AZ54

I'd be very happy with this draft. Now a confession: After a couple months hyping him as a solid late Rd prospect I watched Jarron Jones run a 5.4 forty and look stiff as a board. I'm doubting my judgment. Biggest concern is that he's rumored to be lazy and it seems to me the poor forty time backs that up. If you can't spend a few months getting ready for the best job interview of your life then what will you get ready for?

I understand where you are coming from but I disagree on the Hall of Fame because IMO you can never predict that. Pro Bowls is a better expectation. Adams clearly has several years of Pro Bowl potential in him and that's what you want out of this pick. Plus it's a big need for our roster especially with his leadership skills. Much is made out of not taking safeties early but then again this league is a passing league now and someone with Adams size and ability to cover move TEs adds a lot of value. Beyond that he's excellent in the box area and he's talented enough to play some CB or FS. IMO he's the kind of player who can set the tone for the entire defense.

Logic says yes, it's a reasonable move, but I'm still struggling with it and the whiskey bottle is getting light.

I have accepted the fact that after this draft there will still be one glaring need on our roster, probably two. Unless we go there early (as in 2nd Rd) OT seems the most likely place we fall short. There just isn't much depth in this years rookie class and with all the needs we have on this roster we need to be in BPA mode well into day 3. In Rd 4 it is quite likely we can draft a TE, CB, and maybe a WR (like Switzer) with the potential to be a legit starter in the NFL. Rd 4 and beyond has OT prospects with ceilings that are most likely as a career backup. I'd be surprised if anyone who has watched Julien Davenport's film didn't come away thinking they had watched some clips of Leno or Massie in pass protection. Plus, when we have drafts like this where there is a shortage of talent at a very key position then NFL teams usually reach earlier for the best prospects. Garrett Bolles may have a 2nd Rd grade but I highly doubt he's available after day 1. That reaching may carry into 3rd Rd prospects such as Garcia being taken in the late 2nd Rd. Reality is you can reach on that OT early and still find a decent CB, WR, TE, DL afterward. Doing the reverse won't pan out so well. If we haven't drafted an OT in the top 3 Rds, then we will be better off picking up someone's veteran OT castoff rather than depending on these rookies. Pick up the pieces next year. Putting the right rookie TE out there will help our OTs (and offense) far more than any of the late Rd OTs.

Our defense was pretty good for most of last year. I'm not too worried about that as long as we make a couple good additions via the draft. If we do that we should finally start seeing legitimate depth where we can overcome a few injuries. Offense is a different story mainly because of the QB question. We know White was improving week to week before the broken leg so we can reasonably expect that process will continue this season. This time around White's broken leg was caused by a LB twisting it and sitting on it. Miller's broken foot was solely because JPP stepped on it while he was blocking him. Those injuries have their own recovery concerns but they are different from injuries like Trevathan's or Garza's where nobody was touching them when they went down, or Jeffrey's non-stop hamstring/calf issues. Regardless, the bottom line on offense is that nobody has a clue how Glennon will turn out.

I'm surprised the Packers would spend $3mil for a backup run stuffer. The Bears OTOH would seem more likely to have paid that price. Whatever value Pace sets for a player he isn't going to move too far off that mark just to get him to sign. For a man leading a 3-13 team there is no desperation in his moves.

This sucks. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...c4-a8bc949aa82f

Absolutely but this is always a great discussion thread. I have no issue dumping a 5th Rd RB for a 5th Rd DE. Jarron Jones who has 1st Rd athletic talent and high 1st Rd bust potential could easily be there in the 5th for us. That's not a bad spot to take a chance on him. You could just as easily take a DE in the 4th Rd and TE in the 5th. I just don't see a point where Best Available fits Boulware in the 5th Rd when there will be better talent at either of these three positions still on the board: RB, TE, DE. I realize I'm in the minority on RB here but there was too big of a dropoff when either Carey (3.9ypc but little value on special teams and his running style often results in injury) or Langford (just 3.2ypc in 2016) were on the field last year. I don't want to be in that spot again and then we end up wearing out a very valuable player in Howard with too many carries. I want some insurance against having the need to run Howard into the ground just so we can get into the playoffs, or if by some miracle we get there, I want Howard fully ready to go. Again, we have questions at WR and QB so we need to ensure we have a consistently successful running game every week.

Except SF may take Thomas. They have issues they have to sort out among the two former 1st Rd picks: Where do they play in a 4-3? If they both get moved outside to DE then Allen is by far the better fit for their need. Perhaps the bigger question is how much their GM John Lynch values having an elite safety to organize the back end of the defense and could they take Adams?

That would be interesting. I liked him on the outside but he certainly has the length Fangio covets inside. He's got to learn to play a lot lower than he's used to on the edge.

I hate making too much off of highlights but it appears he's better reading blocks in traffic than either Carey or Langford. On the other hand does he always dance around like that? Add in his special teams return skills and at a minimum it puts Carey in danger of losing a roster spot. IMO for a player with 4 years in the league there's not enough here to preclude us from drafting a RB. http://www.nfl.com/player/bennycunningham/2541544/profile

Hopefully nothing more than a potential camp arm.

1) I definitely have concerns about Allen's shoulders holding up in the NFL. He's not the biggest man and although he has very good movement skills he isn't going to win with elite quickness off the snap. Playing with leverage will be how he wins in the trenches. 2) Mahomes is definitely Cutleresque but I believe he has the work ethic to eventually build on his natural talents into a starter. 3) Secondary is not as big of a concern but I'd love to add a starting caliber talent in this draft. 4) TE is less of a need for me mostly because I'm higher on Brown than others, but if the value is there late in the draft roll with it. On the draft picks: 1st Rd I like Adams, no secret there. I think he offers the physical nature around the LOS that you can get with a guy like Peppers, but also has enough coverage skills to match up on TEs or even some RBs. His leadership is needed in our secondary. 2nd Rd Kizer in Rd 2 is good value IMO. 3rd Rd Que Pasa in Rd 3 is too early. Especially since we're at the front of the round. Give me a WR here and there are many good options. 4th Rd Sidney Jones = perfect 4th Rd Jordan Leggett good value 5th Rd Boulware is a wasted pick. If you want him wait until he's a UDFA and pick him up. Where this team talentwise on our day 3 picks we need to find players with higher upside than someone like Boulware who at his absolute best will never be more than a career backup special teams player. When your roster is flush with good talent and you want to add a hard nosed character guy to the locker room then you take a flyer on Boulware. For now, with the 5th Rd pick I'll take Brian Hill RB as he'll contribute this year. I've already outlined why I want to add RB competition to find a good backup to share the load with Howard. 7th Rd Banner seems like he's too slow to ever succeed at OT, even on the right side. How about Ugokwe who is a project but has enough upside to eventually be a starter? http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...86/jerry-ugokwe

Other than Garrett, who won't be there at #3, I still don't see the player who teams will trade up for. For every player we're talking about there is a counterpart right behind them that is a very good consolation prize and they'll get to keep their 2nd Rd pick. Adams/Hooker Allen/Thomas Foster/Reddick

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/843888880659193858 I'd think this is due diligence on a trade down. OTOH if there is a team in the top 10 that really wants Foster this might make them a little more likely to trade up for him.

Yes I meant 4-man front. We are in nickel a lot, all teams are in the NFL these days so we might as well call our NB a starter.

No deal was reached and RJF is headed to his next visit in Seattle.

Any word on Ricky Jean-Francois? I think he'd be a great signing to add depth on our Dline. We're talking about a guy to replace Washington, Unrein, or challenge Bullard. https://twitter.com/Rbjf_99/status/843233508181053440 http://nfltraderumors.co/free-agent-dt-ric...eahawks-sunday/

We are in a 4-3 front about 60% of the time. At that point our LDEs are Willie Young 258lbs, McPhee 273lbs, Houston 274lbs. I don't see why Thomas doesn't fit right in.

Depth to challenge Sutton and others.

Thomas is like McPhee but more agile, faster, and stronger. At 280lbs people were happy with McPhee at OLB. Then after the injury he went down to about 270lbs last year. McPhee in the 2011 draft combine results: 6'3", 278lbs, 34 3/8" arms Forty: 4.93s Bench: 20reps Vertical Jump: 28.5" Broad Jump: 107" 3-cone: 7.13s 20yd shuttle: 4.59s If we were to sign Hankins and add Thomas I think we'd have the best Dline for rushing defense in the NFL and likely a top 10 pass rushing unit as well.

Peterson thought he'd be in demand and may have felt he could garner a starting job for at least $8 if not $10mil. When we see guys like Eddie Lacy pickup $5mil then clearly there has to be a big gap between that contract and what AP wants. I'm sure he also thinks of himself as a starter in the league. Having been a superstar for a decade I imagine it takes quite some time to come down from that plateau. There is still a lot of money available so I'm not sure he's lowered his expectations too much yet. Even if he does, I still want Howard to our star RB and I'm not sure there would be a good locker room fit if AP is pouting on the bench. Or telling the media he wants more playing time.

I'd love that too. They could actually do this but still suck enough to again pick in the top 5. Then repeat the exact same deal and trade both 2nd Rd picks to guarantee themselves another shot at a good QB in 2018.

The only thing I know is that Glennon is equally deserving of a chance to be a starter as any of the top QBs in this draft. That and he's a better option than Hoyer albeit a much more expensive one. We've already danced with Hoyer and it wouldn't be any more fun in year 2.

The problem for us is that we need to win now and there will be starting quality players available with our 3rd Rd pick, that includes at CB or S. If we were more settled on our roster depth then I'd be all for it.