1st Round - Pick #14 - Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt - With Clady off the board, the Bears had their choice between Williams, Albert, and Otah. These picks can be argued back and forth, but Williams seems to be the one most ready to help out this year. He is a stellar pass blocker (only 2 sacks allowed in over 1,500 snaps) who needs to improve on his run blocking. He only did 21 reps at the combine, but he can always improve his strength. Williams will always be compared to Otah and Albert. Reminds me of Tommie Harris vs Vince Wilfork. Grade: A-
2nd Round - Pick #44 - Matt Forte, RB, Tulane - This was one of those picks that can easily be disputed as much as it can be supported. With a run of OL after the Bears 1st pick, there was very little value at that position left. So the Bears went with one of their next biggest needs at RB. With Ray Rice and Kevin Smith still available, the Bears went with Forte. This seemed to be a little bit of a reach for Forte, but there was no way he would've been available by pick 70 (the next Bears pick). Brohm and Henne were also available. I would've liked to at least seen the Bears try to trade down and pick up an extra pick, but who knows if that was even possible. Either way, Forte is going to come in and compete for the starting RB spot. If not, he will at least be able to provide a different look compared to Benson. Grade: B-
3rd Round - Pick #70 - Earl Bennett, WR, Vanderbilt - The Bears were able to wait until the 3rd Round to address their WR position. At Pick #70, the Bears had Bennett, Doucet, Caldwell, and Manningham to choose from. I would've preferred Doucet, but I don't mind Bennett here since he can immediately come in and compete. At Vandy, he broke all the school receiving records and holds the SEC Career receptions mark, breaking it with only 3 years in school. He also can be used to return kickoffs making a formidable return duo with Hester. Grade: B+
3rd Round - Pick #90 - Marcus Harrison, DT, Arkansas - This pick seemed to be strictly on value. Harrison was projected as high as a mid-late 2nd rounder who had fallen due to injury and off-field concerns. If he proves to be healthy, this could be another JA steal. This is definitely a high risk, high reward pick. The Bears passed on Guards Rinehart and Cousins to pick up Harrison. I would've liked to have seen a Guard picked up with this pick but the value was there. Grade: B-
4th Round - Pick #120 - Craig Steltz, S, LSU - At this point in the draft, the Bears had already addressed OL, RB, WR, and DT. They still needed to address Safety, so this was definitely a need pick. It turned out pretty good. Steltz provides the Bears insurance at Safety with additional help on their Special Teams unit. The Bears started the day at Pick #110, and ended up moving from #175 to #158, and acquired pick #208 while moving down to #120 here to still get Steltz. He has been compared to Fencik and Plank; sounds good to me. Grade: A-
5th Round - Pick #142 - Zack Bowman, CB, Nebraska - This was an odd pick. With Roy Schuening and Carl Nicks on the board, the Bears draft a CB who has barely played in the last 24 months? He missed all of 2006 (ACL) and played in only started 4 games in 2007, so I don't know how you use this pick on him with the other players I mentioned still available. He has 1st Round talent, but that was before his injuries. If he can show that type of talent, then this is a huge steal, but at the same time, can the Bears afford to use this pick on a very low need with a high risk player? I say no, please prove me wrong. Grade: D-
5th Round - Pick #158 - Kellen Davis, TE, Michigan State - At first I didn't like the pick with QBs Johnson and Ainge, and OL Nicks still available. However, with Schuening going in pick #157, the Bears may have shifted their focus to best available. With the departure of TE Gilmour, the Bears needed a 3rd TE, and Davis is more than capable of filling that need. This was also the pick that would've been a 6th rounder at #175. He was also the 12th TE taken, even though he was rated between 6-8. So the Bears got some nice value here. Grade: B
7th Round - Pick #208 - Ervin Baldwin, DE, Michigan State - With their "free" early 7th round pick for moving 5 spots in the 4th, the Bears pick up a decent DE from a big school. He was a JUCO transfer so he still has room to learn. Not much of a need here, but you can't expect much from 7th rounders. Grade: C
7th Round - Pick #222 - Chester Adams, OG, Georgia - Finally, the Bears draft a Guard! The Bears had a few opportunities to pick up a Guard earlier, but they waited until the 7th to pick one. Adams has played both OT and OG, so that is a bonus. He has the potential to stick around, but more than likely will just be a Practice Squad filler. Grade: B
7th Round - Pick #243 (Comp Pick) - Joey LaRocque, OLB, Oregon State - Doesn't seem to be more than a Special Teamer or Practice Squad filler, but you never know. Hamstring injury hurt his combine. He may surprise. Grade: B-
7th Round - Pick #247 (Comp Pick) - Kirk Barton, OT, Ohio State - Hard worker, but not very athletic. Never hurts to bring in competition on the OLine. Played against some strong competition. Grade: B
7th Round - Pick #248 (Comp Pick) - Marcus Monk, WR, Arkansas - With back to back comp picks, the Bears go WR. Monk was projected as a 3rd round pick before injuries limited him to just 16 receptions in 2007. Any WR that is 6'4" and can run a (4.45) 40 has some serious potential. With a late 7th pick, why not. Grade: A-
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Overall Grade: B-
[/b]Time will tell on some of these picks, but the one pick that I am still scratching my head at is pick #142 - Bowman. Not that I would be too upset with a CB in that spot, but this guy has only started 4 games in the last two years. If the Bears went Schuening or Nicks with that pick, this draft would've been at least a B or B+.
Best Pick: #120. Trading down twice, moving from 175 to 158, and picking up 208 while still getting Steltz was the best move of the day for Angelo. I would've like to have seen this more during the rest of the draft.
Worst Pick: #142. Already discussed.
Sleep Pick: #90 - Marcus Harrison, DT. This guy has the ability to be a starting DT on this team and could turn out to be the next Mark Anderson type of pick.
Trends:
One trend that I noticed this year: majority of the Bears picks were from big schools. This is somewhat of a different approach because the Bears always seemed to pick someone from one of the smaller schools. The other highlight or lowlight was the fact that the Bears did not draft a single QB even though they seemed to have an opportunity in every round. My theory is that they wanted Flacco and once he was gone, they didn't feel like there was enough value to just bring a guy in for competition. This also puts some confidence back in Orton and Grossman. Lastly, it seems like a good number of players (6) came off the Senior Bowl roster, so Angelo is at least getting to see some of these guys play first hand, which is always good.
The draft in general was extremely fast, almost too fast this year. I would've like to have seen the 3rd round on Day One, but the 1st Round was so much better not having to listen to Berman and Kiper talk about the Patriots for 15 minutes between every pick. I really wish they would talk about the team on the clock instead of some random thought, at least in the 1st two rounds.
