AZ54

I said a couple months back that we should do this, and I'm still on board with making this happen. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2018/02/28/b...-eddie-goldman/

He should be remembered as one of the great Bears RBs. I do mean great, not just good. He wasn't flashy in his running style but his ability to beat teams via the run or pass for many years was elite. Plus he was productive for a long time and that's hard to do at the RB position. He finished as the 2nd best RB in total yards gained for us, ~2500 yards more than Anderson, ending his career with a 4.2ypc average. Plus he finished 7th in Bears history among receivers. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/team...r-receiving.htm https://www.pro-football-reference.com/team...eer-rushing.htm Through it all he was always a professional and represented the organization with class.

If Cleveland drafts #1 Darnold, then at #4 say they trade back with AZ at #15 picking up (#15 + #47 + AZ 1st Rd next year) so Arizona can draft Allen. Cleveland ends the first two rounds of the draft with Darnold #1, Ridley WR #15, Rankin OT #33, Leighton Vanderesche LB #35, Sony Michel RB #47, Kevin Tolliver CB #64. In 2019 they draft again with two 1st Rd picks. I don't think they'll miss Barkley that much.

Of course this was the hot topic in the owner's quest to find a new GM. It is the most important position in the NFL. I've seen some people say that, or at least put in some mocks, Cleveland can just grab whoever is left at #4. There is negligible difference between #1 and #4. I think that's wrong and given what they've allowed to happen with their high picks the last two seasons they should absolutely take who they believe is the best QB prospect there and leave nothing to chance. Nor is there any other player who is a must have like they tried to do last year drafting Garrett first and then working to move up for Trubisky. Grab best QB prospect and then one of Barkley, Chubb, or Nelson and they had a very good draft. From our viewpoint (not needing a QB) they all have question marks that somewhat level the playing field. One of them is Rosen's stated desire not to play in Cleveland. That just adds to the other questions I have about him and his attitude. If he ended up in Cleveland at #4 that would be a complete PR disaster. They must avoid that scenario at all costs. Josh Allen has been very inconsistent and inaccurate. Yet at the Senior Bowl he improved during the week quite a bit. Mayfield? Darnold had numerous questionable decisions this past season but he's still the prospect I like the most among this group. Among these 3 I can only see them taking Allen or Darnold.

That was his speed WR instead of Wheaton. Last year with a lame duck HC, plus the losing record, I can see why some FA stayed away. This year with a new HC should be different. Players will know these coaches want them for several years (if we're offering a multi-year deal).

I think McPhee was a good FA choice. Demps was mainly a 1yr stopgap. He largely prefers to fill out the roster with 2nd/3rd tier FAs with high salary (higher than we'd like to see) but minimal risk for the team. He's not afraid to go after some longer term deals either as he offered Jeffrey more than any other team, and likewise with Bouye last year. Neither wanted to be here.

I think the picks go: CLE Darnold (GM was hired to draft their QB and can't bypass the first chance at doing so, not even to take one at #4) NYG Rosen (I think Eli is nearly done even if they won't say it) IND Chubb CLE Saquon Barkley (no better friend for a rookie QB) DEN Josh Allen (Elway has to get a QB but I'm not sure Allen is it, I wouldn't be surprised if he trades up to take Rosen. If he gets Cousins then we'll see Nelson go here) JETS Baker Mayfield TB Marcus Davenport (there has to be one surprise ahead of us and pass rushing talent always moves up late) CHI Quenton Nelson with Tremaine Edmunds as option #2 ...and once again I don't see a safety, Fitzpatrick, going top 5, nor top 7.

All we know is that Mel doesn't know how to utilize any talent. They used Leonard Floyd in a similar way when he was there. The combine will go a long way to determine if Carter will be there for us in Rd 2 which is very likely. Rd 3 we don't have...yet. As edge rushers go, I think Kemoko Turay is a better prospect than Carter because he has shown better first step quickness. He has durability concerns that make grading him a challenge.

Just keep in mind Mel Tucker was his coach.

It seems Carter has moved up draft boards quite a bit ahead of the combine. I'm just linking one example but after seeing nobody talk about him in January his name now pops up quite a bit. http://draftanalyst.com/pre-combine-lineba...ds-taking-shape "Josey Jewell of Iowa, Georgia’s Lorenzo Carter and Darius Leonard of South Carolina State all grade as second-round values. I stand firm on my belief that Carter will end up in Round 1. Leonard comes off a tremendous showing at the Senior Bowl, although there is some concern that he may be unable to handle complex defensive schemes and must play in a simplified system, which will have an adverse effect on his stock."

This just got a bit more interesting. Jacksonville just signed Bortles to a 3yr contract extension. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000091...ar-54m-contract Robinson reportedly does not like Bortles as his QB (too inaccurate). It is easy to find all sorts of reports on this: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/08/nfl-jaguar...-allen-robinson The Bortles deal is at just $18mil/yr but it puts the team in a spot now where they are a playoff team with that defense and won't typically be drafting high enough for years to come in order to get one of the best QBs. The extension also does not appear to affect their cap space significantly although full details are yet to be released. It is clear they aren't going to spend big on a FA QB this year now. What does Robinson think about playing with Bortles for what is likely 3 more seasons in the prime of his career? If Bortles stays the same inaccurate QB then he's looking at working with a rookie down the road. The Jags D is built to win now. No doubt the team will argue that with Robinson on board the offense/Bortles would be much improved and ready to compete in the playoffs. How will all this affect negotiations? Franchise tagging him, as is typical from a player's perspective, won't help matters and might put Robinson into a spot where he just takes the 1yr deal even more determined to leave in 2019. With limited cap space, tag-and-trade options could be in play for the front office but again we have a player coming off a serious injury. Will other teams risk draft picks along with the big contract? I expect he'll get the franchise tag but this could easily be a situation that drags out into the summer.

Legacy BS and they should just get rid of it. All teams in the league have now adapted and it's a free market. If you want the player pay the player. Plus getting rid of all these free picks will make the UDFA market after the draft a little more interesting.

Legacy BS and they should just get rid of it. All teams in the league have now adapted and it's a free market. If you want the player pay the player. Plus getting rid of all these free picks will make the UDFA market after the draft a little more interesting.

If I had to go there I'd take Ohio State draft and that's mainly because I think the value of Price, Jones, and Hubbard out weighs the similar picks on the other side given our needs. Look at the two Oline prospects and for me I'll protect Trubisky. In exchange of this draft Trubisky gets vet FA WRs which is a much bigger help than two rookies on the roster. Despite all the hype on Ward I figure the early CBs are an even swap.

I was never that interested in Landry. Is he better than who we put on the field last year? Absolutely, but not worth the money, and now draft pick, it will take to sign him. Let somebody else make the mistake.

I understand this is the time of disinformation. If their intention is to understand or help drive a trade down option then they are also driving teams (i.e. Buffalo) to know they may need to trade ahead of #11 to get their QB. Either way they are helping us. How much help we won't know until draft day. Could end up being negligible.

Tre'Quan Smith. (and yes I'm scouting WR's today) Looks like he has potential to be a solid #2 in the future. If he's there in the 4th Rd ... http://draftscout.tsxfiles.com/position-rankings/

IMO another reason he's gone is that he just doesn't move very well. He's often grabbing and pulling on defenders but somehow gets away with it. Getting older means that all gets slower and easier for officials to see. If we're going to run a ZBS in this new offense (again) then we need Olinemen who can move well enough to get in position. Some of those blocks are not easy to execute but Sitton IMO was too often behind the DT he was supposed to get in front of.

Good find. I like him a lot. He doesn't look to have elite speed but he's fast enough. His quickness and cuts at speed are ridiculous, somewhat similar to Cohen. Love the hands too with some tough catches in traffic and knows how to go get the ball. If he can return kicks he'd be a good addition as someone who can trade off snaps with Cohen. Or just go spread offense with one on each side. Richie James This will give a better indication of what he'll look like on an NFL field. It's 2016 but I don't think he's not faster in 2017, probably was stronger. http://draftbreakdown.com/2017/07/14/richie-james/

WR Marquez Valdez-Scantling Good speed, but better quickness. Can make catches through contact which bodes well for a guy who will have some learning to do at the next level. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTbL5h1xDZY Have to credit Steve Smith with throwing his name out there: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000091...xcited-to-watch

For those concerned about the lack of trade down options this is interesting. This can be disinformation to help motivate someone to trade up for Mayfield (Buffalo?). Then again they also traded away Ajayi mid-season for reasons unknown. I don't think anybody can predict where this organization is headed right now. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/...re-his-pro-day/

I'm going to go ahead and say that before they get anything done with Fuller the Bears will sign Amukamara to modest 3 yr deal with most of the guaranteed money coming in year one. The Fuller situation is too chaotic for Pace to predict and if he sits back and waits on that to play out he could lose out on a lot of options. Plus, once you start getting up in the big money there are other CBs like Trumaine Johnson who might be worth spending just a bit more on. I'd be happy with Amukamara and Johnson as our starters with a talented but raw 4th Rd pick on board for the future. Stability in the coaching ranks will help this year in terms of signing FA too.

I get the feeling we'll be trying to bring in Fulton and slide Whitehair out to LG.

It's just a site that gives me a quick way to see where players rank, and not really my favorite at that. Their rankings are off by quite a bit at times and a month ago were (IMO) worthless. I do not like their mocks much at all other than to see what round a player is selected. There were players I really like (i.e Edmunds) who was showing as Rd 2 a few weeks ago. As we get closer to the draft, and in this case the Combine, they are starting to match most common projections. In the interest of saving some time I used their list to scan some names between ~40-75 to see who I liked on there for this scenario's pick #64. Regardless, at this time there are draft projections all over the place that I don't agree with, including Mike Mayock's and others. I'm still not on board with the rest of the world on Minkah Fitzpatrick as the #3 talent in this draft (where Draftek and many have him). Patrick Peterson went #5 overall and he's an elite athlete, with the size to truly match up with anyone anywhere on the field. Fitzpatrick, for all his talents isn't close to that kind of player. I'm not that high on Roquan Smith either because I think he too has limitations that I don't want in a top 10 prospect. That's why I like the process. I try to list my source for rankings if I make a choice like this unless I'm going outside the conventional wisdom on a player. In that case my source is me. At this point in the draft process with what I've seen on film, I'd be happy with Davis as a late 2nd Rd pick for us. Three weeks ago he was a 4/5th Rd prospect on most boards.

We say this is most drafts but that's talent based on raw comparisons of skills. There is one caveat that must be considered and it is scheme and who fits it and who doesn't. Trading back only to end up with a similarly graded player who doesn't fit what you want to do on the field makes no sense. It is precisely this reason that Pace traded up for Floyd. He had to have him because after that the drop off was huge. Looking back on it I'd say he was right. http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft...d=round1#round1 As I said in another thread, in this 2018 draft I believe a player like Christian Kirk carries more value to our new offense than does a player like Sutton. All that means our draft board looks different, maybe much different, than the generic draft boards we find on NFL.com, Drafttek, CBS, Walterfootball, etc. Of course there are always players who fit any scheme and Tremaine Edmunds is one of them.