adam

Yeah, all I was saying was relative to last year, they have taken a step back. Williams and Hawk were starters and the 3rd/4th leading tacklers. Harris was their primary KR, and House/Guion/Jones were all depth players.

I have heard some reports that have him as high as the late 1st and early 2nd round. I don't know if we can afford that high of a pick (39) unless the team just loves him. Hundley also looked good on his pro day.

In terms of improving the team since last season, have the Bears not had the best offseason of any team in the division? GB has actually lost a lot of their depth and some key vets (Williams, Hawk, House, etc). So even though they re-signed Cobb and some others, at this point they are slightly worse than last year. Detroit has taken a massive step backwards losing Suh and Fairley and only gaining Ngata (who is older). Minnesota had a slight upgrade going from Jennings to Wallace, but the biggest swing will be in regards to what happens with AP. With their other roster losses (Felton), they probably are even at this point. With every team expected to improve through the draft similarly, it is hard for me to see the Bears as not improving the most so far this offseason (GM, coaching staff, Tucker gone, McPhee, Royal, Rolle). Now I know we lost Marshall, but I think our additions still outweigh his loss (on and off the field). https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/...ecap-nfc-north/

I just don't think Gurley or Gordon will be there when we pick at 39. If we traded with CLE (12/19) or NO (13/31), the only pick I would entertain picking Gurley would be 31 (but with all the other holes and Forte/Carey on the roster, would that be the most efficient pick?).

I couldn't find a primary or alternate list, just Pro Bowl or not. Sure there will be a few exceptions (mainly QB), but for the most part it is accurate. With this being Pace's first draft, he is going to pick the safest BPA on the board at #7 (or trade down). If I can find the number of first rounders drafted by position, then I can see what percentage of each have become Pro Bowlers. So even though Safety is low, they could be 5/5 when picking them in the first.

Here is a list of Pro Bowlers drafted in the 1st round, by position (last 10 years): 1st Round Pro Bowlers (109 total): Offense: 59 Defense: 50 LB - 15 OT - 12 WR - 12 CB - 12 RB - 10 DE - 9 QB - 8 DT - 7 OG - 7 S - 7 OC - 5 TE - 5 After seeing his pro day, I am down on Ray, I don't want him and think he would be a bad first pick. The 2 QBs would also be bad picks with so many other needs on the team. I would be ok with Beasley, Fowler, Williams, Gregory, Shelton, Cooper, White, and Scherff at #7 (if we couldn't trade down and still get one of them at 12 or 13). After that, I couldn't tell you about specific names that I don't want. For the players you guys listed, I agree that drafting an injured RB, when you have one of the best RBs in the league (and a rookie that still hasn't really been used on the roster), is a wasted pick. Now about Marshall in the 6th, I wouldn't mind him in other years, but I just don't think we are in a position to draft a "project" player right now. We need pro ready talent that can come in Day 1 and contribute and upgrade the roster. So any pick that is not going to be an upgrade somewhere is a "nightmare" pick for me.

7 - A. Cooper, WR 39 - C. Davis, DE 71 - L. Mauldin, OLB 103 - D. Smith, S 134 - S. Golson, CB 167 - B. Hager, ILB To me this is a pretty solid draft in terms of positions. If we sign Wisniewski, then this is a great draft.

How can you say Thomas and Sanders are that much better but then say they had Manning throwing to them. That completely contradicts your argument. Sanders doesn't even have a season comparable to last season. To me that speaks more to Manning than their own skill levels. Look at what Decker did away from Denver. Again I am not saying we have better players but comparable. I don't think D. Thomas is that much better, check out what he did before Manning. Sanders almost doubled his career best in yardage, so before last season, him and Royal were pretty close in production. Besides TDs how was Julius Thomas that much better than Bennett? I just feel we can live up to last year's potential on offense with this group.

I could see them doing it if they were really high on someone that wouldn't be there at 13 (like one of the WRs Cooper or White), but it would be for their #13 and #44, not #13 and #31. Just think, they could potentially get (Cooper/White) and still pick again in the 1st. That would be a pretty good consolation prize for losing Graham and Stills. They would have Brees with Unger anchoring their line, with Cooks and Colston + Cooper/White with Spiller/Ingram in the backfield. They added Ellerbe and Browner on defense, so pick #31 can get them another defensive starter.

Taking the most current rankings from various sites, I put together a compiled list to see how the prospects would rank. I ranked them by average draft position with their highest and lowest slot in parentheses. I was surprised to see 15 players ranked in the top 20 in all rankings. That is really consistent. I added some breaks where the averages were separated by a few points. If we are going BPA, and this list is any indication of player value, it looks like we will pick from the first 7 listed (and more specifically Fowler/Cooper/White/Gregory). I am sure pro days will change these somewhat and we will have some movers, but for the most part, this list will be pretty close to where the final rankings are at next month. Prospect Ranking 1 Leonard Williams - 1.75 (1/3) 2 Jameis Winston - 3 (1/5) 3 Marcus Mariota - 3.25 (1/7) 4 Dante Fowler Jr. - 4.5 (4/5) 5 Amari Cooper - 4.75 (3/7) 6 Kevin White - 6 (2/11) 7 Randy Gregory - 6.75 (6/8) *last of 6 players ranked in top 10 in all rankings ======================== 8 Vic Beasley - 10.5 (5/17) 9 Shane Ray - 11 (8/15) 10 Danny Shelton - 11.5 (9/13) 11 Brandon Scherff - 11.75 (6/21) 12 DeVante Parker - 11.75 (9/14) 13 Trae Waynes - 12 (9/16) ======================== 14 Landon Collins - 16.5 (14/19) 15 Alvin Dupree - 16.75 (8/28) 16 Malcom Brown - 17.5 (16/19) *last of 15 players ranked in top 20 in all rankings 17 T.J. Clemmings - 17.75 (11/22) 18 Melvin Gordon - 18 (12/23) 19 Andrus Peat - 18.75 (9/30) 20 Todd Gurley - 20.25 (13/25) 21 Shaq Thompson - 22 (17/32) 22 La'el Collins - 24.5 (16/34) 23 Arik Armstead - 25.25 (15/35) 24 Eddie Goldman - 26.66 (23/30) *last of 22 players ranked in top 32 in all rankings (1st round) ======================== 25 Dorial Green-Beckham - 29.5 (19/51) 26 Owamagbe Odighizuwa - 30.25 (23/48) 27 Jake Fisher - 31.5 (21/42) 28 Jaelen Strong - 33.33 (22/50) 29 Ereck Flowers - 33.5 (21/49) 30 Jalen Collins - 34 (22/51) 31 DJ Humphries - 34 (14/54) - A player must have been in the top 25 in one of the rankings to be on this list.

Yeah I can't see New Orleans doing this but I guess you never know. I could see them doing 13 and 44 if someone is there at #7 that they are enamored with and know they still have #31 in the first. Parker, that would be a crazy draft, and you seem to hit every need (DLine, LB, CB, S, WR, OLine)

$6mil is crazy for Parker. I was figuring $4mil for 3 years. $30mil? Wow. I would rather have Goldson and use him like he was in SF. Brown would be good too, especially considering his experience with Rolle.

Allen is going to be a situational pass rusher and won't necessarily play OLB. He will be an outside edge rusher. He is not strong enough to be inside. Of our current DE's, I see Houston in a similar role as McPhee and is moved all over the place. So he could be considered a DE/OLB. Guys like Bass, Lane, Washington, and Young are more than likely going to have to see if they can play OLB. Dunn, Ferguson, Ratliff, and Sutton will stay on the line. Bostic, Greene, Jones, and Lattimore will have to be tried inside. SMC will more than likely be cut, but if not will get a shot at OLB. So you are right, we do have a bunch of guys projected for DE/OLB that can't really play DE in a 3-4. I believe some will be moved on draft day or cut in the summer to clean the roster up.

The Bears have a ton of cap space next year, so they could get creative with some contracts and give Tillman something more than the vet minimum. Just give him a 3 yr deal for $1mil base salary this year with a $2mil signing bonus so he gets $3mil this year, but only $1.666 against the cap.

Sure NYJ got a good deal, but there were other circumstances that led to the trade than just production, so comparing Marshall's number to salary is moot point. Now comparing Britt and Royal is another story. I have always liked Britt and I would've loved to have seen him signed, but no way would I give him $7mil a year (I was thinking $4-5). There has to be some reason he has never lived up to his billing. Also, he is not a slot receiver and to diversify our WR corps, the slot was a bigger need. Lastly, just comparing performance over their careers, Britt's best season is 48 receptions (3 per game): Britt - best season 48-748 Royal - best season 91-980, 2nd- 62-778, 3rd- 59-627 I also don't think Britt was ever truly available and STL seemed to give him a little bump in pay due to his $1mil salary from last year. So based on the market, Royal for $5 is a better value than Britt at $7. I will mark this thread and come back at the end of the year (to eat crow if I have to), but I believe the two receivers will put up comparable numbers this year with Royal having the edge in receptions for $2 mil less.

If Cutler struggles, I think Clausen will get a chance, but he is not the long term solution. However, I cannot think of a better situation for Cutler to light it up this year compared to previous years. Trestman fooled us last year (fool's gold) and most were not aware how toxic the locker room had gotten (so I can see why many have a pessimistic view on the offense this season). With Fox/Gase/Loggains, the subtraction of Marshall and the addition of Royal, Cutler has the best coaching staff from top to bottom to excel with the right mix of players to have routes develop at different times in his progressions. DEN vs CHI skill player comparison: Alshon is very similar to D. Thomas, Bennett has out-produced J.Thomas in everything other than TDs, and before last season Royal and E. Sanders were very comparable. The only production missing would be from the #3WR where Welker had 49-464. Wilson was basically a non-factor on offense last year and I don't know if he is the answer. Forte is comparable to any of the Denver RBs except we don't have a true pounder between the tackles. Denver has always had several RBs, which should result in more carries for Carey. If we add another WR, TE, and OLineman I think the offense has as much potential is it did last year (which the consensus was a top 10 offense).

Yeah, to me this is basically the going rate for this type of transaction. However, we got a higher pick in the 5th and gave up a higher one in the 7th, but based on draft pick value, we got a better deal.

Yeah what the hell, $7mil a yr for Britt?

I hope he has improved from that 1-9 season. Most other QB's would be out of the league after that type of season. He is a reliable backup but nothing more.

I was thinking Foster/Parker and Cox. That would be McPhee/Foster/Rolle/Parker/Cox added on defense, and Royal on offense.

According to overthecap.com we have $130,789,062 committed to the cap after the McPhee/Royal/Rolle signings, and we have an adjusted cap of $145,168,434 for this year (with carry over). That leaves us with $14.380; we have a total rookie pool of about $5.7 and an effective rookie pool of about $3.4. With league year expenses and some cap flexibility, that leaves us around $9mil to sign other FA's. To me this seems like we can bring in 2-3 more mid-tier players. Hopefully two of them will be Foster and Parker.

Mike Wallace traded for same picks to Minny.

Thanks Orbitz:

Oh yeah 2000, I thought you meant their last one. I really don't know how relevant that is from 15 years ago though. The game has evolved. For the longest time it was defense and running the ball. Now I am not so sure. Just looking at last year, using PF/PA, of the top 10 PF teams, 8 made the playoffs, and two did not (PHI 10-6, NO 7-9). Compare that to PA, where only 5/10 teams made the playoffs. The same number of teams (5) were in the top 10 in rushing, and 5 others were in the top 10 in passing. So a balanced offense seems to be the best, and offense is more important than defense.

The team also put out a policy in regards to "no tv shows" and Marshall was on tv asking Harbaugh if he would let him be on the show. Both sides clearly at posturing here. The team had a policy and Marshall didn't want to abide by it, so they moved him to where he could. Just imagine if he stayed and was not allowed to "promote his brand". He would've become even a bigger annoyance.