I'd say if we don't match the offer, it indicates a significant concern over his injury recovery

First, New England has a ton of holes to fill so I'd be surprised to see them give up those picks. Two, because of all the QB focus this is not a normal draft where the 8th pick doesn't get you a blue chip type player. For us to trade back that far and walk away from that opportunity, and many others such as Davenport, they need to offer us a lot more than the normal point value.

Seems to be on most draft boards. We could also have Brandon Parker here too, Chukwuma Okorafor, or maybe Desmond Harrison (talented head-case who I'm less high on).

We're just a couple weeks out so I figured I'd put together my mock draft. I used position rankings from http://nfldraftscout.com/position-rankings/ . 1/8 Tremaine Edmunds ILB He combines with Trevathan to give us outstanding defense in the middle of the field, and spends some time at OLB. 2/39 Billy Price OC Move Whitehair back to LG. Price is stout up front, let's keep the pocket clean in front of Trubisky so he can step up when needed, and run Howard up the middle. 4/105 Kemoko Turay OLB He's got all the athletic talent to be a stud pass rusher. Can he overcome his injury history? 4/115 Jamarco Jones OT Backup for a year and replaces Massie at RT next year. 5/145 Allen Lazard WR Insurance against Meredith/White. 6/181 Michael Joseph CB Talented, hard working kid from a small school and I really like how he plays the game. 7/224 Ryan Nall RB/FB/H-back At 6' 2" 232lbs, he has some versatility to his game and good hands, if he plays well I could see him replacing FB Burton on the roster, or just being stashed on the practice squad for a year.

Looks like the Bears are also interested in Nall.... https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2018/4/9/17215810/chicago-bears-meeting-ryan-nall-oregon-state-nfl-draft-prospect-udfa-h-back-fullback-running-back

I agree he's not perfect but offers a lot of versatility. I link to highlights films simply because it's easier to compare the best of each RB and it made the point that Howard had zero receiving highlights downfield. I prefer to watch full game film to see the bad plays as well as the good to really evaluate a player, and have done that on Penny. He was better than I expected and since we're moving to more of a spread system I think he'll fit in well even on the inside runs. I also think Jordan Howard will be very productive running in the new offense. That will make play action very effective which bodes well for a team that wants to start using RPOs but a LB won't worry about him if he doesn't stay in to pass protect. I'm of the view that we don't need to find a replacement for Howard and there are many other positions where we could upgrade that would help the team more overall. Yet, we don't know how Nagy feels about it and how the lack of a good receiving threat out of the backfield could, or could not, limit the offense. It became clear how important he felt having a good receiving TE was when we spent all that money on Trey Burton. Yes, I'd like to add Penny to the backfield, not so hot on moving on from Howard but I'd accept and understand it if it happens. As far as route running almost all college RBs will have to learn this because few do much of it. Not much different from the QBs so often coming from spread offenses. and we might as well toss in all the WRs and Oline coming from spread offenses too. Even Saquon Barkley ran a very simple route package at Penn St. That whole offense at Penn St. looked like something you see in high school. We just have to see if the ability is there and then assume our coaches can refine them.

Adding Ryan Nall to my list. Productive inside runner who can catch. He's not very elusive but has great strength, balance, and drive after contact. Expected to be a UDFA but he's a guy I wouldn't mind keeping around on the practice squad.

Howard is not a receiver who catches well while he's running. Most of his receptions are when he runs out and stops to look back at the QB. We can go to the 2017 highlights to see his big catches from last year. I can save you some time by telling you there isn't one. I'd love add Rashaad Penny to our RB group. His highlights, in addition to KRs for TDs, and PRs, adds catches down field like the ones at the 5:00 mark, 8:00 mark, 8:30, and again at 9:50. If there is a trade to be made with the Giants it might not be Rd 1. I could see the Giants giving us their 3rd Rd pick for Howard plus we swap picks in the 2nd Rd. For a 3rd Rd pick the Giants get a proven 1000 yard rusher, one who can finish in the red zone. That's talent they won't be assured of finding in Rd 3. For the Bears Pace can grab Penny in Rd 2, then in the 3rd have options of WR St. Brown, OC Ragnow, OT Tyrell Crosby could still be on the board, CB Anthony Averette.

What's the mistake? Pace could have definitely had him for 1yr at $2.9 mil. Everyone knows nobody was going to give up a 2nd Rd pick for Meredith so that option was on the table for Pace. Now for just $5mil guaranteed we get Meredith for 2 years. If he does not return to form after the knee injury then we lost an extra $2mil to find out. If he does, then at $5mil/yr he's a bargain for 2 years. If he does return to form after one year Pace can offer him a new longer term deal next year when he might be much cheaper than he could be after two years. I don't see any way Pace wasn't expecting this type of a contract for Meredith, or even hoping it would happen.