What If? Brandt's 2012 Draft Do-Over

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spudbear
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Since it'll be quiet for awhile for more significant NFL news, besides the draft(?), we can always enjoy a little "what-if". In this case Gil Brandt at the NFL site uses the knowledge gained after 8 years to make a "better draft".

He has Nick Foles going to the Browns with the third pick rather than the Eagles taking him in the 3rd round. Alshon Jeffery goes #10 to the Bills, Kirk Cousins #13 to the Cards (originally 4th round Skins pick). How does he see the Bears pick change? Do you remember who was selected in the 1st round, using the Jeffery pick to refresh your memory?
PICK 19 Bobby Wagner - LB

Original pick: Shea McClellin, DE.
Wagner was actually drafted by: the Seahawks in Round 2 (No. 47).

McClellin never found his niche in Chicago before leaving for New England. So here, the Bears instead go with Wagner, who becomes the heir apparent to Brian Urlacher.
I'm trying to imagine Wagner in navy blue and burnt orange, anchoring the D after Urlacher departed. Now there were so many holes in the years to follow that it's difficult to say if Wagner would have been a difference maker for the team, but he would have been a much better pick than Shea ... in hindsight.

Oh yeah, he has the Niners taking Akiem Hicks at #30. Hicks originally went to the Saints in round 3, picked just after Foles.
San Francisco has always been my favorite booing city. I don't mean the people boo louder or longer, but there is a very special intimacy. Music, that's what it is to me. One time in Kezar Stadium they gave me a standing boo.

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Yogi da Bear
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Flawed logic. The Bears didn't take Shea to be a linebacker. They took him to be a defensive end. Remember the failed conversion? Sheez, how could anybody forget, but I guess Gil is getting old. He should have had the Bears taking Vernon there.

And I see that Hicks still doesn't get the respect he deserves.
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HisRoyalSweetness
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These draft do-overs are a pointless exercise made even more ridiculous by re-doing the entire round rather than simply reviewing who was available at the time a team picked.

For example, Brandt in his 'new' draft has Chandler Jones being chosen 16th by the Jets and as a result concludes that the Patriots should have selected Casey Hayward because Jones was gone.

A more interesting take would be to assess who was actually still available when each team picked to determine whether they made a good choice or not based on who has had the best career.
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Rusty Trombagent
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the world's really going to hell and a reminder that phil emery's first ever draft pick was shea mcclellin isnt really the escapism i was looking for
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Rusty Trombagent
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Yogi da Bear wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 12:07 pm Flawed logic. The Bears didn't take Shea to be a linebacker. They took him to be a defensive end. Remember the failed conversion? Sheez, how could anybody forget, but I guess Gil is getting old. He should have had the Bears taking Vernon there.

And I see that Hicks still doesn't get the respect he deserves.
great, now i'm thinking about shea eating a bunch of chipotle burritos and getting fat and somehow our coaches being all "this is good, this is the plan."
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Yogi da Bear wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 12:07 pm And I see that Hicks still doesn't get the respect he deserves.
Right? All the media and casual fans see is sack totals, apparently.

Because Hicks is an f'ing MONSTER. He would change any D in the NFL right now and take it to another level. He should absolutely be top 10 in that class.
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RustyTrubisky wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 2:47 pm the world's really going to hell and a reminder that phil emery's first ever draft pick was shea mcclellin isnt really the escapism i was looking for
Well, misery does enjoy company? ;)
Fun fact - Jordan Mills picked by Emery in the fifth round in 2013 is still playing in the NFL, just not for the Bears. Go figure.

If you want escapism, I'm going to let you off the hook to a time when the Bears were who we thought they were. Enjoy the whole MNF comeback in the desert:

[video][/video]

Rewatching the game helps remind me how incompetent Rex was and winning in spite of him, what a great D the Bears had when they turned it on, and all of the breaks they needed in the 4th qtr comeback.

And for those who can't wait until the end of the game, my favorite post-game presser:

[video][/video]
San Francisco has always been my favorite booing city. I don't mean the people boo louder or longer, but there is a very special intimacy. Music, that's what it is to me. One time in Kezar Stadium they gave me a standing boo.

George Halas
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Shea is apparently really getting into Pickleball

No joke
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