adam

Madlith you crazy....kidding. Honestly, this is how we expected Pace to draft all along. Pick the best player available at a position of need. He seems to be doing that compared to previous drafts where there was a perceived "reach" or unnecessary trade. He doesn't seem to be trying to outsmart the other GM's and find the diamond in the rough. Just pick the best football player. I have to think Nagy has something to do with this. Either that or Fox had a hand in previous drafts.

Best available going into today, would really like to grab an Edge/DE/OLB type with a few available: Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, OLB/DE, Oklahoma Marcell Ateman, WR, Oklahoma State Tyrell Crosby, OT, Oregon Holton Hill, CB, Texas Josh Sweat, DE, Florida State Tim Settle, DT, Virginia Tech Bradley Bozeman, C, Alabama Deontay Burnett, WR, USC Greg Stroman, CB, Virginia Tech Duke Ejiofor, DE, Wake Forest Jeff Holland, DE, Auburn Auden Tate, WR, Florida Kameron Kelly, S, San Diego State Skai Moore, LB, South Carolina R.J. McIntosh, DT, Miami Kalen Ballage, RB, Arizona State Jamarco Jones, OT, Ohio State Quin Blanding, S, Virginia Justin Lawler, DE, SMU

Bears trade up and get a highly productive WR. This has Nagy written all over it. Smith was for Fangio, Daniels was for Hiestand, and Miller was for Nagy. The Bears traded #105 (4th rounder) and next year's 2nd for #51. Based on how they value draft picks where next year's are worth one round less, we won the trade (in terms of value).

Miller has been compared to Antonio Brown, except Miller was more dominant with back to back 1,400 yd seasons with 32 TDs over those two years. We ended up basically trading 2nd rounders (this year for next year), and giving up a 4th this year to do that. The only issue I have is I wish we gave up our 2nd 4th rounder and not our original (105 vs 115).

This will be a tough one with Sutton, Landry, Gesicki, Johnson, and Jackson all going right after Daniels. Still a solid pick but a lot of room to move down and get an extra pick.

Sort of shocking considering most guys with first round grades were still on the board, and Courtland Sutton went one pick after us to the Broncos. So hopefully Daniels becomes a perennial starter and helps anchor the interior. I would've personally moved down and accumulated picks (if possible). There was a run on OLINE (3 in 5 picks) so I am sure that had something to do with it.

Interesting that Pace is just sticking to his player grades. Roquan was the obvious pick at #8 and when it came to #39, Daniels is right up there. So Whitehair moves back out to Guard. Daniels, Whitehair, Long is a pretty solid interior.

Wow, only Will Hernandez went before our pick, and we went James Daniels, C, Iowa. Not a bad pick, he had a first round grade. So we went LB, C to start the draft. We still need to address Edge and WR.

Yeah, that has to be why he is dropping. I agree, if we have 2-3 of these guys targeted and they one of them are still there, you pull the trigger, but if "our" guys are gone, you move down to still pick in this tier.

There are still a bunch of top Tier players left: Edge Harold Landry (1st round grade) CB Josh Jackson (1st round grade) G Will Hernandez (1st round grade) C James Daniels (1st round grade) RB Derrius Guice WR Courtland Sutton T Connor Williams CB Isaiah Oliver DL Maurice Hurst We pick 7th in the 2nd round, and I am sure there will be some trades ahead of us with teams wanting to go up and get their guy. Hopefully someone moves up to take another QB. If we stay where we are at, we are assured of one of these guys. If we are looking to trade down, I wouldn't want to drop more than 7-8 slots (#46 - CIN range) which would net us an additional early 4th rounder. We could then flip our two lower 4th's to move back into the back end of the 3rd (#91). I am thinking NO's would probably want more draft capital after moving up yesterday. So we get #46, and #91 for #39 and #115.

So teams traded up at 7 and 10, so the Bears and 49ers missed out on that trade action. 49ers took McGlinchey which seemed high at 9.

Roquan Smith a Chicago Bear.

Damn that was our trade. #12 and 2x 2nd rounders.

Pretty much as expected, Barkley, Nelson, and Chubb gone. Smith, Edmunds, or Fitzpatrick.

Nelson, Chubb, and Smith still available, wow.

#1 CLE selects Baker Mayfield (lol) #2 NYG selects Saquon Barkley (solid pick but left QBs on the board.

They only have 24 players with a 1st round grade (I thought that was interesting). Here are their 1st round graded players, I was surprised not to see Vander Esch, Davenport, J Allen, and Sutton listed (all 2nd rounders). It would be nice to get any of Nelson/Fitzpatrick/Smith in the first and then someone like Davenport in the 2nd. QB J Rosen B Mayfield L Jackson S Darnold RB S Barkley R Jones D Guice WR C Ridley OT McGlinchey C Williams OG Q Nelson I Wynn C J Daniels Edge B Chubb H Landry DT V Vea M Hurst LB R Smith Tr Edmunds CB D Ward M Fitzpatrick J Alexander J Jackson S D James https://theathletic.com/266768/2018/04/25/the-athletics-2018-nfl-draft-board/

They are basically saying Acho is the worst starter (currently), and worse than (Kush/Grasu), Kwiatkoski, Gabriel, or Massie. What that tells me is we will be hard pressed to go DB in the first few rounds. We need to address 4 of these needs (OLB, OG, ILB, WR, and OT) in the first 4 picks. So ideally we would trade back, pick up a 3rd and have 5 picks in the first 4 rounds to address the top 5 needs (if the draft falls that way...which it never does). Then use the 5th-7th on depth or a real punter.

After watching some film, I would say Smith is a close third for me behind Chubb and Nelson. Chubb and Floyd would be a havoc pairing, Nelson would help anchor the interior line for the next 6-8 years with Long and Whitehair, and Smith would be an immediate starter and add to the long lineage of star LB's in the franchise. Ward and Fitz would round out my top 5 (less QBs + Barkley).

I am shooting for starters with the first 4 picks, so if we can get LB/Edge and OL/WR with the first 4 picks, that would be great. I believe you have to think starter in the first 4 rounds, and our greatest need on offense is OG, then WR. For defense, LB and Edge seem to be the biggest needs. Then some depth with the remaining picks, UDFA, and any remaining free agents who were late cuts.

If we are ok getting one of Smith, Edmunds, Fitzpatrick, or Ward in the first, then one of them should be there at #12, the Bills pick, who clearly look like they are trying to move up for a QB. Something like our #8 and #115 (our 2nd 4th rounder) for Buffalo's #12 and #65 (1st pick in 3rd round). That would give us 3 picks in the top 65 (and get our 3rd round pick back for the Trubisky trade). This is only assuming the guys we want are gone at #8.

Assuming 4 QBs go, it comes down to Barkley, Chubb, Nelson, and I would say Smith. It would be nice to get Nelson or Chubb since they fill bigger needs than LB, but Smith would be a 10-year starter. Also, like every draft, there is going to be a surprise. If teams shuffle for someone early, it could make for an exciting draft.

I believe he plays on ST as well, so he is an immediate upgrade over Bellamy as a WR3/4.

AZ is spot on. If we weren't sure about his medical, why tender him at all? If we didn't know his medical status but wouldn't mind keeping him, why not give him a 2nd round tender so we get something for him if tendered for only a million more? This was clearly a tactic to see how he was progressing and when the Saints tendered him, that made the decision easy. I liked Meredith but he clearly was not what Nagy was looking for in a WR2/3 option, especially if he misses any of the offseason with a new QB and scheme (Meredith never caught a single regular season pass from Tru).

From what I have read, if Meredith got a 2nd round tender, it would've prevented any team from making an offer (or setting the market), so Pace gave him an original round tender assuming that a team would set the market for Meredith, which the Saints did. The Saints couldn't create a crazy deal because they don't have much cap space to sign Meredith if the deal goes thru. So I will be shocked if the Bears let Meredith walk for nothing unless there are legitimate health concerns.