AZ54

As backups go, I feel good about Hoyer. He can do enough and his experience is far better than having a rookie back there.

and against Mich State... http://draftbreakdown.com/video/daniel-bra...gan-state-2015/ I agree, he's Mariani's replacement as both returner and slot WR.

QBs remaining: Brandon Doughty and Jake Coker but I'd prefer to just go with Hoyer as our backup this season. TE: Still have Beau Sandland and Ben Braunecker. Devon Cajuste is still on the board and I like him as a guy to convert to TE.

Very happy with this draft. Kwiatkowski will become a fan favorite and I think the Bears have a him lose a bit of weight so he can play with speed at ILB. These Safeties are all players I like, especially as late as we we were able to draft them. Bush has explosive burst and likes to hit, I've missed that among our safeties for a long time. DHC looks like a student of the game type as he often diagnoses plays. Regardless, we have a lot of competition and I think Antrel Rolle will be headed out of town once the coaches see what they have on the field. CB Hall...called for him in the Dry Heat Mock. He has outstanding read and react to the ball, and hustle, even when it is away from him. Plus he has the size to match up well against bigger WRs. RB Howard... I'm not as big a fan as some are because he's not that quick laterally but he will bring a power element to our running game that is a good mix with Langford. Putting him behind this strong interior Oline we just built and he's going to wear down defenses.

I'm looking at what our division rivals have done in the draft and let's open the floor for comments. I'll start with the team I hate the most. Packers: 1st: Kenny Clark DT. I felt they had better options available the way the DTs fell in the draft. This was a head-scratcher for me but that's ok. He won't be a bad player for them I just felt there were others with more upside available. 2nd: Jason Spriggs OT. Good pick for them 3rd: Kyler Fackrell OLB. It will be tough for me to watch the hometown kid wearing a Packer's jersey twice a season. He's not elite at anything but is a good jack-of-all-trades type. I really thought they'd push more for ILB help in order to get blondie back to OLB. If I have to choose between Mathews or Fackrell off the edge I know who I prefer. Vikings: 1st: Laquon Treadwell. He's a good WR but is he really going to worry anyone on deep routes? I doubt in any of the previous 3 drafts he would have been a 1st Rd WR. I'm glad they did not get Doctson. That kids hands are unbelievable. 2nd: Mackensie Alexander. I like the moxie this kid plays with and felt he would have been a good addition to our CB group. That same attitude leads to some holes in his game. Can the Vikings fix them? 3rd: No pick Lions: 1st: Taylor Decker OT. Good player 2nd: A'Shawn Robinson DT. Pure run stopper and I preferred his teammate Reed over him simply because Reed hustles on plays away from him, Robinson does not. So either way he won't move. 3rd: Graham Glasgow OG. After reading analysis I'm not sure why they made this pick. It is not a need for them and he's not that athletic. With players like Westerman still on the board it seems they had better options.

Jerell Adams is still out there (maybe his grade is a 5.4?) and I'd say Higbee's 5.5 grade should have dropped after he threw that punch outside a bar.

I understand more about why we traded up to get Floyd. Go back and look at Kevin White last year, these kids are from good families, good character, and team first. Floyd has a lot to learn but I think he has the right mindset to get it done. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...f0-b9caa8a2f715

PFF is a bit different in how they do their assessments. Gil Brandt who has been doing this draft stuff since forever and ranked Cody Whitehair #47 and Bullard #26 overall. At least one ranking on NFL.com shows Whitehair #43 overall and Bullard #47. Rankings this draft are all over the place and I know I can find one that has Whitehair as a 1st Rd pick. It's fair to say we got good to great value with two early 2nd Rd talents at the end of the 2nd Rd, and in the 3rd Rd.

I don't think Jason Taylor had as much first step quickness as Floyd. He did have the lean and long frame and still managed to be successful.

Or a safety.

With so many DTs and DEs still sitting there I see some teams willing to trade up to get one. I think we'll trade back and try to gain back the 4th Rd pick pick we lost, or at least a 5th Rd pick. In my mind we should be taking one of the DTs that fell out of the 1st Rd: Reed, Robinson, or Jones.

Floyd wasn't my first choice because I have concerns about his run stopping ability. However, what you point out as our strength is exactly what will help him succeed early in his career as a pass rusher. He wasn't drafted to stop the run, just to hunt QBs. We have other big bodies in McPhee, Houston that will handle the heavy lifting on the early downs. On the flip side when we play a team with a good move TE Floyd with his 4.6 speed can cover him when no other OLB on our roster can do so. To look at it another way, Floyd is faster and quicker than the WR the Vikings just drafted (Treadwell). Add in that Fox, Fangio, Clint Hurtt, and all the scouts are very high on this kid. Whatever you might feel about Pace, I think we can absolutely trust Vic Fangio to not only identify the talent but also to get him coached up properly to rush off the edge. I have no idea why Georgia's coaches moved him all over the field (ILB, OLB, DE, sometimes he played NB). That clearly hindered his stats and led to the mystery of what position does Floyd play. If we can add someone like Jaran Reed, A'Shawn Robinson, or my favorite Chris Jones in Rd 2 we will have taken our Dline from a weakness 12 months ago to a real strength. Any of those guys, along with Goldman or Hicks, are strong enough to drive an OG wide into the OT and that leaves a gap for Floyd to stunt into. Behind that front we now have two very good ILB who are fast and know how to find the ball. With Floyd on the field they don't necessarily have to be the player who drops into coverage.

Regarding Leonard Floyd: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...6d-c2e8759bd0b2 "We were concerned he would go a couple of picks ahead of us," Pace said. "This is a guy we identified, a guy we wanted, so we didn't sit on our hands. The luxury of having extra picks gives us the ammunition to do those things. "There was a consensus on this player; all the scouts, all the coaches all had this guy graded very similar. For me, that kind of makes it an easier decision. In addition to that, it fills a major need on our defense. We were excited about it and wanted to be aggressive and ensure we get the guy that we wanted." add a couple more quotes: Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and outside linebackers coach Clint Hurtt are both eager to begin working with Floyd, who led Georgia in sacks each of the last three seasons with 6.5. 6.0 and 4.5. "Vic likes this guy a lot; Clint Hurtt does, too," Pace said. "Both those guys are excellent coaches. It just gives me a lot of confidence when you bring someone like this in the building for them to further develop the player. In addition, this player has the right attitude and mindset for that. He's hungry. He's high energy. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm and passion. I think that all comes together."

If those were their two main targets the Giants really got screwed in this draft with teams trading ahead of them for Conklin and Floyd.

Very surprised we traded up for Floyd. This kid has springs for legs and his first step is very quick but he needs a lot of work.

I don't like Sean Davis as CB, put him at FS.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/is-miss...on-bears-radar/

Me too. Lawson playing with one arm was a beast on the edge in the championship game. He's not flashy as a rusher but you have to figure with another good arm he'll be even better.

NFL Network is reporting that Ragland has an enlarged aorta and will need medical monitoring every year but that it should not affect his career. This has caused some teams to move him down their draft board.

I hope that is all smoke screen with a goal of trading back. Every time I watch Rankins I see a guy who too often gets stopped cold on his pass rush. He also doesn't hustle as well as Jarran Reed on plays away from him. Maybe the coaches see something obvious with his technique that can really improve his effectiveness.

I'd like that draft. Definitely finding a way to get an extra 3rd pick gives us the chance to plug in a player at each need.

Brandon Allen is listed as a 5th Rd prospect but if he's our guy then I think it's better to take him late in the 4th. I'll have to keep an eye on Hall and see what round he ends up being chosen. 4th seems early to me for a guy that has bounced around defensive positions from LB, CB, to S. He's going to need at least a year of coaching to settle into a new role and will have to make the roster on special teams, which I think he can do Morgan is a better blocker but he's very pedestrian as a receiver. I figure our current TEs Lee, Housler can fill the blocking role equally as well and that getting insurance against Miller's next injury is the higher priority. I thought about grabbing another DT but I think the guys we have on the roster between Unrein, Ferguson, and Sutton would be good as depth. You might be right about Vitale but then again few teams use a FB and he's too slow to be a RB.

After months of intense studying of prospects and (sometimes intense) beer drinking I am ready to proclaim who I think we'll draft today. 1st Rd) CB Vernon Hargreaves III. We've stayed away from any signs we like him. I see signs of a 2nd DE/Edge rusher taken ahead of us and possibly someone like Conklin. If that happens someone has to fall and right now it appears to be Hargreaves. He's not my first choice because I don't see him as a shutdown CB but he is elite in his quickness and can cover anyone for the first 20 yards. He'll start at NB while he learns the NFL. 2nd Rd) DE Chris Jones. He's been rated as far back as the 3rd round and later as high as late 1st. I think he is still on the board and he becomes a starter next to Hicks and Goldman. Strong man who can hold up against double teams, or push the pocket one-on-one. He's got some holes in his game but is young, talented, and ready to learn. 3rd Rd) RB C.J. Prosise. Fox loves how Carey runs but obviously doesn't love the fact he isn't good as a receiver nor in pass protection. Throwing $5mil toward C.J. Anderson showed how serious this need is for Fox and Pace. If you can't get the first C.J. you might as well get the second one that comes along. He has all the tools you want in a RB but lacks experience. We have EZ's former coach who knows how to get the best out of a RB so pair him up with Langford. 4th Rd) TE Jerell Adams. Earlier I wasn't too enthused with what I saw from him but I found another game film to watch (against FSU) and he was much more mobile and active when running routes. Tyler Higbee has since punched himself right out of consideration. Adams has much to learn as an inline blocker but has the size to add more strength and improve over a couple seasons. He can run and catch well enough to threaten a defense down field. 4th Rd) QB Brandon Allen Offers a little bit of everything as a backup QB. His arm is good enough to make most throws and he's mobile enough to work outside the pocket. 5th Rd) ILB Nick Vigil Our depth here is still an issue and Vigil has much better instincts at the position than anyone we had playing here last year. 6th Rd) S Deiondre Hall He's from No. Iowa and you know him as the CB who is on the Carson Wentz TD pass over two DB's in the end zone that won the game on the last throw. Except Hall left his man underneath to help out on the deep route and almost got into the play enough to stop it. Developmental prospect but he has those quick instincts to react to the ball that you want in a safety. 6th Rd) OLB Travis Feeney He's 6'4" and runs between a 4.4 and 4.5 forty. 3 cone a little slow and he needs to add some bulk but he has the quickness and length to get around the edge. He does coverage on special teams so he can come in and compete with Acho for a job. 7th Rd) FB Vitale Superback nothing else needs to be said.

I actually think this might be who we end up with. I see DEs like Lawson and/or Floyd taken in the top 10. Jack falling like a rock lately as most teams agree he'll need another knee procedure to clean up things and down the road might need micro-fracture surgery.

Interesting that with the knee concerns keeping him lighter in weight and playing more in space as a safety may prolong his career. When he's at 225lbs he can cover the slot WR or move TE and is still capable of playing the run.