Mild Sauce
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« Reply #125 on: April 29, 2012, 02:11:52 am » |
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What's everyone's thoughts on the draft?
Here's my thoughts:
1. Shea McClellin - I liked the pick. I thought they could have traded to move back a couple spots, but oh well, they didn't. Still, I like this kid. He's got a great head on his shoulders and a great motor. He's not especially strong, as he only got 19 reps in the bench press during the combine, but then again, Jared Allen only got 12 when he did it. From looking at the tapes and reading reports, it seems like he has great technique, and the kid is fast. These should make up for his slight lack of size and strength.
On the negative side, he does have that slight lack of size, you'd like someone about 270-280 to be there, at least, but neither is horribly short for a defensive end either. The two worries I do have is that #1, he did have 2 concussions in college. The first was minor, the second a major one in 2010. Supposedly he changed his helmet after the second one to one a little stronger and hasn't had any problems since. The second worry I have is that he wasn't playing in a top conference. The Bears brass made their decision paying more attention to game tape than anything else. Certain things, like technique and style should carry over fine, but as for actual results, those are somewhat of a question to me. However, he did a great job in out of conference games, so that's also a smaller worry.
2. Alshon Jeffrey - Brilliant pick here and an early birthday present for Jay Cutler. He's a big, physical receiver. He has good hands (10 1/4"!!!), long arms, and a great nose for the ball (I know, that's usually a defensive thing). He's a great candidate to be a #2 receiver for the Bears, which makes things better when you realize that Earl Bennett will be able to be the #3, where he's better suited.
On the negative, he's not very fast. Then again, Jerry Rice was never a speed guy, and he's arguably the best football player ever. Not to say that Jeffrey has a prayer at being a Jerry Rice, but it does mean that this won't doom him either. Outside of that, there are conditioning questions. Mike Williams (the USC one) had similar questions and wound up losing a few years from his career due to that. Williams was able to come back and have a solid 2010, but had a weak 2011. Jeffrey needs to make sure that this doesn't happen to him. There are questions to how hard he plays, but he's going to be in a locker room that doesn't settle for guys taking plays off.
3. Brandon Hardin - I was a bit surprised by this pick. I thought he very well could have fallen into the 4th round. Anyway, this is a guy that can wind up playing a number of positions. He's most likely to be a safety, but putting him at corner isn't out of the question, as that's what he played in college. Putting him at linebacker isn't out of the question, but he would be pretty small for a linebacker and likely wouldn't be able to put weight on in a way that would be productive to his play. Still, his play at corner is supposedly much like a Charles Tillman type, big and physical. At safety, where he would likely be better suited, he can hit hard and keep things physical. He's been said to be perfect for a cover 2 system.
As for the negatives, he's not fast, which will likely be what pushes him to safety instead of corner. The biggest concern though is that he's already got a hefty injury history. If he's to turn into any sort of hard hitting safety, this will be a huge concern, as hard hitting safeties usually wind up with injury problems down the road, much less early on.
4. Evan Rodriguez - Quick off the ball, very good hands, and has very good technique. The tight end wasn't an immediate need for the Bears, as Kellen Davis can catch the ball and will likely look light years better without the Martz system holding him back. Spaeth isn't much of a receiver outside of short red zone situations, but is a great blocker. Still, it never hurts to have a third option at tight end. On top of that, I can see Rodriguez winding up a fullback. He's got a great build for it. He's 6'2", but a stocky 6'2" at 240 lbs. Supposedly he's good at blocking, getting very good leverage. That, along with his ability to be so quick off the ball would really help to make him into one of those hybrid fullback/tight end types. As someone who actually somewhat did this when I played (tight end in 2 TE formations, fullback otherwise), I'm probably a bit biased, but I can see him being a pleasant surprise for Bears fans.
On the negative, outside of his initial quickness, he's not especially fast. On top of that, while he's good at blocking at the first level, he supposedly has trouble when it gets to the backfield with linebackers and defensive backs. He's also not particularly strong. This can create problems in passing situations.
6. Isaiah Frey - He should fit in very well with the Bears defense. His size will allow him to switch in to cover tight ends when the receivers get deep and the safeties can cover them. The Bears had plenty of trubel with tight ends last year. He is a pass deflection factory who uses his size very well.
On the negative side, he's not very physical. He's not extremely fast and has had coverage issues. He could wind up having to move to safety, but should be able to survive in the cover 2 defense.
7. Greg McCoy - This is one corner that was drafted that I'm sure can continue to play corner. However, he's probably going to purely be a nickel guy. Saying all that, he's got safety skills, but his size and style will keep him at corner. He's a very scrappy player who will always compete and will never back down. On top of that, he's a great candidate as a kick returner. The Bears always seem to be 2-3 deep in guys who can return kicks, and with Hester, Weems, Thomas, Knox, and now McCoy, the Bears seem to be full of guys who can punish teams with kick returns. Hell, even Earl Bennett has taken a punt back before. This is a team very deep in returners, almost makes me wonder if they're going to try to make a move still. Either way, this is a scrappy and quick corner who could very well find himself onto the team and from there can be a productive player.
On the negative again, his tackling isn't great, he's on the too small side of things, and he doesn't have great technique. Each of these could wind up hurting him. Then again, I'll pull what I did with Alshon Jeffrey again, 2 of those 3 apply to Deion Sanders, who had size, but didn't have the best technique (what he had worked for him), and is the worst tackler in the hall of fame (offense or defense) right now. Not saying that McCoy has a prayer at being that, but again, just saying that these are not reasons to lose hope.
As a whole, I'll give the Bears a B for the draft. They didn't get a replacement for J'Marcus Webb, which they do desperately need. Webb gave up more sacks and had more false starts than any other offensive lineman in the league last year. I wouldn't be surprised if he gave up more sacks than Jared Allen had sacks last year. This is a problem that needs to be solved, and I don't want to see another lineman with Frank Omiyale type abilities brought in to try and fix the situation. This is the one huge black eye in the draft. At the same time, a lot of tackles went much sooner than expected. I thought Jeff Allen would be there in the third round, but he went before the Bears picked (after trading up) in the second round. This could have really thrown the Bears off, as the tackles past that second round did not have much to offer. Before all that there was a possibility to get a quality tackle in the 4th round.
I feel a bit generous with the B, but they did, at the earlier rounds make good picks. Those are the guys who have the best chance of being impact players for them, and they may have 2 players who will be around for a long time with those first two picks.
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