Ins and Outs to/from the top 10?

College football and the NFL Draft

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Mikefive
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Who are popular top 10 choices now who you think will fall out of the top 10? Or, who is not projected top 10, but will jump into the top 10 on draft day?

List who and why.
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Mikefive
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I know this is going to be unpopular and I could certainly be wrong, but I could see Quenton Nelson falling a few spots from projections. Here's why:

1. That OG is a low priority position is obvious.

2. But another factor is that there are a number of inside OL guys who are projected bottom 1 top 2, who could fulfill that role pretty well. If you're picking top 10, you're also looking at what you expect to be there for your next pick. And if you can get a day 1 OL starter there, it makes sense to spend that high #1 on a priority position where there's more of a dropoff at another position of need once you get to R2.

3. There's also the view that super highly drafted OGs have not quite lived up to the hype historically as was posted in another thread. Now that has nothing to do with Nelson, but it could be festering in the minds of some GMs.

4. Further, and maybe I'm just crazy, I see the Bears wanting to recoup that R3 pick with a trade down somewhere. And R1 would make a lot of sense. So while Nelson would be an excellent need fit for us, I could see us moving back a bit.

Or maybe I'm nuts, since he's as can't miss as anyone in this draft class and is often projected to go before 8. But just imagine if we trade back with Miami, so they can take a QB and Nelson's sitting there at 11. Wouldn't that be something? (And then we take Marcus Davenport, due to item 2 above. :lol:)
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wab
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I think fans care more about that 3rd round pick than the Bears probably do, considering they have 2 4th round picks. Teams generally trust their scouting more than arbitrary sports sites ratings, so I can say with near certainty that the Bears believe they can get the same caliber player with that extra 4th round pick as they would with whatever 3rd round pick they aquire in a trade.

The important thing to the Bears is that they have a full slate of picks.

As far as the post topic...

I could see a few surprises moving into the top 10 - Isaiah Oliver and one of the DT's - Vea, Payne, Bryan.

Some guys I could see dropping - Minkah Fitzpatrick, Josh Rosen, and Derwin James.
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I think a lock for the top ten, as it stands in my mind right now (in no particular order):

Sam Darnold
Josh Allen
Bradley Chubb
Saquan Barkley
Baker Mayfield

3 QBs and those 2 studs are going for sure. The remaining 5 really depend on what teams are looking for. I can see Smith, James, Nelson, Ward, and Edmunds. I can make an argument for Fitzpatrick, Vea, and Davenport as well.

Looking at how Pace groups his players together in clouds, I would have to think that the 'elite' cloud would be Barkley, Chubb, Nelson for us. After that, I think we will have enough players in the next tier that would allow us to trade down if a QB falls (or someone is itching to move up).

Assuming Barkley/Chubb/Nelson are gone, I'd try and trade down to 11 or 12, pick up a 3rd round pick, and see who is there for the taking (Ward, Smith, Davenport, Landry, Fitzpatrick). Makes too much sense to me. If another player we love falls in round 1 and we want to keep them on the cheap for year 5, we could package our 2nd and 3rd round pick and get back into the 24-28 range.
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