Draft Class Thoughts

[dawhizz]

We're some 40 hours free of the end of the draft and a lot of thoughts have been kicking around my head about these guys.  Probably yours too.  So let's get them out there.  With apologies to Peter King, here's some things I think I think:

2a. Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington - The one pick I got right in my mock, and I wasn't at all sure about it because it heard that CB is not a priority in the Flus defense.  Still, I always saw #2 CB as the biggest weakness on this team as a whole - I don't trust Graham (yet), Vildor is still not ready, and the rest of the guys are slot guys.  We desperately needed another legit CB with Jaylon, especially with all the WRs the Vikings allowed the other teams in the North to draft.  I expect growing pains, as there are with pretty much any rookie CB, but I'm a fan of this pick.  If Graham also proves he belongs and Tavon Young is still a consistent nickel, our CB room suddenly looks really nice.

2b. Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State - So, this is the "sliding doors" pick in the draft to me.  We did not have a starting caliber safety on the roster besides EJax.  On one hand, I think most draft boards had Brisker higher rated than the WRs left on the board (Pickens, Pierce, Moore), so when Poles says he trusted his board, I have no reason to doubt him.  When we look back at this pick (and the next one), I will be interested to see if we would have been better off with Pickens/Pierce/Moore and then Nick Cross in the 3rd, or with Brisker and Jones.  Poles talks about not forcing the board, but I have to think by taking Brisker he felt a little forced to take a WR in the third.  Was that the right call?  We'll see in a few years.  But Brisker is a better prospect than Cross (just as Pickens, Pierce, and Moore are probably better prospects than Jones).  I like Brisker a lot.  Where this team is, right now, knowing you need the give Fields more help, I would not have had the stones to take him over a WR.  But that's where I'm where I am and Poles is where he is.

3. Velus Jones, WR, Tennessee - As I said in the draft thread, I don't get the criticism of Jones as a "gadget player" considering he had more receptions last year than Pickens or Pierce have ever had in one year.  The Deebo comparisons - look I get it from a measurables standpoint, but it's like how there for a while every kinda fast, elusive, small RB in the draft was compared to Darren Sproales and most of them didn't ever get close.  The Bears say they have a plan for him and I should hope so.  I don't really care about his age at all - he seems like a mature guy in his interviews, which is a nice change from the attitudes we see from some new receivers.  My main, I won't say "concern" exactly, but maybe "hestiation", is that they took a guy who is more valuable to the team (given his return ability) but not as valuable strictly on offense, where you need help.  We have guys who can return kicks - Herbert, Newsome, now Ebner (below).  Given where this team, and Fields, is right now, I think I'd rather have a guy who contributes more to the offense than someone who helps out in several phases.  There's going to be a lot on his shoulders and he seems up to the task.  Apparently Poles talked with Fields about the WRs and Fields gave his seal of approval to Jones.  Hopefully he's working out with Fields as we speak.  

5a. Braxton Jones, OT, Southern Utah - Finally an O-lineman (one of many) and seems like the best potential fit at OT.  I would keep him there, personally, since we are thin there and the rest of the guys we got project more to OG.  I think he's your swing tackle next year and maybe going forward.

5b. Dominique Robinson, LB, Miami (OH) - Just the kind of swing this team should be taking.  Was one of the highest rated guys left on the board, and can learn from some good pass-rushers on this team.  He might end up on the inactive list for the first half of the season given his lack of experience at the position, but I could see this team trading Quinn to a contender during the season and getting him more snaps during the latter half of the year. The video and reports I saw from the Senior Bowl seem really encouraging.

6a. Zach Thomas, OG, San Diego State - I don't really know with the rest of the linemen.  I like the strategy of drafting a bunch of guys with traits and seeing what shakes out.  I typically don't really love the "this guy was an OT in college, but he's probably a guard in the NFL" because my reaction is usually "why don't we just draft a guard who we know can play guard?" but I understand the value in having someone who can play OT in a pinch.  Seems like a good dude based on the press conference I saw.

6b. Trestan Ebner, RB, Baylor - Maybe my favorite pick in the draft and someone I had legit never heard of before seeing his name come up. I've seen a lot of highlight videos, but this one got me stoked on this guy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzsXKFUuIHM).  He's basically your Tarik Cohen replacement except bigger and a little less elusive.  I see reports saying he's a "plodder" but he seems really smooth when I watch him and seems to be really running away from dudes.  I think he is active most Sundays and contributes on a regular basis next year.

6c. Doug Kramer, C, Illinois - Seems kinda small for center - might have to bulk up like Mustipher did.  Obviously it's cool that he is a local guy that grew up a Bears fan, so I'll be rooting for him to stick around.  Might be down to him or Mustifer for the backup center spot.  

7a. Ja'Tyre Carter, OG, Southern - Same "analysis" as for Thomas.  It will be very interesting to see who shakes out from the O-line guys.

7b. Elijah Hicks, S, Cal - This dude, man, I don't know that I've seen anyone this excited to be a Bear.  I assume everyone's seen this video, but if not, enjoy (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc_nMqSlbUY/).  Also seems like a great guy who raised a bunch of money to feed local families during the pandemic.  He's pretty much a DHC clone - both spent 3 years at CB, then moved to safety their last year, both did a ton on special teams, both are a little limited athletically but seem to put themselves in the right place at the right time and are willing to help out any way they can.  I'll definitely be rooting for him and wouldn't be surprised if he makes a big play or two this year, like DHC tends to do.

7c. Trenton Gill, P, NC State - I got nothing.  He's a punter.  He looks and sounds like an intern at an accounting firm.  The difference between a very good punter and a below average punter is imperceptible to me.  It'll either be him or Winslow as the punter and I honestly could not care less.

 

Where is everyone else at?

[Pixote]

Not much to add. 

I agree. For someone referred to as a plodder, Trestan Ebner sure made a lot of defenders look very slow. He was pulling away from everyone in the highlight film.

After seeing the video, I love Elijah Hicks. LOL The kid is really pumped up and excited to be a Bear.

I'm excited that we addressed a very weak secondary by picking up two great prospects, a Safety and a Cornerback.

I also liked the Velus Jones pick. We'll see how good our new OC is at utilizing his skills. 

A player who I think is a sleeper? Already signed. Pringle. I honestly think he could be an awesome chess piece for Fields. I suspect Poles thinks so also. The guy was on a team (KC) that had a ton of weapons. When called upon, he delivered. Given the opportunity, I suspect Pringle could be an 80+/1000+ receiver.

Knowing Poles background, I trust he has a plan for our OL. I will be anxious to see how it develops between now and opening day.

 

[Stinger226]

I like your take on the prospects and will say about Jones, he is limited as a WR as far as route tree but giving him 10 to 12 touches a game will show big on film. Jet sweeps and screens. The go route, slants , and catching swing passes , he will kill people. As soon as they see his speed and have to give him room, you have him do curls all day. Why he would be good for Fields,  other the go route, those are all quick passes,  Fields doesn't need to think about them just 3 steps and throw. Flus was excited to get him, they targeted him, they have a plan for him. Just watch some Deebo Samuel tape, it will show you how their going to use him.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

The only concern I have is taking a lot of small school prospects, especially all the guys on the oline. This is Poles supposedly specialty, so we will see how it plays out.  

As for WR, I don't know what it is but both GB/KC traditional do not invest early in the position. They both received 1st and 2nd round picks for trading away Adams/Hill and both were replaced by 2nd rounders. Poles and Getsy followed their prior teams belief.  

[BearFan2000]

Very thorough writeup, on the picks.  I must admit that outside of the prospects that got the most attention pre-draft my knowledge was quite limited. I found I was doing my research on these players after we'd picked them.  While I was thinking we'd go WR/OL or OL/WR with our 2nd rounders, I think we got two solid starters out of these picks with both Gordon and Brisker.  I like what I've seen and heard about Jones.  He strikes me as very versatile and could be used in a lot of ways.  The OL that we drafted I knew absolutely nothing about.  I liked seeing that we entered day 3 with 3 picks and ended up with 7 selections ( I believe).  And Poles took several bites at the OL apple.  I can see us adding a vet to fill the LT spot this season.  At the very least we've added depth to the OL and who knows one or more of these guys might develop into a solid starter.  It's awesome to see someone like Hicks who's super excited to be drafted by the Bears.  It's easy to forget what it means to the guys at the end of the draft and even UDFA's It's their shot at their dream of making an NFL roster whereas the top tiered prospects it's generally not a matter of if but when they'll get picked.  I have no doubt this kid will work his butt off to make the cut.  

[Daventry]

I don’t follow closely enough to comment on the picks specifically but from what I have read we seem to have done the best we could with the picks we had.  We aren’t going to be anywhere close to contention this year so BPA was the way to go.

What I really like is that we didn’t trade up and instead traded down to get more picks.  The previous regimens constantly trading up and giving away future picks was something I never thought was wise and smacked of desperation.  I feel the previous regimens decisions were very poor with the results speaking for themselves.

 I hope the current management will build the team into a contender piece by piece, resulting in a consistently respectable team.  Fans deserve better than what we have had for many years.  The Bears will lose their fan base if they don’t do better.

[lemonej]

I consider Gordon and Brisker potential starters and if on opening day when the Bears receive their first kickoff, I expect Jones or Ebner to be on the receiving end mwking one or the other technically a starter. All the rest of our 8 other picks, I consider developmental or catching lightning in a bottle. Similar to my mindset about UDFAs.

[AZ54]

Going into the draft my goal was to end up with 2 starters for Week 1 and a 3rd player who can get in a rotation.  I think we did that and perhaps more.  I didn't want to go defense early but the way the draft fell we had two options:  Reach for a player or take what was on the menu.    Poles took what was on the menu and landed two very good DBs, both with high floors that immediately upgrade a critical need position.  

At least Poles did not trade up into the 1st Rd and take someone like Cole Strange or Tyler Smith.  Both were talents I liked at the right spot in the draft, both need time to develop.  

Velus Jones... seems like a reach here with better WR talent on the board.  It's hard to evaluate the plus aspects of having him on the game day roster considering his ability as a gunner, returner, and then whatever he can add as a receiver.  

Among the Day 3 Oline I'm optimistic we have at least one starter.  I think Zach Thomas is early favorite.  However,  seeing how quickly Braxton Jones adjusted to better talent at the Senior Bowl I wouldn't be surprised to see him getting some 1st team reps in training camp.  Line him up against Quinn and see what he's got.  Then we see what happens from there.   Kramer has much better feet for the reach blocks required in zone blocking schemes than Mustipher does.  Both have strength issues but I'm thinking we keep the guy who can at least get to the right spot.  I'm not sure Mustipher makes the 53.  

Love the Robinson pick.  We just have to be patient but he's hungry and talented and he's in a good position group with other hard working players.  

Ebner.  I'm tired of watching highlights of him singlehandedly defeating the Cyclones.  I'm not sure what he'll be as a RB, but he's good enough to at least contribute some carries to compliment to what he does best.  His receiving ability is what I love, even out of the slot.  Most teams don't have someone like Roquan to cover a RB out of the backfield.  Remembering the stats that were posted on the board the Packers had Adams as top in receptions followed by the RBs.  IMO the Ebner pick indicates Getsy is likely to do the same.  

 

[Mongo3451]

I love that we ended up with 11 picks.  Not only did we need the fresh bodies, we had the intell from several organizations to return with.  With having 6 picks going into the draft, we had to really focus at maximizing the late rounds to get value.  Getting 8 picks there, in the deepest draft, will bring some pleasant surprises.(Same with UDFA)  Notice that we drafted some older guys and all of them will begin the new culture.  I'm definitely looking forward to the growing pains and the growth.  We've become one of the youngest teams in the league from being the second oldest.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

9 hours ago, dawhizz said:

2b. Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State - So, this is the "sliding doors" pick in the draft to me.  We did not have a starting caliber safety on the roster besides EJax.  On one hand, I think most draft boards had Brisker higher rated than the WRs left on the board (Pickens, Pierce, Moore), so when Poles says he trusted his board, I have no reason to doubt him.  When we look back at this pick (and the next one), I will be interested to see if we would have been better off with Pickens/Pierce/Moore and then Nick Cross in the 3rd, or with Brisker and Jones.  Poles talks about not forcing the board, but I have to think by taking Brisker he felt a little forced to take a WR in the third.  Was that the right call?  We'll see in a few years.  But Brisker is a better prospect than Cross (just as Pickens, Pierce, and Moore are probably better prospects than Jones).  I like Brisker a lot.  Where this team is, right now, knowing you need the give Fields more help, I would not have had the stones to take him over a WR.  But that's where I'm where I am and Poles is where he is.

Overall I like what appears to be Poles’ trying to build a team through the draft.  Besides Hicks’ excitement to be a Bear, Brisker is my favorite player coming out of the draft. From initial reports he appears to be a true ‘in the box’ SS and thumper.  Something we haven’t really seen since Amos…himself also a Penn State grad.  

[ASHKUM BEAR]

11 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Overall I like what appears to be Poles’ trying to build a team through the draft.  Besides Hicks’ excitement to be a Bear, Brisker is my favorite player coming out of the draft. From initial reports he appears to be a true ‘in the box’ SS and thumper.  Something we haven’t really seen since Amos…himself also a Penn State grad.  

I hope he becomes a staple in the D. Who knows, a year from now we may have something bigger than the legion of boom.

Adrian Amos was acquired with a 5th round pick acquired from trading WR Brandon Marshall

Jaquan Brisker was acquired with a 2nd round pick acquired from trading OLB Khalil Mack.. 

 

[adam]

The Brisker pick also makes me think Jackson won't be around in a year or two. This makes it easier to move on from him now.

I really wanted a WR in the 2nd, but Poles got 2 guys who were mocked /rated much higher and fit the Flus defense very well.

The one trend that seems evident in most of the picks is measurables. Most picks and even some UDFAs had really high RAS scores. Poles got some extra darts late in the draft which increases the probability a few will hit. I like that method.

Overall, happy with the draft, got some blue chip defenders in the 2nd and extra picks late. 

[Stinger226]

11 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

I hope he becomes a staple in the D. Who knows, a year from now we may have something bigger than the legion of boom.

Adrian Amos was acquired with a 5th round pick acquired from trading WR Brandon Marshall

Jaquan Brisker was acquired with a 2nd round pick acquired from trading OLB Khalil Mack.. 

 

If we end up getting Ogunjobi back the only spot left to fill is SAM LB spot.  Could already be on roster. UDFA Jack Sanborn . Led a Badger team in tackles. Solid player. This definitely would be a better D than last year, even thou Hicks and Mack were on team, injuries affected their play. 

[BearFan2000]

Also really glad we went in with 6 picks and came out with 11 selections and did not touch any of the 2023 picks. With this draft and FA moves, along with improved coaching, the opportunity is there to lay the groundwork in 2022 to enter next offseason and the 2023 draft with more targeted additions that can put us in a position to truly be competitive.  

With our NFC North rivals improvements on the offensive side of the ball, it makes sense to try and strengthen a very weak secondary, so this may help us keep games closer and thus more competitive.  We weren't going to address all our needs in one offseason.  Especially with limited cap space and draft capitol.  

[ASHKUM BEAR]

14 minutes ago, BearFan2000 said:

Also really glad we went in with 6 picks and came out with 11 selections and did not touch any of the 2023 picks.

Technically, we did touch a 2023 pick.  The Bears were able to convert a 2023 6th round pick into (2)- 2022 7th round picks from the Chargers.  They felt better getting 2 players a year earlier.  

[Connorbear]

4 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Technically, we did touch a 2023 pick.  The Bears were able to convert a 2023 6th round pick into (2)- 2022 7th round picks from the Chargers.  They felt better getting 2 players a year earlier.  

I'm good with losing the 6th round pick for this. Poles showed he knows how to replace it. 

Peace

[AZ54]

54 minutes ago, Connorbear said:

I'm good with losing the 6th round pick for this. Poles showed he knows how to replace it. 

Peace

I think that was just smart business to take advantage of a rare draft where 7th Rd picks had 6th or maybe even 5th Rd grades.   Using one of those picks on a punter I'm not so sure about but Ja'Tyre Carter and Elijah Hicks both seem like they'll become good backup players and maybe more in time.  If you want to feel good about a day 3 pick go look at Marcus Davenport out of UTSA who was taken 14th overall in 2018:

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/marcus-davenport/32004441-5600-4893-5029-0862a4795062

and then Dominique Robinson who we got in the 5th Rd:

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/dominique-robinson/3200524f-4240-4567-d940-a5c388777ffe

Both small school prospects who were more athletes than edge rushers.  Any other year and Robinson is gone in the 3rd Rd if not sooner because with less Edge prospects teams might have spent more time on him pre-draft like happened with Davenport.  Now Davenport hasn't lived up to his draft position but that doesn't change the relative value of the picks.  

[Stinger226]

I'm not sure I had this optimism with Pace and when Nagy came here. Pace always talked a good draft but constantly giving up draft picks to move up. Also never addressed OL as much as he should have. Said he was drafting a QB every year and didn't do it . Whether it works out or not, I like the way he's doing it even though I wanted offense early and often. Not paying out big contracts, taking possible ascending players. Seems old school but like it that way.

 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Some highlights of Larry Mayers interview with Poles.

LM-did you get any offers in the 2nd round to move down

RP- they did but had Gordan and Brisker rated too high to move down.

LM-did you try to trade up for a player

RP- we came in with a plan to be disciplined and stick to not trading up.  We discussed a few players we considered but stayed on course.

LM-were you convinced to draft a player after visiting with them

RP- the oline coaches were sure about Braxton Jones. They felt great about Velus even though they were only from zoom meetings. Then after the selection, the text messages he received from other gm/scouts said they took their guy confirmed that conviction.

Link: https://www.chicagobears.com/news/exclusive-bears-gm-ryan-poles-reflects-on-draft-picks

[scs787]

One note I wanna throw out there on Velus. In his time at USC Amon St. Brown, Michael Pitmann Jr., and Drake London were there. That's 2 guys that have already produced really well in the NFL and a guy who just got drafted early in the 1st round. The Vols QB situation was absolutely dreadful in his time there and they still had a WR go in the 3rd last year too. When finally given some time to shine, he did just that, with a terrible QB. I don't think he'll ever be a #1 but if he comes in and gives you 600+ yards, I'll be content. 

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, scs787 said:

One note I wanna throw out there on Velus. In his time at USC Amon St. Brown, Michael Pitmann Jr., and Drake London were there. That's 2 guys that have already produced really well in the NFL and a guy who just got drafted early in the 1st round. The Vols QB situation was absolutely dreadful in his time there and they still had a WR go in the 3rd last year too. When finally given some time to shine, he did just that, with a terrible QB. I don't think he'll ever be a #1 but if he comes in and gives you 600+ yards, I'll be content. 

Velus is what he is.  3rd/4th WR with a lot of special teams value on returns and coverage.  That makes it easier to keep a 3rd Rd WR on the game day roster and in retrospect given the state of our roster we should have seen that need in our evaluations of the day 2 WRs, or even day 3.  You either get a WR ready to play in Week 1  like Olave or else you are carrying that rookie on game day behind the veterans but who is playing special teams?  Which means other difficult decisions on game day at DB/RB/LB.  

Eberflus has options now.  

LM: Special teams sometimes seems like an underappreciated aspect of the game. Why was it important for you to draft so many players who excelled on special teams in college?

RP: "You want to win all three phases, so you can't ignore that. I think the other piece a lot of people don't understand is even when you're a backup player, if you don't have special teams [value], it's really hard to make a team. So, for those guys that have special teams ability and love playing on special teams and can affect the game on special teams, you know that they have a place on your roster and they're going to be active on game day.

[lemonej]

Without starting a big debate but, this draft may have yielded 3 starters next year with kick returner and punter included with what plays out in training camp.

A lot of these players are developmental and point to this HC saying he loves the teaching aspect of the game.

[dawhizz]

Pretty cool story on the draft day experience for Dominique Robinson. I admit I’m a bit if sucker for this stuff. 
 

https://miamiredhawks.com/news/2022/5/2/football-a-draft-day-in-the-life-dominique-robinson.aspx

[Stinger226]

On 5/5/2022 at 2:45 AM, lemonej said:

Without starting a big debate but, this draft may have yielded 3 starters next year with kick returner and punter included with what plays out in training camp.

A lot of these players are developmental and point to this HC saying he loves the teaching aspect of the game.

As we saw the last few years, player development was sketchy at best I think Fluxes has coaches that value player development. They had a couple of gems on the Colts D that shows that. I think one of the 4 OL ends being a starter this year. It may not be day one but he drafted with upside. Also don't forget the punter show win that job.

[tshanno]

19 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

As we saw the last few years, player development was sketchy at best I think Fluxes has coaches that value player development. They had a couple of gems on the Colts D that shows that. I think one of the 4 OL ends being a starter this year. It may not be day one but he drafted with upside. Also don't forget the punter show win that job.

 

One thing is clear. They are definitely relying more than usual on the coaches to develop talent if they expect to be even a mediocre team this year. You’re right in that this is something that the Colts seemed to specialize in.  It always looked to me like they were one of the best in the league and getting the most out of the least amount of apparent  talent.

I think the last staff thought they were good at developing talent too. And when Fangio was here they actually were pretty good at developing it on defense. But in the end it was one of the many things that led to their downfall.

Here’s hoping the current staff does a better job of living up to the reputation. If they don’t it’s going to be a miserable year.