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How do you feel about the Bears draft?

I have to say... Like many Bear fans, I went into it with much lower interest and expectation than usual.

But considering the picks we had, I came away very satisfied. I had pretty much figured we would get a RB in R3 or R4 and I'm very excited about David Montgomery, who plays a position where he can come in and potentially make a big impact right out of the box.

And then with Ridley, we basically got a taller but less explosive Anthony Miller. As we saw with Miller, a guy who walks in knowing how to run routes can become an effective WR more quickly than most rookies. He seems like a guy who will be able to contribute on offense right away in a limited role and be able to get open and catch the ball when we need to move the chains. If he's called into service due to injury, he won't be clueless out there. Really like this pick.

With Shelley, you have a small, scrappy guy much like Callahan was. And the R7 guys are high measurables projects, which is to be expected.

If you get that out of a draft without choices in R1 or R2, that's a rousing success. I'm far more pleased today than I expected to be.

As the picks were being made, I wasn't particularly excited. Mostly ambivalent.

Originally I was sort of meh about the Montgomery pick because of his lack of top end speed. Not that I didn't think he was good or highly rated (I had him going at the top of R2 after Jacobs and Sanders). I knew he was a hard nosed runner with good vision and receiving skills. I just don't think I realized exactly how good his vision was and I vastly underrated his agility.

The more I watched after the pick was made, the more I loved the pick and saw him as a great fit in this offense.

The Ridley pick confused the bejesus out of me, mostly because he enters a relatively crowded room. Still, he was arguably the best player available and was almost universally considered a 2nd round talent. I saw one pre-draft mock where he went to the Packers at the bottom of R1. I'm torn because it's a good pick, but likely means the end of Wims.

I'd literally never heard about Shelley before his name flashed across the screen. Reading up on him, he sort of reminds me of Lardarius Webb who had by far his best year under Pagano in 2011.

I remembered seeing Whyte's name pop up here and there as a potential late round steal. He's fast and has good size. Clearly the team was looking to upgrade from Mizzell and on return teams. I was pleased with that pick even though I was surprised they doubled down on RBs (although in hindsight I shouldn't have been).

I don't expect much from Denmark. I thought they'd take Dax Raymond or Alex Bars with that pick. They ended up getting both guys in UDFA so it didn't matter.

Overall, after a couple days of reviewing these guys, I think pace did a good job with what limited resources he had. Montgomery and Ridley were top 50 prospects on most boards. Montgomery should be a day 1 starter, Ridley is likely Gabriel's replacement in a year or so, Shelley probably replaces Skrine, and Whyte is a nice 4th back and ST'er. If they make anything out of Denmark, that's just gravy.

Factor in Bars, Hall, and Raymond in UDFA and it's a pretty good haul for an already stacked roster.

Not a big draftnik like most around here. The draft was kind of anti climatic. No first day picks, nothing to get excited about. I like the Montgomery pick. Got to see a couple of ISU games on the tube this year and the guy can be pretty exciting. Never heard of the other guys so it will be interesting to see who they work out. If Montgomery works out that will kind of make the draft. If any of the others make it, icing on the cake.

A fellow Leatherneck signed as an UDFA, LB, Quentin Moon. Not a chance to make it but nice to see a kid I have seen live get a chance.

I am good with it seeing as how we didnt have early picks. I like the Montgomery pick. The Ridley pick is good even if his skills duplicate Millers. Depth is a big need and a competitive group makes each other stronger.

The last few picks...I trust Pace lol

My view is mostly positive. Montgomery seems an ideal fit in Nagy's offense. Ridley appears to have been a value the Bears couldn't pass up, so it's hard to gripe about that. I know little about Shelley but according to Adam Johns he was a four-year starter at Kansas State. Whyte is a gamble on speed and if he replaces Mizzell it's just a bonus. And I'm on record as loving the Denmark pick.

Thought we did great with where we were picking. I, like wab, wasn't really all that happy with Montgomery at first but after watching more film on him I see what the Bears see in him. Excited to see him play in this offense.

The rest of the draft went well, thought we got some solid depth, value and developmental type prospects. We absolutely killed it in UDFA as well, that was exciting.

Montgomery was a grand slam for me, after that everything else was aces.

Weird draft. Tbh. Two ‘backs, two corners, and a receiver. After the tape, I like all the pieces, but the lack of diversity threw me tho.

Not exactly the positions I would have picked, but I’m too far down the road of trusting whatever Pace does at this point, so I’m happy with it.

I’ve watched too many Montgomery videos and I’m drinking the kool aid. I think he’s going to be a stud.

I was thrilled with the Montgomery pick. He was my guy and I'm even good with trading up for him. Our Superbowl window is now open, and the only starting position we needed to address was RB. (well, and kicker)

I was confused with the Ridley pick, as I felt come 2020 we're going to need a safety, a guard, maybe a TE, and probably a cornerback. It seemed like there were still players at those positions who, with a year of work, could take over those spots.

Still, we got a couple of those guys who I had as 4th/5th rounders as UDFA, so what do I know?

Mr.Irrelevant wrote:I was thrilled with the Montgomery pick. He was my guy and I'm even good with trading up for him. Our Superbowl window is now open, and the only starting position we needed to address was RB. (well, and kicker)

I was confused with the Ridley pick, as I felt come 2020 we're going to need a safety, a guard, maybe a TE, and probably a cornerback. It seemed like there were still players at those positions who, with a year of work, could take over those spots.

Still, we got a couple of those guys who I had as 4th/5th rounders as UDFA, so what do I know?

It appears Pace just stayed trued to his board and went BPA. Why force a position if your evaluation has a higher grade on a different player/position? I thought our UDFA hall was really good, to the point where there are some positions that we addressed there that could be players on our 53 man roster in 2019 and potentially be starting in 2020.