AZ54

I like our draft much better too.

Keeping up with our division rivals here is who they drafted, and my opinions on that. Detroit 1/20 C Ragnow good player, moves well, not that strong (yet) and this seemed early for him to come off the board 2/11 RB Kerryon Johnson he's a good RB but not special in any area, he will definitely help give them a solid running game 3/18 S Tracy Walker NFLDraftScout had him listed as a 5th Rd prospect. NFL.com has his graded as a career backup potential, again Rd 5-6 4/14 DE Da'shawn Hand ranked as 2/3rd Rd seems to be good value here in the 4th but for his athletic talent he underperformed in college 5/16 G Tyrell Crosby again good value here for a player with starter potential 7/19 RB Nick Bawden looks like a FB or h-back prospect Summary... not much to worry about from my perspective. Johnson will give them a more solid running game but if Ragnow starts he'll struggle with Goldman up front. ----------------------------------------------------- Green Bay 1/18 CB Jaire Alexander good prospect, on the smaller side for CBs but he's physical. Easy replacement for Randall 2/13 CB Josh Jackson WTF? Didn't they draft Kevin King last year? Jackson I didn't like for us because I view him as more of a zone CB. While everyone talked about his INTs they come from him facing the QB and reading his eyes. He does not match up well in press coverage nor does he have good speed. Who gets on the field and where among King, Alexander, and Jackson? 3/24 LB Oren Burks graded as Rd 4/5 talent yet NFL.com gives them a good score for taking them in Rd 3. That's just BS reporters buying the hype. NFLDraftScout had as 3rd grade, he's got the athleticism for the ILB role, lacks instincts. 4/33 WR J'mon Moore good WR graded to go in this area of the draft. He has talent to be a starter but character issues that might keep him from achieving that. 5/1 OL Cole Madison likely nothing more than a career backup, decent value for the late round pick 5/35 P JK Scott yes, they used a 5th Rd pick on a punter 5/37 Wr Marquez Valdes-Scantling I liked him as a very late draft pick and he graded out as 6/7th Rd. He's a big fast athlete who lacks shiftiness as a WR. Seems early for him. 6/33 WR Eq St Brown Why wouldn't you take him in Rd 4, or Rd 5? Easily the best of the 3 WRs they drafted. 7/14 DE James Looney 7/21 LS Hunter Bradley this is what happens when the league hands out too many compensatory draft picks 7/30 Edge Kendall Donnerson he's just 6'2" but elite athlete who is more workout warrior than football player. Worthy project in Rd 7. Summary I liked Alexander and he'll help them this season. I hope Josh Jackson wins the job on the other side because I think Nagy will exploit him early and often with Gabriel. No matter taking two CBs early when they needed pass rush help was good news for us. Nor does Burks have the ability to help in that role early on. Throwing 3 darts at WR seems excessive especially in the order they were taken. --------------------------------------- Minnesota 1/30 CB Mike Hughes I liked Hughes and at this point was good value. He's got some issues to work on but he'll make their secondary even better. 2/30 OT Brian O'neill If my memory serves me right this is the OT who got pushed all over the field at the Senior Bowl. I really hope he's a starter for them this season. 4/2 DE Jalyn Holmes big body DE with little pass rush ability but he has some potential there. 5/20 TE Tyler Conklin Smaller side for TEs, and somewhat slow. He'll be a contributor for them but never a guy you worry about. 5/30 K Daniel Carlson another division rival uses a draft pick on a kicker 6/39 G Colby Gossett We don't see many Oline prospects drafted out of App State but he's got the size to play in the NFL but is not that nimble. Good value for a guy who could develop into a solid backup. 6/44 Edge Ade Aruna They got Ade, who I liked at this point in the draft. At least I'll get to see how he develops over the next few years. 7/7 LB Devante Downs Summary... outside of Hughes, I don't see much improvement this year from O'Neill and Holmes.

Kylie Fitts. Never even heard of him until we drafted him but after watching film for a few games I think he easily has 2nd/3rd Rd talent. At a minimum he's a good rotational player but I believe he has the talent to develop into a starter at OLB. Can he stay healthy? We'll see but the foot injury is far enough in the past for that to be completely behind him. The other shoulder sprains and such that hindered his play last year weren't big issues that will affect him at all long term much less this offseason. He's not the springy Leonard Floyd who will cover RBs out of the backfield but as the counter to him he's a much better fit at OLB than either of Willie Young or Houston. He can convert speed to power but has enough burst, (1.68 10yd split) and bend (6.88 3-cone ) to get around the edge and all that shows up in games. FWIW he's faster, quicker, and more agile than Aldon Smith but he doesn't have the same arm length. I have to consider value for this "favorite draft pick" question and for a 6th Rd pick I'm really happy with this one. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/kylie-fitts?id=32462018-0002-5598-079b-d547fbe41b3d http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/aldon-smith?id=2495487 The NFL standard for pass rushers...Von Miller http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/von-miller?id=2495202 and just for grins see how he compares to 1st Rd pick Marcus Davenport athletically.. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/marcus-davenport?id=32462018-0002-5598-1759-f09cd314cad6

I'm not saying I or anyone else is as good as Fangio, or Pace, but I agree with Jason's point that teams make bad picks all the time and IMO some are so obvious even the fans can see them the day of the draft. Phil Emery took that DT who jumped out of the pool but had very little production, even in his highlight films. He took Brock Vereen, a safety who even I could see didn't play physical in college, and he really didn't standout athletically either. That certainly didn't change in the NFL. He drafted one DB who was injured so often he had no highlight film. Others that were obvious IMO to fans: Jets Christian Hackenberg who couldn't even throw accurately at the Combine with nobody in his face. Jake Locker, who was never accurate in college at 8th overall. I'll state right now that I think Cleveland taking Denzel Ward #4 overall was big mistake that will be more obvious in 3 years when we see the careers of the players drafted afterward, including Roquan Smith. Bradley Chubb alone will make it obvious in the first 4 games. As a bit of a hobby I've been kicking this draft stuff with y'all for about a decade or more. I've learned some things about what to look for from everyone's comments, and after seeing how players transition to the NFL. That includes learning from Angelo's and Emery's mistakes, as well as other teams (i.e. Cards Robert Nkemdiche), and at the top of the list my mistakes. I thought Will Sutton and Kadeem Carey would both be more productive in the NFL as rotational players. That honeymoon ended quickly. I learned from that because with Sutton being short he didn't have the length needed to get off blocks in the NFL, nor did he have enough quickness/strength to get around them. While I loved watching him run the ball, Carey just didn't have enough speed to be a starter, and as a backup he couldn't really contribute much on special teams. That depth matters a lot when injuries hit a team. 10-15 years ago it was hard for fans to really scout unless you watched a lot of college football. We did have highlight videos but those really don't give a good impression of overall skills and effort of a player. These days there is a cottage industry of film cut ups and player evaluations all over Youtube. It's not hard to see the good and bad plays, or how a player might fit certain schemes and not others. In this aspect,.on the field performance, I think these days fans who are doing research can have a pretty good idea of a lot of players' abilities. Get down to Day 3 prospects and it's harder to find that game film but overall I don't think fans are "guessing" as much these days. We don't know the character of the players and we don't have the medical reports. We also don't necessarily have those things about our own players (i.e. Cam Meredith) so we can't really know the team's future plans. We also don't know some things like the college coaching and what players were asked to do. We can somewhat understand under-performing players (Lorenzo Carter) who were coached by Mel Tucker, yet even in that environment Roquan Smith shined. How will Smith do under Fangio? Here is where I'm fine to defer to Pace and Fangio. I liked Tremaine Edmunds over Roquan Smith. Both are very good players with somewhat different skillsets. I have no doubt it was character, leadership, and football knowledge that made Smith standout to Fangio and Pace. Vic spent a full day with Smith going over film and talking defense, probably some individual workout stuff too. I assume he did the same with Edmunds. I'll be watching how the careers of both players unfold over the next few years.

Not sure I'd go top 10. There are a ton of new pieces learning a new scheme (except for Burton) with a 2nd year QB. Let's give them some time to settle into the new offense but I think we will see some games with more offense than we've seen in years. Big plays will show up early and often.

Love bringing in CB Michael Joseph. He plays physical at times, which I like, but he's got a lot to learn and will have to work hard to improve his functional strength for the NFL. Long term he has potential to be a contributor on the roster. Put Kevin Tolliver in the same sentence. Former 5-star recruit out of high school. Maybe one of them figures it out. RB Ryan Nall I like as well. I could see him as an h-back if we want someone in that role. I think he'd be more versatile than Burton is at FB. Or he's a backup RB biding his time on the practice squad.

I just see some surprises today. I think all the picks are good players but there isn't an Eddie Jackson type with year one starter potential. Iggy looks like a lesser version of Roquan with good special teams potential early in his career. I'd say Kwit sticks as the slow ILB on the roster and we say goodbye to Timu and the often-out-of-position Anderson. Might be some starter potential down the road. Seeing how things played out in Rd 4 I'd have put money down that we take either Josh Sweat or Dorance Armstrong or even Shaqem Griffin with this pick. Bilal Nichols fits the DE profile physically but I don't see much more than depth player potential in him. I doubt he even makes the 53-man roster this year. He was was mis-cast as a NT in that defense last year but likely was their best option there. He has a lot of work to do. OLB Kylie Fitts has the upside to be a solid rotation player at OLB this year and if he can stay healthy I think he could develop into a starter years down the road. This game he shows a little of everything.

Yes, I've seen this. He does need more lower body strength but this is not the 280 something Grasu coming out of college. He's over 300lbs and there's plenty of tape of him pushing DTs around. He just needs to use his quickness to win the leverage battle, but he usually does that. I suspect the Bears prefer him at OG this season to protect him from having to anchor against the big NTs he'd face at OC. Whitehair struggled with that quite a bit his first year. Handling some of the smaller quicker 3-4 DEs, or 3- techniques at LG should not be much of an issue. He's also good at pulling to get outside and seal the edge, or hitting LBs at the second level. I'm a little crazy because back when the Combine was underway I was watching the Olinemen performing their drills. They all do the little shuffling drills, side to side, kick step back into pass pro, etc. Most are big slow dudes, even the ones who have the quickness to play LT. Then Daniels ran the drills and it was night and day. This is one very athletic big man. He's just 20 years old and should build a more solid base to go with the athletic moves in the next year or two. Given the type of zone blocking we want he should become an ideal fit once he gains more strength. I never expected him to be there because everything I read had him going in the first round. Instead the Lions took Ragnow at #20 overall, the Bengals took Price right behind that. Of the three Price seemed the most stout as a blocker, with Ragnow the weakest. We're going to get to watch Ragnow and Daniels for several years to compare draft value. Now about the concerns with his knee, that I know nothing about. Pace said he checked out medically.

He's not as big as Meredith but the way he can run routes with quickness in his cuts is similar. He's bigger than I thought. I didn't watch much film on him before that draft but in the short draft highlights I can see his quickness to separate. Adding him in the mix with all the other talent we have is going to be a very good thing. I can see him becoming Trubisky's favorite target. That's in part because of the attention Robinson will draw, and Gabriel, and Cohen when he's out there. Miller is going to reliably get open and quickly, and we are going to be very multiple in the ways we can attack a defense. Our defense is going to know how different this offense is very early in camp.

There is an A, A, and an A+ here for the Chicago Bears. Not sure when I've ever seen that, if ever. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/draft-tracker/

Fix that RDE position, which will keep him clean, and we'll all be smiling, a lot, watching Smith play.

There are many good players at positions of need. Draft an OLB pass rusher (Landry, Sweat, Carter) and our front 7 is in the top 5 in the NFL. I really believe they'd be that tough to move the ball against. FWIW I feel pretty good about RRH at DE. OTOH, given the Oline talent still on the board if we draft an OG I think the offense is poised to take off. Given all the new pieces that might take us to top 15 and maybe better late in the season. Either way I"m happy but I love elite defensive play so my heart leans towards helping the pass rush at OLB.

That he is. Between Smith and Trevathan we have and excellent tandem for edge run support. It's going to be tough for teams to run any stretch plays and of course you have Floyd on one edge anyway next to Hicks. Find a bookend pass rusher opposite Floyd at OLB in Rd 2 and lookout, pass rush can come from anywhere at anytime. Almost every Oline has a weakness so we'll be better positioned to exploit whatever that is.

I like Carter and adding him would give us some incredibly athletic LBs across the front 7. It would also be an interesting case study in watching how a very good coach (Fangio) takes elite athletes and helps them play much better than they did when they had a bad coach (Mel Tucker at Georgia).

Since I'm always wrong, if I'm picking the surprise Pace will give us I'd say it'll be Davenport.

Edmunds easily is a day 1 starter, as is Smith. Both LBs are very good and either makes our defense better, probably quite a bit better. Likewise both have negatives and Smith is not a slam dunk in all aspects of play. I've read very few reports, if any of Smith being good handling traffic between the tackles to make plays. He's just a better fit as a weakside LB, similar to what Trevathan does well for us. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000928419/article/daniel-jeremiahs-top-50-prospects-for-2018-nfl-draft-40 Smith is an undersized inside linebacker with excellent instincts and range. Against inside runs, he uses his quickness to beat blockers to spots and is a firm, chest-up tackler. He does need to improve his hand usage because once blockers get into him, he struggles to free himself. He's at his best against perimeter runs. Smith brings outstanding recognition and covers ground quickly. I believe he projects best as a 4-3 WLB where he would be able to use his speed to run-and-chase without having to mix it up inside. Against the pass, he has the speed and agility to cover RBs and TEs. He's an excellent blitzer. Smith might lack the ideal bulk, but he's a playmaker against both the run and pass. http://draftanalyst.com/roquan-smith Neg: Does not take the best angles in coverage. Struggles to make plays with his back to the ball. Small and will need a free shot at the ball carrier at the next level. Analysis: Smith is a tremendous pursuit linebacker who plays with a violent style. He has size limitations and will struggle to cover tight ends but will be a very productive linebacker in the proper NFL system.

No secrets here. https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/989308076162363392

http://draftanalyst.com/nfl-draft-notes-april-25 I slotted Derwin James to the Green Bay Packers in the first round of my most recentmock draft. I’m told the Packers would consider trading up for James or Denzel Ward if the opportunity presents itself.

Lots of talk the Packers are working to trade up. If true I suspect their target is Fitzpatrick or Ward. As reported on NFL Network, it sounded like they wanted to slot in somewhere around 10 overall.

I can't imagine the Giants get anything beyond a conditional 6th or 7th Rd pick for him. I'd make it conditional on him being a starter.

Could be right. If you take away the QBs then the top 8 players could include Davenport.

Most of what I've heard is that there are about 25 first round grades on players in this draft. That seems to be the case most years. IMO I'd probably replace Ronald Jones with Josh Allen, his physical talent is elite even if the game tape isn't there. At a position of extreme value that figures into it. I've also heard quite a few reports of Sutton having a 2nd Rd grade, supposedly even the Cowboys have him ranked there. Athlete, yes, route runner not yet. What Stinger said about all the different opinions, in this draft the top-50 players on boards seem to vary a lot.

Tremaine Edmunds... even if Nelson is on the board. My likes: Nelson, ......if both are gone (and unless Chubb or Barkley are there) I say we just trade down. I don't see a lot of difference between a player like Ward vs. Jaire Alexander. Fitzpatrick vs. James. Or even adding Ridley at say #15 and then perhaps an additional 2nd Rd pick (we might give back a 4th).

The LBs were in order: Rashaan Evans stats from 42 career games Leighton VanderEsche stats from 28 career games Tremaine Edmunds stats from 32 career games Roquan Smith stats from 38 career games When I started to put this together I expected to see far more passes defensed from Roquan Smith. Seeing just three total in 38 games was a shock to me. I expected he'd clearly be the leader in this stat among the top 4 LBs. The other surprise to me was the higher percentage of TFL that Edmunds has. For a player who is often said to be lacking instincts he is well above the other first round talents. Sacks are not counted in TFLs so when we add in his 10 sacks it further puts him ahead. If this is how well a player with no instincts performs what's he going to do when he really knows how to diagnose plays? Or flip it the other way...his floor is not nearly as low as some project it to be. In their careers Roquan Smith total tackles averages to 6.6/gm, Edmunds avg 6.6 tackles/gm. Based on the their TFL stats I would say the criticism of VanderEsche being a chase and tackle guy, meaning he's not ahead of the play, is probably correct. That doesn't mean he can't improve there with more experience. With the least amount of game experience his PDs, and FF standout but the level of competition isn't as high as others.

Sorry, these are all ILB.