The NFL draft was held last weekend. while the draft coverage has become unwatchable, it is still one of the most exciting weekends of the off season for football fans like me.
Thanks to the fact that they played out of their minds last year (especially at the end of games) this is was the first time in a long while the Bears did not have a top 15 draft pick. This meant they had to be smart... and very lucky. In the first round it seems they were both of those.
Even though the Bears won their division last year, they had money holes to fill this off-season. Between free agents walking, super surprising player retirements, and just the fact they already had a flawed roster last year, the Bears were in need of many players before the season begins. They filled a couple of these through the free agent signings of Devin Bush, Neville Gallimore and the jewel of their signings S Coby Bryant. They also traded for C Garrett Bradbury to replace Drew Dahlman after his surprise retirement from football. But that still left needs at defensive end (now called "edge" for some reason), safety, and defensive tackle. They need starting caliber players at each of those positions. In other words, they need lots of help on defense. But they also needed to fill the center position long term.
So when their first round pick came around at number 25 and the second best safety in college football last year was still on the board, the Bears did a very un-Bearlike thing and drafted S Dillon Thieneman. He is an incredibly athletic and smart safety who runs a 4.35 40 yard dash and hits like a linebacker. It really looks like this pick could be a home run.
In the second round the Bears hopefully filled that ling term center need by drafting the best one in college football last year in Logan Jones. Not that there is a squat rack on the field but the fact that he can squat 700 pounds leads me to believe he might be strong enough to block for Caleb Williams for many years to come.
In the third round, someone reminded the Bears that they are indeed the Bears and should start acting as such. So even though they have two young and productive Tight Ends, the Bears decided to get a third one by drafting TE Sam Roush from Stanford. Unless this guy is secretly an edge who can rush the passer, this was an absolutely bizarre pick. They are set at Tight End. Third tight ends are very cheap in free agency. They were 29th in pass rush last year so a edge would have made sense... and would have made the team better.
OK. Maybe they have a plan to help the defensive line with their second 3rd round pick. Nope! Even though they have two young and productive wide receivers (yes I copy and pasted that from above) they made a huge stretch and took the fastest receiver in the draft Zavion Thomas. I love speed. Who doesn't? But this guy was rated as a day 3 pick and the Bears took him incredibly early. So still no pass rush help.
Maybe defensive coordinator was in the bathroom for the second and third rounds, but he was clearly back when round four started. In rounds four, five and six, the Bears finally started addressing their biggest needs and drafted corner back Malik Muhammad (who many experts believe can develop into a starter), speedy Line Backer Keyshaun Elliot and athletic freak Defensive Tackle Jordan van den Berg.
So like I said, I was quite "whelmed" by this draft. The Bears started well and ended well but seemed lost in the middle. Hey that basically describes every game they played last year. Hopefully, just like their play on the field last year, this draft will look bad but end up as a win.
How about you? Who did your team get? Are you underwhelmed, whelmed, or overwhelmed by your team's performance in the draft?
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