jason

100% agree. I'll go one further. If you're going to draft someone #2, after trading up from #3, that guy not only should have won something, but he should have had several "HOLY S#!T" moments in college. To be honest, the red flags from Trubisky were glaring, and I can't really understand why so many were so enamored with him. I remember breaking this down somewhere on the board when he was being discussed, but the dude had a bad game every time he faced a decent team his senior year. 24/40, 156yds vs UGA 13/33, 58yds, 2INTs vs VT 23/39, 280yds, 2TDs, 2INTs vs Stanford I guess Pace must have loved when Trubisky was lighting up James Madison.

At the time Watson made the most sense after tearing NCAA football a new ass. That made a lot more sense that Mitch. And it made a metric ton more sense than trading up for Mitch.

Salt in the wound from Hub. Brings up some good points about questions nobody is asking, and all the more reason - other than the franchise-sacrificing trade - Watson to the Bears is a bad idea. https://www.shawlocal.com/bears/analysis/2021/02/03/hub-arkush-no-one-asking-the-only-question-that-matters-about-deshaun-watson-right-now/

HELL NO. HELL NO. Please, Dear God, please stop Pace from even thinking trading up to take a QB.

Check this out. ESPN's take on the state of the NFL, where teams stand in terms of how close to the SB they are, and the write up on the Bears. Interesting that the Bears are the lowest rated team in their list out of all the teams that made the playoffs. To me it's interesting for two reasons. One, because they realize the Bears weren't really playoff quality. Two, because they realize the Bears are missing several pieces of the puzzle. Which all makes one question why in the hell are Pace and Nagy around for another year? https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30795720/super-bowl-lines-all-32-nfl-teams-mix-getting-closer-years-away

Same. Traditional is traditional because it's great looking and everyone knows/loves it already.

Exactly what I was thinking about. If Stafford is worth two 1st round picks, a 3rd round pick, and an average QB who is better than Trubisky or Foles, then WTF will it take to get Watson? I'd guess THREE 1st round picks, or two 1st round picks and two 2nd round picks. Either way, that price tag is far too high for a team with numerous holes to fill.

It's an interesting question I never considered. Maybe the Bears are actually hiring competent GMs, but they're just being handcuffed by upper management? All I know is, the guys who have been drafting for the Bears for years have not been doing well.

Go-Go Golladay would be fine with me. I wanted him the year he was drafted.

Your scenario is doable, and I'm actually fine with Steps 1 & 2, but overall Step 3 is a huge hell no from me. There is no way he's worth three 1st and three 2nd round picks. That would make me want to vomit. Losing two more years of first and second round picks is just not acceptable with so many holes on the team. Now, pulling off the Mack and ARob trades to get more picks and then using those picks, that would be outstanding. 1st, 1st (Mack), 2nd, 2nd (ARob), 2nd (Mack) would allow the Bears to truly start a rebuild.

The "are you a pro scout" or "are you a GM" argument is so tired. If that meant anything, the Bears wouldn't have been terrible 30 of the past 35 years. Furthermore, Pace has unequivocally shown a propensity to draft not only poorly, but trade up for poor selections. Hell, look no further than how many of us hated not only the Trubisky pick, but also the trade up for him, which is the primary reason the Bears have sunk to where they are now. Having a pick that high is transformative for an organization, and Pace not only struck out, but but he paid the pitcher to do it. Just about any one of us would have had similar success to Pace over his tenure. We would have hits and misses, some seriously boneheaded picks, but he's missed far more than he has hit. We would have done the same out of sheer luck and percentage.

LMAO!!!! That's HILARIOUS!!! Artie destroyed him!! That felt like Christmas.

Honestly, I wouldn't be excited about this. I'd be OK, but not excited. Definitely my SEC bias. It's because of the schools. No.Iowa, Stanford, Louisville, Houston, Syracuse, Pitt...just not that exciting. Feels like a bunch of guys who get cut because they're not that athletic or don't transition to the pro game very well.

I was thinking the same thing earlier. What is available with the extra picks? Well, here's a different approach. What if the Bears just decided to maximize Foles and see what he can do? Your score is: 35508 (GRADE: A-) Your Picks: Round 1 Pick 20: Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virgina Tech (B) Round 2 Pick 20: Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame (B+) Round 3 Pick 19: Seth Williams, WR, Auburn (A+) Round 5 Pick 20: LaBryan Ray, DT/DE, Alabama (A+) Round 6 Pick 20: Feleipe Franks, QB, Arkansas (A+) Round 6 Pick 34 (COMP): Jaelan Phillips, DE/OLB, Miami (A+) Round 6 Pick 38 (COMP): Shawn Davis, FS/SS, Florida (B+) Round 6 Pick 40 (COMP): Master Teague, RB, Ohio State (A-) Round 7 Pick 4: Ed Ingram, OG, LSU (A+) I'd be ecstatic with this draft. Darrisaw is a monster, and Eichenberg slipping to the 2nd would be a steal. Add a weapon on offense, a QB with potential (Jones and Trask gone in 2nd), and two freaky DL prospects, and that's the plan to replace Arob, Hicks, and Massie.

I think you reverse translated me. I'm saying take the 5th-7th round picks and attempt to trade them to another team. Dumping those picks to get one more 3rd or 4th round pick for the Bears would be ideal.

Good draft. I'd rather figure a way to get that second OT higher in the draft. However... Trask is better than Trubisky. Great pick. Trask would get to throw to a huge, home run threat as well as a familiar target. Trask would be protected by a stud OT. Is that so difficult? Why can't the Bears ever do this? Draft a QB and then protect him and surround him with talent. If the year goes on and he's under pressure a lot, guess what? Go with OL again until it's fixed. Why in the world won't this franchise protect the #1 asset, the most important position on the entire team?

Honestly, I think teams should pile all the 7th and 6th rounders together that they can, maybe even with the 5th rounders, to move into the 4th or higher. Most of the 5th-7th guys are a long shot at best, and similar talent can often be found via FA and/or undrafted players.

I think the mathematical part of this is overpowering the common sense of it. Sure, the math of 720+720+720 is less than 3000, and the guy worth 3000 in this case has incredible talent, but this is a team game. If we were to take Gabe Carimi, Shea McClellin, and Kyle Long and assign them a value, it wouldn't be 720 each their first year. Carimi was easily a 1000ish (mid-1st) guy his first year before the freak knee injury. Shea sucked, and 90% of this board called it when he was drafted, but he was still a starter for a few years. Let's call him 500, like a 2nd round pick like he should have been. Finally, Long was all-rookie, 3 time pro bowler, and a monster his first three years. You have to slot him like an early first rounder. Let's say 1500. That would be the more realistic math, and a solid start to a team. A first rounder with immense talent can fail, however, if the surrounding talent is so subpar that the talented guy doesn't have the freedom to display said talent. In other words, Jay Cutler being traded to Chicago. Cutler got destroyed his first two years. Absolutely planted over and over again. Led the league in being sacked. Then he was gun-shy, and never the same guy again. Meanwhile, the Bears used guys like Devin Aromashodu, Rashweed Davis, Dane Sanzenbacher, and Roy Williams when they realized Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, and Earl Bennet weren't #1 WRs. Additionally, they built an OL of guys like Frank Omiyale, JMarcus Webb, and Lance Louis, worth about 50 points combined, to protect the guy worth several thousand in Draft Trade Value. If getting Watson means giving up multiple first rounders, which it appears it will, then it's a bad move for a franchise that wants to win. Great for tickets, but bad for wins.

I don't see why everyone is so quick to dump on him as a coach. He only had one full year after taking over a garbage team with minimal talent. And then he had some difficulty with a noted shit-head and others who wouldn't buy into the culture of discipline. After that, the team made some great draft picks and was finding their way before he was let go. All it took was one more good draft class and a few FAs and the team was much better. I've heard too many people say multiple times that a new Bears' coach needs to be given 3 years, etc., before judging or condemning them. To give the new guy a chance. And that's with 99% of us recognizing a bonehead move. Well, if the 49ers had given him a chance, it is extremely likely the success would have come based on the year after he left. If I had a vote, it would be an unequivocal yes. This Bears defense needs a spark, and Singletary would bring it.

Yep. I HAAAAATE trading up. When the entire thing is a gamble, you have much more success with extra picks. It's like having a million powerball tickets versus having 1. Of course, I'm not talking about trading everything away for the entire 7th round (i.e. scratch offs), but in general the extra picks help.

Speaking strictly on WRs, it's the same answer as per usual: Draft capital. The Bears should 100% trade down in the draft because there are several needs. They should attempt to accumulate multiple picks and take flyers on some guys who will likely fall to the 3rd or 4th. Here are a few. Tamorrion Terry, WR, Florida State (6'4") - He's intriguing because he's going to get a bad rap from team and school, will likely drop some, but has potential to be a #1. Trevon Grimes, WR, Florida (6'5") - Interesting based upon explosion. Warren Stewart, WR, Colorado State (6'6") - Sat out for the year. Could slip as a result.

Wait. Was this confirmed somewhere?! I didn't even know it and I called it watching both games. It reeked of Nagy. If so, figures they shit the bed. That dude has no clue how to serve as a play-caller and maximize his players' abilities.

It makes sense, but it's flawed from a management and ownership perspective. Why permit the anticipated failure? It would be better to cut bait, tell any incoming HC they have carte blanche on personnel decisions, and expect it to be a three year process. I distinctly remember people on this board saying the very same thing in Pace's defense when anyone challenged is wonderful picks. Then a new guy comes in, blows it up one year early because he doesn't have a relationship or loyalty to any players, and the Bears are on the road to recovery assuming the new guy makes good picks, etc. If I'm the new guy, the first thing I do is look for guys who aren't performing up to their salary and have huge cap hits without dead cap numbers. I'd attempt to trade the following guys for picks, immediately: Akiem Hicks ($12M Cap, $1.5M Dead) - Easy choice. He's fallen off the last two years. Get something for him while there is still a market. Bobbie Massie ($9.3M Cap, $2.3M Dead) - He sucks. Next. Jimmy Graham ($10M Cap, $3M Dead) - Thanks for the year of tutelage; it's time for Kmet to prove himself. Charles Leno ($11.2M Cap, $5M Dead) - He sucks worse than Massie. Bye. The other players to consider either don't have a significant cap hit, or have a prohibitive dead cap figure.

That's me for 2+ years now. It's also why my viewing interest is so low. If I'm not excited about the Bears, why watch the NFL?

LMAO. You're right. I forgot about that, but, then again, I didn't put much thought into it...like Pace.