adam

A 6th would get us to about pick #101, add a 7th and we can get to about #99. The Rams have #96 to start the round. All 3 teams from 99-101 are AFC teams, which makes trades a little easier (99 - HOU, 100 - CLE, 101 - DEN). This is what I am tracking for best available after round 3 (all positions), there are about 5-6 players with Round 2 grades, and most of the rest with Round 3 grades: Bobbie Massie - OL Zebrie Sanders - OL James Brown - OL Ben Jones - OL Luke Nix - OL Brandon Mosley - OL Senio Kelemete - OL Alfonzo Dennard - CB Trevin Wade - CB Brandon Boykin - CB Chase Minnifield - CB Omar Bolden - CB Josh Norman - CB* Billy Winn - DT Jared Crick - DT Alameda Ta'Amu - DT Orson Charles - TE Ladarius Green - TE Ronnell Lewis - OLB Terrell Manning - OLB Chris Givens - WR Juron Criner - WR Joe Adams - WR Nick Toon - WR Keshawn Martin - WR Lamar Miller - RB Chris Polk - RB Markelle Martin - S George Iloka - S

This seems like a boom or bust draft for Emery so far. 2 picks not so popular, but they have very high potential. If Hardin plays his senior year like he did in 2010, he is probably a 2nd round pick and 2nd Safety taken. He looks completely healed from his shoulder injury doing 24 reps on bench (more than any other Safety at the combine). So this could be a reach or a very sly pick by Emery. Only time will tell.

Here are his numbers from his pro day and in comparison to the Safeties at the combine: 4.44 40yd, 24 reps, 10'4" Broad, 6.88 3-cone, 4.17 shuttle 1st in 40-yd, 1st in Bench Press, (T-3rd) in Broad, 5th in 3-cone, 8th in shuttle Look at this guy at his pro day: I think it is funny that NE reaches for Wilson (Safety) at 48 who was a 4th-5th round projection, yet Emery drafts a guy at 79 who would've gone by our next pick and he is chastised. The only other player I would've picked here was Massie.

Oh I know, just funny to see him rated that low. That would be a 4th round grade. To have one Brandon Marshall on a team is awesome, to have two is going to be silly. Talk about matchup nightmares.

I would be depressed and eating too if I had to try to catch passes from some of those South Carolina QB's.

There is no way that he was the 99th best player, have you seen some of the names before him? The actual rating is crap. Brian Quick was ranked 138. I would say he was anywhere from 40-50.

Also, AJ did it with some bad QB's and constant double coverage. He is going to get a lot of 1 on 1 with Marshall out there.

He played DE in college and will play DE for the Bears. How is he playing out of position? Urlacher is not playing Safety for us.

You picked McClellin? Man, you are all over it.

I love the pick. WR need is complete. Marshall and Jeffery, nice.

We just traded up.

In the last two bowl games, he had a sack in each game. They also started the last two seasons vs ranked opponents (Virginia Tech and Georgia) and he had 2.5 sacks per game in those two contests.

We were obviously really interested in him......

Yeah, I just copied the listing from nfl.com. I could've just put OL instead.

If the Bears don't take him, he goes to NE or GB anyway. Could the Bears have traded down a few slots to get him? Maybe, but based on the Bears draft board, he was their pick.

He is not a 3-4 OLB. Just because some teams were projecting him there, doesn't mean he is automatically locked into a 3-4 OLB for life. Hell, I have seen some pre-draft writeups saying he could play anywhere from DE to OLB to MLB, regardless of scheme. He is that versatile. Somehow Whitney Mercilus is a true DE who weighs the same as McClellin, and Jones who is only a few lbs heavier. Those would have been better picks because they are true DE's and McClellin is not? It was safe in the sense of his production as a DE in college, no character issues (see Irvin), and overall draft grades. He sure played in a ton of games to have a significant concussion. I believe that is completely overblown. I would say a very high number of the players being drafted have been concussed at some point in their playing careers. He is no different. Did he miss time after all these concussions? For the Allen comparison, Allen played for Idaho State, McClellin for Boise State. Both players had low bench press reps but great 40 times at the combine. Both have a high motor and great technique. I think it is a valid comparison. The size thing actually works in McClellin's favor, Allen is thinner with only 6 more lbs and taller, but McClellin is just as fast and stronger. Mike Lombardi even called the pick in his final mock draft: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2012/mock-drafts/...lombardi/130112

I would say Cincy, Minny, NE, and Tampa had the best drafts, all getting 2x impact players in round one.

Minny definitely had a solid first round, mainly due to Cleveland moving up one slot? Minny was able to give Cleveland's 4th to move up and get Smith. They still have an extra 5th and 7th from the Cleveland trade.

I would almost want to move up from the 3rd into the 2nd to get 2 of these players (any combo of OL-WR-CB).

If he was rated that high on the Bears' board then it was a good pick.

I agree, the labeled position is sort of irrelevant, he is a pass-rusher, he can play with his hand down or standing, and can also drop into coverage. It is not a flashy name, but overall it was a solid/safe pick.

These were the highest rated players available, by position: Glenn, Cordy, T Martin, Jonathan, T Konz, Peter, C Adams, Mike, T Massie, Bobby, T Silatolu, Amini, T Osemele, Kelechi, T Sanders, Zebrie, T Allen, Jeff, T Fleener, Coby, TE Allen, Dwayne, TE Randle, Rueben, WR Hill, Stephen, WR Jeffery, Alshon, WR Quick, Brian, WR Sanu, Mohamed, WR Jenkins, Janoris, CB Dennard, Alfonzo, CB Hosley, Jayron, CB Johnson, Trumaine, CB Upshaw, Courtney, OLB David, Lavonte, OLB Brown, Zach, OLB Lewis, Ronnell, OLB Branch, Andre, DE Curry, Vinny, DE Thompson, Brandon, DT Worthy, Jerel, DT Still, Devon, DT Winn, Billy, DT Reyes, Kendall, DT Crick, Jared, DT

Mayock had him ranked #14 in his Top 100 (ahead of Mercilus and Coples): http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/09000d5d828...ospect-rankings Walter Football ranked him #1 as OLB: http://walterfootball.com/draft2012OLB.php Shutdown Corner had him going to SD at #18 and NFP had him going #20 to TEN, and he goes #19 to us: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--side-by-...NsbKzlYNpRDubYF Analyzing this pick, he was not a reach as some are making this out to be. A very productive college player that had a decent combine and Senior Bowl.

Jared Allen combine stats comparison: Allen - (6'6", 270) - 4.72 40-yd, 13 reps, 33 vert jump, 120 broad jump, 4.34 shuttle, 7.11 3-cone McClellin - (6'3", 260) - 4.63 40-yd, 19 reps, 31.5 vert jump, 118 broad jump, , 4.33 shuttle, 7.07 3-cone McClellin beats Allen in everything but the vert and broad jumps. Interesting to see Allen's low bench press total.