3rd Round Pick: Major Wright

[SoxFan1]

I LOVE IT.

[dawhizz]

It'll be interesting to see how he ends up comparing to Burnett, taken a few picks ahead of him, and Chad Jones, taken right after.

 

At least it wasn't a reach here and he should be able to step right in and compete for the starting job.

[Stinger226]

It'll be interesting to see how he ends up comparing to Burnett, taken a few picks ahead of him, and Chad Jones, taken right after.

 

At least it wasn't a reach here and he should be able to step right in and compete for the starting job.

He was rated right around this slot in the draft, but for all I just read about him, sounds like a better SS in the pros. Good against the run, average open field talking, and average coverage skills. Burnett was the playmaker of the latter group and GB jumped up because they knew we would take him.

[Stinger226]

He was rated right around this slot in the draft, but for all I just read about him, sounds like a better SS in the pros. Good against the run, average open field talking, and average coverage skills. Burnett was the playmaker of the latter group and GB jumped up because they knew we would take him.

Just read he had 26 tackles and 3 int. last year, thank God we got a playmaker.

[Stinger226]

Just read he had 26 tackles and 3 int. last year, thank God we got a playmaker.

Sounds like a combination of Daniel Manning and Kevin Payne. Good around the internet and read profiles of him, should have went OL with this pick.

[Guest TerraTor]

Sounds like a combination of Daniel Manning and Kevin Payne. Good around the internet and read profiles of him, should have went OL with this pick.

 

 

wow, soo.... that means hes terrible?

[dawhizz]

According to the Trib, the Bears had targeted Jerome Murphy, Amari Spievey, Morgan Burnett, and Wright in the 3rd. So, at least they got one of them, I guess.

[Connorbear]

According to the Trib, the Bears had targeted Jerome Murphy, Amari Spievey, Morgan Burnett, and Wright in the 3rd. So, at least they got one of them, I guess.

Here is the Trib article.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,1956437.story

 

Peace

[defiantgiant]

wow, soo.... that means hes terrible?

The Gators played him almost exclusively in deep center and Meyer had apparently promised some percentage of snaps to their up-and-coming FS, whoever that is. So Wright was technically the starter, but they were rotating at that position. I'm trying to suss out what percentage of the snaps Wright got, but I haven't found it yet. Before that (from 2007-2008) he was much more productive: 123 tackles, 77 solo, 5 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, 1 blocked FG. He's also been durable, which is something we could desperately use at safety.

[azbearsfan]

The Gators played him almost exclusively in deep center and Meyer had apparently promised some percentage of snaps to their up-and-coming FS, whoever that is. So Wright was technically the starter, but they were rotating at that position. I'm trying to suss out what percentage of the snaps Wright got, but I haven't found it yet. Before that (from 2007-2008) he was much more productive: 123 tackles, 77 solo, 5 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, 1 blocked FG. He's also been durable, which is something we could desperately use at safety.

 

 

I just hope he is alot better in coverage then the reports state. If not, we have another SS.

[defiantgiant]

I just hope he is alot better in coverage then the reports state. If not, we have another SS.

Depends on what you mean by "good in coverage." Everything I've heard about him is that he's got good range and instincts in coverage, but he tends to break up the play or drill the receiver, rather than make a play on the ball.

[bradjock]

Depends on what you mean by "good in coverage." Everything I've heard about him is that he's got good range and instincts in coverage, but he tends to break up the play or drill the receiver, rather than make a play on the ball.

 

Big plays are nice, but the #1 job of our FS is to not get fooled and give up the big plays. Wright has an excellent football IQ and he's fast. D Manning always had the speed but not the intelligence. Wright should be an excellent fit.

[Stinger226]

Big plays are nice, but the #1 job of our FS is to not get fooled and give up the big plays. Wright has an excellent football IQ and he's fast. D Manning always had the speed but not the intelligence. Wright should be an excellent fit.

I have read a ton of info on Wright, and it is conflicting. One says he is a poor open field tackler, one says thats his strength. One he is instinictive, one he is late to the ball. We now have him, so I hope he works out, but fact Lovie and Jerry praise him, probably means he is another SS.

[azbearsfan]

Big plays are nice, but the #1 job of our FS is to not get fooled and give up the big plays. Wright has an excellent football IQ and he's fast. D Manning always had the speed but not the intelligence. Wright should be an excellent fit.

 

 

I hope so. I love the big hits.

 

If he can become a legit starter at free safety then this draft is already a good one.

[jason]

I have read a ton of info on Wright, and it is conflicting. One says he is a poor open field tackler, one says thats his strength. One he is instinictive, one he is late to the ball. We now have him, so I hope he works out, but fact Lovie and Jerry praise him, probably means he is another SS.

 

That's what worries me.

[chwtom]

Here are my 2 problems with this pick.

 

1. A lot of scouting reports make him sound like a strong safety in the pros. Every year Lovie claims the 2 spots are interchangeble in his "system", and every year we draft a safety who fails at FS for us. Lovie is wrong, there are certain skills needed to play FS in any system, and the guys he and Jerry like don't have those skills. One of the most frustrating things about this regime is how to repeat the same mistakes over and over (ex: Wootton is Bazuin who was Michael Haynes, Wright is Steltz who was Payne who was Bobby Gray, drafting guys either too big or small for DE/DT and shuttling them back and forth, thinking free agency is the answer to all offensive line problems, not cutting bait on draft picks when there is a superior player on the roster, etc)

 

2. Angelo hinted that they could have moved up for a different player, but didn't want to give up a 5th rounder to do it. WTF? The 5th rounder was Josh Moore, who has about as much chance of making an impact in the starting lineup as I do. And for him, we pass up a better player at a critical position, and have to settle for a guy who might not be able to play FS? That's just stupid arrogance on Angelo's part, thinking he can strike gold with every pick.

 

The Bears should have done whatever necessary to move up and get Nate Allen. If he was their only draft pick so be it (I don't see Wootton, who can't rush the passer, Moore, who is too small for cover-2 CB, or Lefevour, who is weak-armed making any impact on the team. Outside of the top 2 safeties who were out of reach, he was the only other true FS in the draft. Angelo needed to make that happen and he failed. The only consolotion for me would be signing Atogwe and moving Wright to SS.

[Wesson44]

Depends on what you mean by "good in coverage." Everything I've heard about him is that he's got good range and instincts in coverage, but he tends to break up the play or drill the receiver, rather than make a play on the ball.

So what as long as he keeps the other team from making the big play...who cares if he breaks up the play or drill the WR either way the play is over.

[nfoligno]

Totally agree that Lovie has always said the two safeties are interchangable, but that is simply not true. We continually pickup in-the-box safeties, and then wonder why they lack coverage skills. While I do not know enough specifically about Wright, I agree that so many of the drafted players are too similar. You mention Steltz, Payne and Gray. I would add Afalava, Harris and Todd Johnson to that list.

 

I disagree with your comments about the DEs, as I really don't see the similarities. Haynes was about as far removed from that pass rush specialist group as you can get. He was drafted for Jauron and Blache, but then we immediatly changed schemed and he didn't fit. He was more of a power DE that could (theoretically) stop the run and could may some plays in the pass rush. He was more like Phillip Daniels. Wootten, while I don't really agree with the pick, is a player with huge upside, but also huge bust potential. Not sure why you say he can't rush the passer. Injury killed his college career, but prior to the injury, as I understand it, he was considered a 1st round prospect due in large part to his ability to rush the passer. Angelo has taken risks drafting players who fell in the draft due to red flags (character or injury) and this kid would fall into that category, but I would not compare him to Bazuin. Those three DEs are VERY different.

 

Finally, you say we should have done whatever necessary to move up for Allen. He was the 5th pick in the 2nd round. Do you know what it would take to move up that far? Forget giving up this years draft. That wouldn't get close. We would have had to start giving away future picks too. Honestly, it may have cost us our 2nd round pick next year. The only S I think that 5th could have helped us get would have been Burnett, who I read Angelo was high on. But Allen was simply out of reach w/o mortaging future drafts.

 

So I agree 100% about the FS/SS issue, and have been saying as much for years myself. Disagree w/ the listed DEs as examples and disagree we had a shot at Allen.

 

Here are my 2 problems with this pick.

 

1. A lot of scouting reports make him sound like a strong safety in the pros. Every year Lovie claims the 2 spots are interchangeble in his "system", and every year we draft a safety who fails at FS for us. Lovie is wrong, there are certain skills needed to play FS in any system, and the guys he and Jerry like don't have those skills. One of the most frustrating things about this regime is how to repeat the same mistakes over and over (ex: Wootton is Bazuin who was Michael Haynes, Wright is Steltz who was Payne who was Bobby Gray, drafting guys either too big or small for DE/DT and shuttling them back and forth, thinking free agency is the answer to all offensive line problems, not cutting bait on draft picks when there is a superior player on the roster, etc)

 

2. Angelo hinted that they could have moved up for a different player, but didn't want to give up a 5th rounder to do it. WTF? The 5th rounder was Josh Moore, who has about as much chance of making an impact in the starting lineup as I do. And for him, we pass up a better player at a critical position, and have to settle for a guy who might not be able to play FS? That's just stupid arrogance on Angelo's part, thinking he can strike gold with every pick.

 

The Bears should have done whatever necessary to move up and get Nate Allen. If he was their only draft pick so be it (I don't see Wootton, who can't rush the passer, Moore, who is too small for cover-2 CB, or Lefevour, who is weak-armed making any impact on the team. Outside of the top 2 safeties who were out of reach, he was the only other true FS in the draft. Angelo needed to make that happen and he failed. The only consolotion for me would be signing Atogwe and moving Wright to SS.

 

[defiantgiant]

1. A lot of scouting reports make him sound like a strong safety in the pros. Every year Lovie claims the 2 spots are interchangeble in his "system", and every year we draft a safety who fails at FS for us. Lovie is wrong, there are certain skills needed to play FS in any system, and the guys he and Jerry like don't have those skills.

I agree that the safety positions aren't interchangeable, but I don't buy the scouting reports saying Wright would be better at SS. The guy is undersized to play an in-the-box SS, and that's not how Florida used him at ALL. Most of his college experience was as the last line of defense, playing the deep middle and preventing big plays. Also, he's not Steltz or Payne - neither of those guys could crack 4.6 in the 40. Wright ran an official 4.48 in a year where everybody's official times seemed too slow (Taylor Mays ran an official 4.43 and most people timed him in the low 4.3 to high 4.2 range.) Wright is actually faster, by a good bit, than Nate Allen or Morgan Burnett. Both on the track and on tape, Wright has speed and range comparable to Eric Berry or Earl Thomas, and I don't think anybody would argue that those two are strong safeties.

 

What I'd question about him, compared to prospects like Berry and Thomas (or even Allen and Burnett) are his ball skills. By all accounts, he's pretty decent in coverage, but he tends to break up passes (or

) instead of making a play on the ball. That doesn't make him a strong safety, though, any more than having great ball skills makes Troy Polamalu a free safety. Some people seem to think that Wright could get better at playing the ball in the NFL, but even if he doesn't improve from college (meaning he gets about 4 picks a season,) I don't think it's the end of the world. I'm OK with a free safety who's more of an eraser than a ballhawk. Getting the turnovers is important, and Wright gets some, but Chicago also desperately needs a free safety who can stop the huge passing plays that have been killing the Bears' secondary. That's exactly what Urban Meyer asked Wright to do, and he did it pretty well.

[nfoligno]

I don't mind if he doesn't get picks, but I don't really want a guy who looks (first) to make a big hit either. I want a guy who tries to make a play on the ball. It doesn't bother me if he doesn't come away with it, so long as he prevents the other guy from getting it. Ints are so often talked about for DBs, but I think PDs are as important, if not more so.

 

I agree that the safety positions aren't interchangeable, but I don't buy the scouting reports saying Wright would be better at SS. The guy is undersized to play an in-the-box SS, and that's not how Florida used him at ALL. Most of his college experience was as the last line of defense, playing the deep middle and preventing big plays. Also, he's not Steltz or Payne - neither of those guys could crack 4.6 in the 40. Wright ran an official 4.48 in a year where everybody's official times seemed too slow (Taylor Mays ran an official 4.43 and most people timed him in the low 4.3 to high 4.2 range.) Wright is actually faster, by a good bit, than Nate Allen or Morgan Burnett. Both on the track and on tape, Wright has speed and range comparable to Eric Berry or Earl Thomas, and I don't think anybody would argue that those two are strong safeties.

 

What I'd question about him, compared to prospects like Berry and Thomas (or even Allen and Burnett) are his ball skills. By all accounts, he's pretty decent in coverage, but he tends to break up passes (or

) instead of making a play on the ball. That doesn't make him a strong safety, though, any more than having great ball skills makes Troy Polamalu a free safety. Some people seem to think that Wright could get better at playing the ball in the NFL, but even if he doesn't improve from college (meaning he gets about 4 picks a season,) I don't think it's the end of the world. I'm OK with a free safety who's more of an eraser than a ballhawk. Getting the turnovers is important, and Wright gets some, but Chicago also desperately needs a free safety who can stop the huge passing plays that have been killing the Bears' secondary. That's exactly what Urban Meyer asked Wright to do, and he did it pretty well.

 

[AZ54]

If the big hit means the ball falls to the ground then I'm all for Major Wright. I can ignore a few missed INTs if we finally get a FS who makes WR worry about going across the middle. Maybe he can light up some of these Packer WRs after their quick inside slants. I'm not holdling out hope he can start but OTOH considering our lack of depth at FS who is he competing with?

 

 

[defiantgiant]

I don't mind if he doesn't get picks, but I don't really want a guy who looks (first) to make a big hit either. I want a guy who tries to make a play on the ball. It doesn't bother me if he doesn't come away with it, so long as he prevents the other guy from getting it. Ints are so often talked about for DBs, but I think PDs are as important, if not more so.

Yeah, I agree that Wright's not going to be as successful jarring the ball loose from NFL receivers. From the little bit of tape I've seen on him, though, it's not like he's incapable of breaking up passes: he does seem to like to break up the reception by timing his hit on the receiver, but I've also seen him come flying in like he's going to make that hit, and then swat down the pass instead.

 

What he doesn't seem to do very much is jump the route so he's positioned to actually make the catch like a receiver. Earl Thomas is fantastic at that, which is part of why he racked up a lot of picks. I didn't really see that from Wright: several of the INTs that he got in college were more of a tip drill kind of situation, or were just poorly thrown balls where the receiver was nowhere around. I didn't really see him position himself in the passing lane in front of a receiver and come down with the pick.

 

So I'm not expecting a ton of INTs from Wright, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him be very effective in pass coverage nonetheless. From the little bit I've seen, he really does show a knack for breaking up pass plays, he just needs to learn that if he tries to hammer somebody like Larry Fitzgerald, Larry's going to make the catch anyway.