AZ54

I still lean towards Sean Mannion over guys like Grayson or even Petty later in the draft. Petty has had some good press lately and I'm not sure why his workouts are suddenly "much better" than what we see on tape. Consider he has the exact same weakness as Mariota coming from a spread offense and yet that's still all they can talk about with Mariota. Why did this suddenly become less of a concern with Petty? That late riser stuff concerns me when it doesn't match in season performance. I'm not talking numbers here (for all the Graham Harrell fans out there); rather his tendency to have passes trail off or lose velocity as they arrive at their target and occasionally come up short. Traits like that worry me when you consider what usually happens when QBs see NFL pass rushers coming at them.

I wasn't solely fixated on his size. There are some smaller players who play big…Steve Smith does so as a WR. I merely listed that as the first statement and people ran off without reading anything else. I cited what I think is a credible scouting source showing he has issues with blockers. It fits what I've seen of him in college albeit in just a couple games, and what I see on that one game I linked to earlier. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...1/shaq-thompson Possesses a slim waist and narrow hips, making it unlikely that he'll be able to pack on significantly more muscle mass onto his frame without losing his quickness. Can get swallowed up at the line of scrimmage and is forced to take risky angles, at times, to avoid blockers. Wasn't often asked to rush the quarterback at Washington and shows limited technique in this capacity http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/sha...pson?id=2552447 WEAKNESSES Scouts question his natural NFL fit. Needs more mass on his frame. Played under listed weight at times. Aggressive, but lacks the play strength to back up his intentions near the line of scrimmage. Fails to consistently leverage his gap when forced inside box. Too easily redirected as blitzer. Gets blasted out of gaps by pulling guards. Must develop hands to keep linemen off of him and improve at slipping blocks. Not fully utilizing explosiveness. Fails to fire downhill and attack on the other side of the line. -------------------------------- If we want to go with a quick twitch guy at ILB with our 2nd Rd pick I much prefer Eric Kendricks who, though he is small for the position, plays more like a LB. He has some of the same issues getting off blocks at times but he is more physical than Shaq Thompson in all aspects of the game. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/eric-kendr...-virginia-2014/

You fixate on size but it's not the best way to gauge a player's abilities. Someone else compared him to Mike Singletary. Watch the guy play against Oregon State and tell me how many run blocks he gets off of to make a tackle? http://draftbreakdown.com/video/shaq-thomp...gon-state-2014/ He's a good player but he's not that physical fighting to get off blocks. I see more SMC in him than I do Navorro Bowman or Mike Singletary. I'll stick by what I saw of him last season when I watched a few games. I think he's a better player in space than he will be as an ILB in the NFL. He'd be a bit of a project but I think he'll fair better as a SS. In any case I don't like him as our 2nd Rd pick. I much prefer a guy like OT Fisher or one of the DTs, or a CB, WR depending on which way we go in 1st Rd. It'll be interesting to see where he ends up. One place I'd put him would be doing what Briggs did for us as a WLB. I think he might play that LB role well but we don't run that scheme anymore. FWIW I think Randy Gregory will be one heck of an OLB at 235lbs. Then again he has long arms and is more violent shedding blocks than Shaq Thompson.

At 6'-0" and just 228lbs I don't see him handling NFL linemen very well at all. I think that is valid at either ILB or OLB. Look at all the guys we have put at OLB, or FA (Houston, McPhee) we signed they are all bigger. On the inside we went with Mason Foster who is a bit taller and carries 240lbs. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...1/shaq-thompson WEAKNESSES: Looks more like a safety than a linebacker and for some clubs will project there - a position he hasn't played since high school. Possesses a slim waist and narrow hips, making it unlikely that he'll be able to pack on significantly more muscle mass onto his frame without losing his quickness. Can get swallowed up at the line of scrimmage and is forced to take risky angles, at times, to avoid blockers.

I like Shaq Thompson, he's a hell of a football player, but he's not a 3-4 LB so he'd have to be a SS for us. Drafting a SS in Collins followed by another SS in Thompson makes no sense.

Mettenberger looked horrible last season. I can't believe Whisenhunt views him as the long term answer. I'm certain Whisenhunt would love to get Rivers in a trade. Second option has to be Mariotta and way down the list is trading for Cutler. I think he likes Mariotta's potential but isn't really wanting to wait that long for him to develop. I don't see the trade for Cutler happening because if it were it would have been done by now. I think the Bears have accepted Cutler as their best near-term option but are committed to moving away from him as the focal point and it's all about the run game now. Evidence: Two FA Oline signings who are good run blockers, not so good pass protectors. I expect more reinforcements to arrive soon including another RB. Signing Jacquizz Rodgers makes me think they don't like Carey. I don't see us going forward with 1 30 yr old RB, and 2 smaller RBs who haven't done much in the NFL. None of the three have breakaway speed.

A couple articles that I thought make good reading as we get closer to the draft. The first is an excellent data driven analysis of draft trends by position. Clearly shows how RB have dropped in average draft position over the last 15 years. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-footba...his-years-draft Next up is worst 1st Rd picks by team. Lot of players competing for that title on the Bears list. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-footba...team-since-1990

I'm with you on this and with so many needs in the trenches I'd go there on either line before I took a safety. As badly as we need a safety I prefer having someone who can make the tackle at the LOS, or get the early pass rush pressure, so we don't need the safeties to make the play every down. If we get a great deal to drop back to 15-20 overall then he's on the list.

I don't see Scherff as a tackle although I think he'd survive ok at RT, certainly better than Mills. Nor do I see him as a top 10 pick simply because I don't think he moves well enough to protect the edge in the NFL. Put him at OG and I think he's a perennial Pro Bowl player. Then kick the more athletic Long to RT and I agree we'd have one heck of a Oline. I think this should be one of our options if we decide to trade down a few places but I'd go WR or OLB if we stay at #7.

I'm still 50/50 on WR or Edge Rusher. We need both, and I don't care how many players we list at OLB not one of them is an elite speed rusher off the edge. I'm with Adam, just let the draft play out because we will get one of: White, Beasley, or Cooper.

Lots of info says Montgomery is a very good run blocker. Nothing at all says he is good at pass protection. Clearly a shift in mindset as the previous group prioritized the pass protection far more than the run blocking.

I like Damarious Randall's potential.

Again this is not an easy recovery and leaves his availability for early in the season in doubt. I think we are smart not to over-commit. http://www.hopkinsortho.org/labrum_tear.html The recovery depends upon many factors, such as where the tear was located, how severe it was and how good the surgical repair was. It is believed that it takes at least four to six weeks for the labrum to re-attach itself to the rim of the bone, and probably another four to six weeks to get strong. Once the labrum has healed to the rim of the bone, it should see stress very gradually so that it can gather strength. It is important not to re-injure it while it is healing. How much motion and strengthening of the arm is allowed after surgery also depends upon many factors, and it is up to the surgeon to let you know your limitations and how fast to progress. Because of the variability in the injury and the type of repair done, it is difficult to predict how soon someone can to return to activities and to sports after the repair. The type of sport also is important, since contact sports have a greater chance of injuring the labrum repair. However, a vast majority of patients have full function of the shoulder after labrum repair, and most patients can return to their previous level of sports with no or few restrictions.

I just read that he got $3mil. That is definitely starter money, makes it very clear we're going to more press coverage, and means they view Jennings as our slot CB. As SCS said, kick CB down a notch in the draft priorities but it's still on the list.

Torn labrum is a tough injury to recover from but if done right he can come back stronger. Doing that takes a lot of time and work. I'm not a doctor but I'd guess that in March it is way too early to asses how he's doing. He just had a visit with the Patriots. Hard to assess their level of interest this late in the game. The Patriots always look for bargains and I'm sure they are saying for the same price would you rather snap to Cutler or Brady?

McManis is the one guy I'd really like back. Very good on special teams and played decently at CB when we needed him there.

We're going to be in a 3-4 40% of the time, and a 4-3 60% of the time. I think with McDonald and Jenkins we've addressed it well enough to cover the 40% with our existing players. NT for the 3-4 front is a bigger concern of mine right now.

I like it up to the point you take Jay Ajayi. I'm not too big on him, he goes down too easily and doesn't seem to offer much more than a RB we could take later. Why do you want to move Fuller to FS and replace him with a 3rd Rd draft pick? I get that we need help at FS but we need just as much help at CB especially if Fuller isn't there. I highly doubt Randall lasts until Rd 7. He's had far too much positive press lately. If you go to CBS Sports they have him listed as #2 FS overall, Rd 2-3 grade. If he made it to the 4th Rd I think he'd be a good pickup for us because he has the athleticism and mentality to play FS, meaning he's more likely to hit somebody than Vereen, but needs time to learn the finer points of how to play the position. Keep in mind he took two years off from football before getting back into it at ASU. That's where Antrel Rolle comes into play. Lacking the athleticism to stay at CB, Rolle has had an excellent career at FS through his work ethic, smarts, and leadership. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...marious-randall

Agree on this but I can't rule out a CB as a possibility with our first pick even if it doesn't seem like the value is there. If we truly go BPA then it will be either the pass rusher or WR. I like Wilson but there's no way I'd pass up the option for White or Cooper just to have him get a chance to improve. Wilson can still beat out Royal for snaps. He could even beat out the rookies if they struggle to learn the offense early on. Just gotta compete.

I am spending some of my weekend researching WR for the draft and I'm wondering why this guy isn't on our radar? 4.35 forty, 45" vertical and he's 6' 2". Clearly he's got the measureables to compete and he's got the one thing we need on offense and that is long speed. I watched some film of him and he looks like a good prospect. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/chris-conl...s-arkansas-2014 At Walter Football he's not even listed among the top 30 WRs. CBS Sports has him as #18 WRs and at DraftTek he's #22. I realize he's not one of the top WR but when we talk about mid to late round prospects I like what he can do better than anything I've seen out of Nelson Agholor (who plays soft). Plus he's a high character guy. If we don't go WR early I think he should be on our radar in the 4th Rd. http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/...2015-nfl-draft/

He's competition for one of the roster spots but your point is likely the most key. I don't know this guy at all but it points toward moving away from the Lovie-style of smaller quicker DBs who sit back in zone coverage and more press coverage at the LOS.

Before the biggest job interview of your life that is just pure stupidity.

If fixed means being able to handoff left and handoff right then I say... yes he can! While I say that somewhat jokingly I believe it is correct. I think the key to Cutler being successful is that he must know he isn't "the man". He's not built for that. He just doesn't respond to pressure well because he always wants to prove himself. But I'm not talking about 4th quarter come from behind pressure, rather it's the media/fan/GM "he's a franchise QB" pressure that he can't handle. I don't really have data on this so it's subjective but why is Cutler so prone to early poor play in games, yet in the 4th quarter he's on his game? Just seems like he's always pressing early on, and if the previous game was bad then he struggles even more to get in the flow mentally. Get late in the game and it's as if he says I have nothing more to lose now. Yes, he's overpaid considering that limitation but that doesn't mean we can't win with him. Put the weight on someone else's shoulders, be it the OC, HC, RBs, WRs, and I think Cutler can play more than well enough for the team to win. That's the challenge for Fox and Co. Make Cutler a JAG (for those Parcells fans out there), both in his mind and in the offensive scheme.

100% prospects. Every single player is at a position we've all identified as a need. Some this has changed a bit with the recent FA signings but these are not all 1st Rd picks.

Yet you are comfortable without knowing the facts first-hand to declare him guilty.