Draft Needs

[Z Bear]

Now that free agency is slowing down and the roster is taking shape it is time to analyze where the Bears may go in the draft. The Bears are out of cap room so any additional players will come from the draft or vet minimum contracts.

Primary Needs
1) Offensive line - Depending on whether Irfedi is your starting RG or swing tackle the Bears still need some more talent in the O line room. If he is the starting RG, there are no other tackles on the roster to back up Leno and Massie. If Ifredi is the swing tackle, then you are starting either Bars or Coward at RG. Either way you spin it, multiple offensive linemen should be drafted this year. This is a weird year and not a lot of highly rated guards are on draft boards, so do think Ifredi is going to be the starting RG. The Bears should focus on getting a couple tackles in house, one early and one late. Austin Jackson, Isiah Wilson, or Prince Tega Wanogho would make a lot of sense with one of the 2nd round picks.

2 Safety - Eddie Jackson is as good as it gets at one safety spot, but Deon Bush is the weakest link on the starting defense. He is backed up by a bunch of JAGs so the Bears could definitely use an upgrade in the safety room. Luckily there are a lot of safeties with 2nd round grades that should be available when the Bears are on the clock, Antione Winfield Jr., Ashtyn Davis, Kyle Dugger, Jeremy Chin and a few others have 2nd round grades and could inject some talent into the safety room.

Looking at the current roster, those are about the only major holes that need plugging. The rest of the needs are just depth or developmental prospects for long term.

3 Running Back - This is a sneaky need as Montgomery and Cohen is a pretty solid 1-2 punch. But the only other RB on the roster is Ryan Nall, who does a lot of things good but excels at nothing. I would not feel confident if Montgomery went down and the Bears were left starting Cohen or Nall. If Jonathan Taylor slips (which he has in mocks lately), he could make a lot of sense to be the home run, speed threat to spell Montgomery. Other guys who could be available in the 2nd are D’Andre Swift and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, both would upgrade the Bears RB situation.

4 Wide Receiver The top 5 receivers are a pretty solid group, but the Bears do not really have a speed guy to threaten teams deep. This is more of a specific need, but it definitely exists and should be filled. There are three guys who carry 2nd round grades and have the speed the Bears are looking for: Jalen Reagor, Denzel Mims, and KJ Hamler. All three put up blistering times at the combine and have produced on the field. Any of three would make a lot of sense if the Bears go that route in the 2nd.

5 Edge - Mack and Quinn are as good as it gets, then Mingo is a decent third guy off the bench. Irving and Vaughters both have looked good in preseason, then been non-existent once the real competition began. Really this is a solid group, but investing mid-round picks on pass rushers who slip would be wise investments since the price of a top tier sack artist is one of the most expensive in the NFL. Keep stock piling young guys, one of which might blossom long term. This is where the needs sort of drop off, the other four positions listed are greater needs.

6 Defensive Line Hicks, Goldman, Nichols, RRH, Urban, and Anderson is a pretty solid group. But you saw the regression of the entire defense when Hicks went down, so it could make sense to get another impact player along the defensive front. I would not spend a 2nd rounder (unless some freak occurrence happens and Kinlaw or Brown is available) on one as the group we have now is solid, but a late rounder to push the depth would make sense.

I am leaving TE off the list. but I am not happy with the group here now and it needs to be improved. The problem is the room is now crowded with what ifs. What if Graham returns to form? What if Burton stays healthy? What if Shaheen finally figures out how to play in the NFL? What if Holtz gets better in year 2? What if Hosted, Raymond, Harris, or Braunecker steps up? There are a lot of suspect bodies in the TE room now and there is no room for an addition.

What do you see as the main areas of concern heading into the draft?

[Moriarty]

Position….Rounds…………………..Comment
1) C/G……2-4…………………..Line sucked, depth sucks
2) CB..……2-3.………………….Dubious #2 and depth
3) SS.…….2-7……………………Bush a stopgap
4) WR.…..2-6……………………no speed receiver
5) OLB.….3-7……………………bad depth
6) ILB…….4-7……………………no depth and both starters have missed time
7) TE..……4-7.………………….still a mess, who steps in when Graham is done if Burton is broken?
8) HB..……5-7.………………….need 1 more
9) E……….5-7……………………Williams gone
10) P……….6-7………………….O’Donnell has been subpar

[cblaz11]

Position….Rounds…………………..Comment
1) C/G……2-4…………………..Line sucked, depth sucks
2) CB..……2-3.………………….Dubious #2 and depth
3) SS.…….2-7……………………Bush a stopgap
4) WR.…..2-6……………………no speed receiver
5) OLB.….3-7……………………bad depth
6) ILB…….4-7……………………no depth and both starters have missed time
7) TE..……4-7.………………….still a mess, who steps in when Graham is done if Burton is broken?
8) HB..……5-7.………………….need 1 more
9) E……….5-7……………………Williams gone
10) P……….6-7………………….O’Donnell has been subpar

Who do you like on this roster?

[southdakbearfan]

Position….Rounds…………………..Comment
1) C/G……2-4…………………..Line sucked, depth sucks
2) CB..……2-3.………………….Dubious #2 and depth
3) SS.…….2-7……………………Bush a stopgap
4) WR.…..2-6……………………no speed receiver
5) OLB.….3-7……………………bad depth
6) ILB…….4-7……………………no depth and both starters have missed time
7) TE..……4-7.………………….still a mess, who steps in when Graham is done if Burton is broken?
8) HB..……5-7.………………….need 1 more
9) E……….5-7……………………Williams gone
10) P……….6-7………………….O’Donnell has been subpar

1 - agreed.
2 - idk, S feels like a bigger need and we have a lot of bodies at CB
3 - agreed
4 - agreed
5 - idk, feels a little like CB, we got a few bodies
6 - agreed
7 - No - I think they will go with Holtz and the rest of the bunch
8 - I feel like UDFA here
9 - agreed
10 - I thought O'Donnell was decent the last 2 years.

[Moriarty]

Position….Rounds…………………..Comment
1) C/G……2-4…………………..Line sucked, depth sucks
2) CB..……2-3.………………….Dubious #2 and depth
3) SS.…….2-7……………………Bush a stopgap
4) WR.…..2-6……………………no speed receiver
5) OLB.….3-7……………………bad depth
6) ILB…….4-7……………………no depth and both starters have missed time
7) TE..……4-7.………………….still a mess, who steps in when Graham is done if Burton is broken?
8) HB..……5-7.………………….need 1 more
9) E……….5-7……………………Williams gone
10) P……….6-7………………….O’Donnell has been subpar

Who do you like on this roster?

That's only 10 spots out of a 53 man roster. Dozens of guys are either a) fine, or b) fine, if someone were acquired and they slid back 1 spot on the depth chart.

However, there's a reason the Bears are in line to get 4 comp picks for this offseason (not even including meaningful losses like Floyd, Amukamara, Gabriel, Lucas, Larsen, who didn't count).
They had nice depth last year, coupled with salary cap issues, leading to parts of their roster getting treated like the toilet paper aisle at Target.

[Wounded Bear]

Draft priorities are:

1) Guard/Center
2) Strong Safety - Bush worries me
3) DLine - The more I think of it, we need another stout body to replace Nick Williams, Akiem Hicks getting hurt last year showed our vulnerability there and he isn't getting any younger
4) ILB - No Depth, Trevathan will get hurt, Kwit and KPL are gone
5) WR with speed
6) CB - I like Tolliver and Artie Burns may rebound
7) OLB - Depth
8) OLine - we need more depth
9) RB
10) TE = I'm good with Graham and Burton, Holtz and Horsted, but if a good prospect late in the rounds shows up....

[G08]

So where are we at now... based on FA moves I think Pace/Nagy are in win now mode. That tells me we aren't going to burn high draft picks on developmental prospects.

Needs in no particular order:

1. OG
2. Speed WR
3. SS
4. Swing T
5. RB depth

One part of me thinks that we take the BPA OL/WR/SS at #43 and trade down from #50... but the #43 pick is worth 70 more points than #50. Now I'm thinking we might trade down from #43 and take our BPA at #50 with the hope of picking up a 3rd. Or we can drop down a few slots from #50 and pick up a 4th. Regardless, I'll be stunned if there isn't at least one trade down that we make this draft. Question is where do we go... are we giving up on Riley Ridley already? Since we got rid of Gabriel, who is going to be our burner? Do we take a WR like KJ Hamler or Jalen Reagor if a solid OT is staring at us?

[RichH55]

Who do you like on this roster?

That's only 10 spots out of a 53 man roster. Dozens of guys are either a) fine, or b) fine, if someone were acquired and they slid back 1 spot on the depth chart.

However, there's a reason the Bears are in line to get 4 comp picks for this offseason (not even including meaningful losses like Floyd, Amukamara, Gabriel, Lucas, Larsen, who didn't count).
They had nice depth last year, coupled with salary cap issues, leading to parts of their roster getting treated like the toilet paper aisle at Target.

On the Flip side
Compensatory picks we are getting are for :
Ha Ha
Chase
Nick Williams
KPL

None of those guys cost much to acquire - Do I think a guy like Nick Williams can be pretty easily replaced?

Absolutely

There are some HA HA types still out there on FA for Safety - and the Bears have a pretty good situation for a SS to walk into - Chance to win the Starting Job, Eddie Jackson cleaning up after you and a great Pass Rush/Front 7

If you are a guy looking for a 1 year prove it deal to rebuild worth - it's a pretty good option


I wonder if we were evaluating league wide rosters how the overall needs and difficulty of finding replacements would rank

Adding depth at ILB is a heckuva lot easier than finding a Mack or even Hicks type

[Z Bear]

That is kind of where I am at with a speed receiver, if you do not take one at 43 then you most likely will not get one. One of the 2nd round picks needs to net a safety, all the mocks I have seen have had safeties slip and the need is so great. I am leaning Mimms/Reagor/Hamler at 43 then the highest rated safety left at 50. Or you could get a safety at 43 if all three of those guys are still on the board. I have seen Grant Delpit slip in a few mocks lately, would be crazy to get him and one of those receivers. Spend a couple picks on the offensive line, then the rest defensive front 7 (Edge, ILb, line). The only other scenario that makes sense to me is the higest rated offensive lineman at 43 and one of the safeties at 50. You could get by with the receivers we have now, but there needs to be some guys brought in at tackle for sure, and maybe one interior lineman.

[crueltyabc]

Gotta trade back in the second to get three players with those two 2nd rounders:
OG/C, CB, WR

The remaining picks:
SS, ILB, DT, RB

I'm completely neglecting EDGE, TE, and QB in this scenario because there's already so much invested in those spots. These will likely be priorities next year

[wab]

Gotta trade back in the second to get three players with those two 2nd rounders:
OG/C, CB, WR

The remaining picks:
SS, ILB, DT, RB

I'm completely neglecting EDGE, TE, and QB in this scenario because there's already so much invested in those spots. These will likely be priorities next year

If they are looking at Ifedi strictly as a guard, then you definitely need a swing OT early.

But hell... who knows. Pace's history (aside from Shaheen) suggests he takes the greatest value in R2. So it's really tough to say.

[crueltyabc]

With the value I'm seeing at #43 in mocks and big boards etc I'm thinking the best plan is to draft interior guy (Hunt, Ruiz, Cushenberry?) and kick Ifedi out to OT if there's an injury. I guess it depends on what happens with that second tier of OTs so maybe Ifedi makes them BPA oline in the early second.

[RichH55]

Gotta trade back in the second to get three players with those two 2nd rounders:
OG/C, CB, WR

The remaining picks:
SS, ILB, DT, RB

I'm completely neglecting EDGE, TE, and QB in this scenario because there's already so much invested in those spots. These will likely be priorities next year

I'm a big believer in two simple - yet hard to stick to - concepts

Let the draft come to you - and take good football players

This draft especially near pick #43 is looking like deep in WR, OT, and CB - So I'd expect the pick to be in that range

[wab]

Gotta trade back in the second to get three players with those two 2nd rounders:
OG/C, CB, WR

The remaining picks:
SS, ILB, DT, RB

I'm completely neglecting EDGE, TE, and QB in this scenario because there's already so much invested in those spots. These will likely be priorities next year

I'm a big believer in two simple - yet hard to stick to - concepts

Let the draft come to you - and take good football players

This draft especially near pick #43 is looking like deep in WR, OT, and CB - So I'd expect the pick to be in that range

I think Pace does a pretty good job of that outside of R1. So...maybe it's good that the Bears don't have a first this year.

The depth of the draft in certain positions outside of R1 does line up nicely with both what the Bears need, and draft value.

[crueltyabc]

Ok I agree with you guys, but want to re-emphasize here that we need THREE of Pace's mid-round miracles not TWO. Let's not assume he can find multiple quality guys in the 5-7th.

[G08]

Ok I agree with you guys, but want to re-emphasize here that we need THREE of Pace's mid-round miracles not TWO. Let's not assume he can find multiple quality guys in the 5-7th.

I think it will boil down to is there a "no way I can risk missing out on player X" at #43? If there is not, then I suspect he'll trade down from #43 and make his first pick at #50 (assuming there was a cloud of 8 players he liked at 43).

Some trade options per my guy Adam Jahns:

Bears give up #50 to Ravens for #55 and #106

Bears give up #43 to Eagles for #53, #103, and #190

Bears give up #50 to Seahawks for #59, #133, and 2021 fourth rounder

[wulfy]

I think with the depth of the WR and DB positions, there will be a high interest in teams looking to move up to the Beloved's picks in Round 2.

[G08]

I think with the depth of the WR and DB positions, there will be a high interest in teams looking to move up to the Beloved's picks in Round 2.

Agreed... but man, we certainly could use a burner like Jalen Reagor at WR or a CB like AJ Terrell or Jaylon Johnson.

[wulfy]

For sure G08 .... but there are some other "speed merchants" available if you pick up a 3rd by moving down:

Devin Duvernay of Texas
Quez Watkins of Southern Miss
Lynn Bowden of Kentucky

They are all sub 4.4 guys.

And while there is no 40 time on Van Jefferson, this is a pretty good substitute:

Jefferson, with the help of Zebra Technology, produced a top speed of 21.05 miles per hour during Senior Bowl practices in January - the fastest speed on hand during the event. The three highest following Jefferson - Texas wide receiver Devin Duvernay (20.90 MPH), Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims (20.26 MPH), and Memphis hybrid running back/wide receiver Antonio Gibson (20.15 MPH) - all posted 40 yard dash times of 4.39 seconds or better at the Combine in February.]

But then again, John Capel taught us that speed is certainly not everything.

[G08]

For sure G08 .... but there are some other "speed merchants" available if you pick up a 3rd by moving down:

Devin Duvernay of Texas
Quez Watkins of Southern Miss
Lynn Bowden of Kentucky

They are all sub 4.4 guys.

And while there is no 40 time on Van Jefferson, this is a pretty good substitute:

Jefferson, with the help of Zebra Technology, produced a top speed of 21.05 miles per hour during Senior Bowl practices in January - the fastest speed on hand during the event. The three highest following Jefferson - Texas wide receiver Devin Duvernay (20.90 MPH), Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims (20.26 MPH), and Memphis hybrid running back/wide receiver Antonio Gibson (20.15 MPH) - all posted 40 yard dash times of 4.39 seconds or better at the Combine in February.]

But then again, John Capel taught us that speed is certainly not everything.

JOHN CAPEL! Jesus Christ I remember that draft pick -- nice fucking reference

[The Grizzly One]

I know some you keep bringing up CB high. I just don't see the need there.

Obviously if the Bears do draft one high I will have been wrong. But I feel the replacment (or upgrade) for Prince is already on the roster.

[RichH55]

Could be Grizzly

BUT a few things to consider there on CB
1). It's a pretty solid class especially for mid 2nd to mid 3rd Range
2) Prince is gone - so an extra guy in the mix is not a bad scenario
3) Fuller 2021 is the highest cap hit for a CB in the league and the last year of his contract - so they might be looking to either move on (Trade?) or restructure Leverage for both is increased if you get a guy in 2020 that looks solid

[Z Bear]

There is a lot of young propects on the team at the CB position, aside from Fuller everyone else is pretty young. There are some quality prospects that could develop, which drives down the CB draft need for me. An experienced vet would make sense, but these is no cap room for one. With Burtuon getting released, TE moves up the list pretty far.

1) OT: Stil only have Leno and Massie at T, but if a top tier guard is available you could bump Iredi out to swing tackle. This is a draft need as there are no good young long term prospects in house at tackle, and franlky the starts should be pushed.

2) SS: I like Bush more as a back up, he is the weakest starter on the team. DHC is meh, McMannis is a special teamer. Having a rookie start at SS makes sense since Eddie Jackson is making so much on the other side.

3) TE: With Burton gone, you have an aging Graham and a bunch of young guys who are not complete TEs, most of them don't block so well. Unless you think Shaheen is ready to blossom (LOL), TE is a fairly big need.

4) WR with speed: Draft need as there are none on the roster and no good FA prospects

5) RB: Still only have Monty, Cohen, and Nall on the roster. RBs are a dime a dozen on the FA marklet, so this could easily be filled with a vet minimum contract.

6)OG: Bars and Coward need some competition for swing G

7) ILB: Depth is pretty weak behind the starters

Those 7 positions would make the most sense in the draft unless a BPA fall at some other position that is too good to be true.

[Moriarty]

I know some you keep bringing up CB high. I just don't see the need there.

Obviously if the Bears do draft one high I will have been wrong. But I feel the replacment (or upgrade) for Prince is already on the roster.

Well, I can't make you change your opinion, but as far as some objective things go:

Toliver is

• Not high draft pedigree (totally undrafted, in fact)
• Only in the league 2 yrs
• Only has 2 career starts

Of all the 22-25 projected starters on the roster, that comes in dead last

Some of the other 'weak spot' anticipated starters:

Ifedi
R1
4 years
60 starts

Bush
R4
4 years
8 starts

Miller
R2
2 years
11 starts


Trusting Toliver is putting a LOT of eggs in the basket of an unheralded guy who had 1 start last year (and went weirdly untested).

[RichH55]

Tolliver was also an absolute stud prospect coming out of High School (didn't live up to it mind you) - and has a good NFL Frame and good athletic skills

So I'm not sure how much draft status matters anymore

[The Grizzly One]

Fair enough Moriarty. However I really really like him.

So OK, maybe I am an Oddball, and thus I say to you, "Always with the negative waves Moriarty, always with the negative waves."

[IE]

I think at ILB there is a "next man up is good" thing going on. Beginning of last season and given the concept that both Danny and Roquan would go down, and people would have forecasted disaster with Kwit and KPL. Now we're sad they're gone. I don't see LB an issue at all, given what we've seen from Pace to-date. And he's really admitted and moved on from his one big mistake at the position.

I do see safety as a need, and Chinn is intriguing.

I don't see moves at C/RG now given Pace's recent FA moves and Coward/Bars development.

I think the biggest need for teams that don't clearly have one is always "franchise QB". So regardless of the fun competition between 10 and Foles grabbing a QB with a higher pick has always got to be a priority until the Bears have a 10-year guy. Gotta have that stable. I know it is an unfamiliar or unnatural topic for Bear fans.