AZ54

Doesn't bother me one bit. Best player on the board, best OT, top position of need. He can match Carter physically 1on1 and he's got the work ethic and football character you want in a top 10 pick. Poles knew it and didn't try to get cute or greedy and trade back hoping he'd still be there. The fact Skor went right after us at 11 tells us he was right.

This was the best film breakdown I found on Wright before the draft. Good analysis on pro's and con's and this guy watched every single snap of his in the 2022 season.

That's usually all I ever get, if that. It's all blind squirrel theory for me.

If you're still not sure watch this game against Georgia and you'll see some 1on1 blocks against Jalen Carter among other Georgia defensive talent.

Start your body count with these highlights... https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2023/4/27/23701805/2023-nfl-draft-chicago-chicago-bears-darnell-wright-film-study-scouting-report

Meanwhile we get Detroit taking a RB at 12 and then GB takes Van Ness at 13. I like both players but don't think the value was there.

When you see the body count on the ground you'll understand.

Love the pick. I think he's the best RT in this draft period, might even be the best OT. We're going to run the ball on everyone with this Oline. Not to mention the pass pro just took a huge leap forward. I'm so glad we didn't sign McGlinchey because Wright is a big step up IMO.

I imagine this was Jason after hearing the pick...

Is there actually someone who is not arguing to replace our entire Dline?

Gotta get my wishlist in writing: (used Daniel Jeremiah's top 150 rankings). Most of my mocks to date I've drafted 2 DTs but this time grabbed two Edge defenders. 9) Darnell Wright RT 53) Keeanu Benton DT 61) Derek Hall Edge 64) Julius Brents CB 103) Isaiah Foskey Edge 133). Luke Wypler C 136) Chase Brown RB 148). Xavier Hutchinson WR 218). Payne Durham TE 248) Chamarri Conner S

Nah if that happens someone else is sliding let it play out

The thing with Wright is that he's mostly viewed just as a RT. I think our need is purely RT, meaning I'm not interested in moving Braxton Jones to the other side. We might draft Wright at 9 and if he's the pick I'm ok with that, but I'd also be ok with PJJ or even Broderick Jones. I think the OT talent is balanced enough that a team might as well wait and see which OT is available at their pick. If we trade down my bet is on a team moving up for a QB. That could be any of the Titans @ 11, Texans @ 12, Patriots @ 14, or Wash @ 16. Eagles do not need an OT, Tenn does but more likely lean toward LT, Texans do not need OT. Seems like a sweet spot where we could trade back 2 to 3 spots, grab one more pick, and likely still have our OT target on the board. Traditional trade value says that'd be 150pts or late 3rd Rd pick but as we know if it's for a QB that price goes up so we could end up with either 73 from HOU (225pts) or 72 from TENN (230pts). I would be over the moon if we had 11, 53, 61, 64, 72, and then 103. I wouldn't mind if Poles had someone he really wanted in the 1st Rd and he paired up two of those Day 2 picks to go get him. Then we'd walk out of this draft with 3 first round talents: DJ Moore, OT (presumably), 3-tech or edge.

As I know you're a fan of Swift Sports he made a great point that the punter we just signed kicks with his left leg. He did some research and it appears Velus' drops last year were mostly from left leg kickers. Velus aside, it can't hurt to have that for all the punt returners.

I agree. The fans who were owned by Rodgers were the ones in Green Bay not Chicago. No MVP in professional sports has been more of a tease and a playoff failure than Rodgers. With all that, the best he could do for his fans was to beat Chicago, a team without a good QB, consistently. Then in the end he just got on his high horse and walked right out of town. He now goes to the Jets in hopes of doing what Brady did and proving he was the talent not the team. In the words of the late great motivational speaker Matt Foley....

Yes I'd be very happy with that Oline. A 2nd Rd 3-tech won't be elite but should be more productive than anyone we had last year. We can add to that next year.

I only said "a bit" and you are correct there are plenty of examples wherer he handles speed. One concern with the Anderson game is that he was lined up either inside or straight up on Wright and wasn't often coming off the edge. That's just the way Alabama often used Anderson this past season.

I love that draft but the only change I'd make is that I'm now thinking Darnell Wright is the better RT choice even if we stay at 9. Everyone else you picked I'd be very happy with. Great draft.

Agreed, let's get nasty in the run game with Davis and Wright coming at defenses on the right side. Braxton Jones is already a pretty good run blocker and now alongside Jenkins we look good run blocking across the line. I'm still not sure what to think about Whitehair at Center but he's an upgrade over Mustipher. Pass protection would be an upgrade at RT as well. Wright might struggle a bit with elite speed off the edge but he redirects back inside better than Broderick Jones.

I'm 100% on board the Darnell Wright train. I'd take Benton over Foskey in a heartbeat at 53. Zero chance I want to see Joe Tippyman falling over at Center in a Bears uniform. I'm not sure how he could even consider him at 53. We have edge help but the interior Dline remains a big concern. Anyway, Schrock comes right back and grabs Derek Hall, who I like more than Foskey. After that I like his picks.

I'm still torn on Kancey that early. That is likely the area he gets drafted too. My concern is that he ends up being mostly just a pass rusher, which we need, and his run defense will be poor at the NFL level. For a 1st Rd pick I want a true starter. Day 2 is solid.

I'll be snooping around looking for sleepers and late round gems this weekend. This is a good list really for mid-round prospects, maybe early day 3. Most are well known to us but there's a couple more names for me that seem worth checking into. Brenton Strange seems like a good 3rd TE prospect. https://www.thescore.com/news/2632618

Why doesn’t anyone talk about Clyde Edwards-Helaire RB KC drafted in round one who got replaced by a 7th Rd pick? Merciless Hardman never produced much either. I don’t think he was a first round pick but still performed far below expectations. Maybe if we’d have looked better at the history with Hardman we have understood why we ended up with Velus?

Saw someone state a similar case for Jahmyr Gibbs - get the elite threat out of the backfield and you now have a serious problem with Fields going one direction and Gibbs the other. Gibbs on routes makes it virtually impossible to put a LB to spy on Fields on passing downs. From a team building perspective, IMO that argument is stronger versus drafting JSN. Gibbs would be an option on a trade down scenario, or even trading back twice to late 1st Rd, or potentially getting an early 2nd Rd pick.

Drafting JSN would mean letting Mooney go. There'd be no reason to keep 2 slot WRs like that on the roster. I'm not for it because we have too many needs to have a luxury at any one spot.