AZ54

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.

I do like Lawson more than I like Leonard Floyd. He fits the scheme better IMO and I can live with a strong rotation of McPhee, Lawson, Houston, and if he's still around Willie Young. I think if we took Lawson we'd be trading Young for a late round pick.

Horrible decision. There is nothing to his game that says he should be a safety. No long speed, no height to match up against TEs, not a good tackler. Keep him where he's at either NB or CB so he can use his elite quickness to cover players off the LOS.

I'm so disappointed.

Using a similar approach to what we did here CBS came out with the Bears biggest need as Dline. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-footba...of-all-32-teams

I have heard the two are rated very closely and that, as you say, Conklin could be the 2nd OT drafted. For a team that want's to run first it might not be out of the question. OTOH that is the type of RT we have and if you can't get both (good pass pro & run blocking) I like the idea that our left side is better at the pass protection. That makes it easier to slide protection toward Massie's side because he does have trouble with speed.

Or are we doing this just to poke at Elway. I'd rather not go with Hoyer but he's serviceable as a backup for a year especially if we build a very strong running game.

Rolle can be cut any day and we' pick up another $2.7mil.

I like Elliot but I don't see anything that is special about him. He's very good at everything. I totally disagree on the his cuts being as slow as Henry's. You can watch the combine for both and see how they handle the cuts. On some drills with sharp cuts Henry almost comes to a complete stop, Elliot does not. I think he's likely to have a better career than Forte because he's faster but should at least be equal to Forte's production barring injury. I'll live with Elliot at #11 if he's out pick but I just don't think the drop off is too far if we grab a RB in the 3rd Rd. Going beyond that, I think it's wrong to assume we'll just grab any RB in the 5th Rd or later and he'll be nearly as good. From a value perspective I think we should grab a player at another position with #11 and a RB in the 3rd Rd. I don't think 3rd Rd CBs can be as close to 1st Rd CBs. Same goes for OTs. DT might be simply because of the rare talent in this draft.

He'd be the type of signing that would generate a lot of fan interest so I could definitely see the 49ers jumping in.

..oops, reading is fundamental. Here's the 2015 draft visit list for the Bears: http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2015/4/17...t-visit-tracker

I'm not interested in him at that price. If I got to choose I'd gladly take Wilkerson and his high price tag over Norman. Norman is one of the better CBs but I've seen far too many analysts say he's not an elite CB. He wants elite money. Wilkerson is an elite 3-4 DE and with his pressure any average secondary coverage on either side, or in the slot, will be good enough.

http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2016/4/18...prospect-visits

Seems like we went through a similar debate a couple months back between Myles Jack vs. Ragland.

There are now 20 votes vs. the 19 when I ran the numbers. As I said that can swing things quite a bit especially between #2-5. If I can get back to my other computer I'll try to verify the spreadsheet I used but we have some friends in town and unfortunately I have to head to Las Vegas for a couple days. No clue how I missed putting TE in there.

I'd give up 2 chances to get a strike at the move TE position with Higbee and Boehringer. Where ever Moritz goes in his first practice he is going to be shocked at the speed of the NFL. The first time he really gets hit will be equally shocking.

Results are in: 19 people voted. Points were awarded: 10 points for each 1st place need vote; 5 points for each 2nd place vote, 3 points for each 3rd place vote. TalkBears Draft Needs are: 1) Edge Rusher with 78 points 2) Safety with 65 points 3) CB with 62 points 4) DT with 60 points 5) OT with 56 points 6) QB with just 6 points 7) RB with just 5 points No votes were placed for: ILB, OG, or WR You usually learn something when you put the data together and this time is no different. 1) Clearly finding someone to get pressure off the edge is the top priority here on this board. I'm a bit surprised by that since I felt we were effective enough with McPhee (when healthy), Houston (when healthy late in the season), and Young but I admit we are missing a speed element in this mix. 2) The tight distribution in points from Safety through OT points to a couple things. First, this is a rebuilding effort that has a ways to go. Second, the varied priorities among everyone here on what should be fixed first. If one more person voted that order from 2-5 could be completely reversed. I'd say the second point is why we should stay with BPA. Too many needs to bypass a better player. We're just not going to be able to address all these needs effectively in one draft. I say effectively because you can draft players at need positions in the 5th, 6th, and 7th Rd but it's wishful thinking to expect them to contribute in year one, if ever. Not to say it can't happen because Amos proved that last year but expecting it to happen is different. Or put another way, relying on those late draft picks to contribute doesn't usually end well. Next is how we match up with our front office and coaching staff. Clearly none of us view RB as a need but I think all of us expect the Bears to draft a RB prior to the 6th Rd. Same goes with QB.

I think Gregory is different. Gregory had reports of being hours late for meetings with teams before the draft and then not giving a damn about it...as in no apology. He was/is very arrogant and selfish and lived his life that way. I haven't seen signs of Nkemdiche being that way but when he talks he is clearly his own man and not worried much about impact on other people but I don't think he is disrespectful in the way that Gregory is. That can be good or bad depending on what Nkemdiche chooses to do in his life. I'd say there are some similarities to Martellus Bennett but Bennett might be the more selfish player (i.e. throw me the ball in the red zone).

With all the discussion lately around BPA vs. needs I'm curious to see what everyone views our top needs are heading into the draft. I tried to include all positions so this can be as objective as possible. In other words ILB is still listed even though we just spent $10mil to fix it. Even though I listed top 3 needs, if we get enough people to vote then from a statistics view point we should we will be able to identify and rank our top 5 needs. To do that I'll give every 1st place vote 10 points, every 2nd place vote 5 points, and every 3rd place 3 points.

It's just our preferences. I value the player with the 4.3 forty that is more versatile and you value more the player with the power for short yardage situations.

Insanity is me. I watched some more film I'll say 3rd Rd is ok for me. Despite the highlights you shared I don't see a guy with the ability to make the quick lateral cuts to the backside of the play. He'll have a good career and he'll have plenty of NFL highlights. I also think NFL defenses are going to shoot into the front side of the play and make him stop to cutback. That's going to lead to many short gains or no-gain plays. I don't want him with our 2nd Rd pick, or a late 1st Rd pick if we should trade back. I do care if a RB has versatility and can return kicks, punts, and especially if they are able to work outside as as slot WR like Forte did for us for many years. I think that makes it harder for defenses to figure out a play based on personnel. If it's between Henry and Drake in the 3rd Rd I'd still take Drake. If I had Dallas' Oline then Henry is a perfect fit. We have Grasu at C who gets pushed around, or an aging Ramirez in his place, and Leno at LT who is not that good as a run blocker. Our slot WR depth right now consists of Eddie "Sugar Glass" Royal backed up by Marc "I might get separation on this play" Mariani.

That's what I'm hoping for as well. Keep in mind Buffalo has wined and dined Paxton Lynch throughout this draft process. They are definitely interested. On the Jets side Todd Bowles was in Arizona when the Cardinals went after Carson Palmer. That was an easy deal to make (more or less a 6th Rd pick) but the point is he saw how important it was for Arians to get a good QB and they went after it and it paid off. It's clear Bowles doesn't like Geno and they really want Fitzpatrick back but they know he's just a stop gap. Limited in cap space and with few other options I can see Bowles thinking he'll figure out the defense without Wilkerson and using him as trade bait to move up and draft Lynch. The 49ers have $50mil in cap space and this past week Wilkerson came out and said he'd like to play in San Francisco. There may be something to that smoke. If Lynch is still there when we pick it's possible both the Jets and Bills are calling to make a trade.

It's not the free spirit aspect that bothers me, it's more the guy who admits he just takes plays off too often. I don't think that free spirit is the guy who loves football. If he played the game with the passion Bosa does then he'd be a top 5 pick.