2024 NFL Draft

[BigSlick]

*bursts through the door, starts rubbing hands together*

 

alright who's got tape for me to watch

[Irrelevant Dude]

SOS between the Panthers and Patriots is basically a coin flip right now, .521 for Carolina versus .523 for New England.  Hopefully the Packers come out desperate next week and beat the Panthers and then hopefully Jacksonville takes care of business.  Tampa worries me a bit in the last week, not knowing whether or not they will still be in the hunt for a playoff spot.  We really need the Patriots to run into one more win and the Broncos certainly look beatable next week.

[Tryptamine]

2 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

SOS between the Panthers and Patriots is basically a coin flip right now, .521 for Carolina versus .523 for New England.  Hopefully the Packers come out desperate next week and beat the Panthers and then hopefully Jacksonville takes care of business.  Tampa worries me a bit in the last week, not knowing whether or not they will still be in the hunt for a playoff spot.  We really need the Patriots to run into one more win and the Broncos certainly look beatable next week.

NE looks more competent with Zappe at QB, not much, but he's better than Mac Jones.

[gflore34]

Pairing Williams/Maye with Nabers/Odunze/Coleman is ideal but, given Jenkins injury history (got hurt again on Sunday) and lack of availability.  I'm wondering if Poles should go with Williams/Maye and Fasahnu/Alt instead.  Jenkins is fantastic when he plays but, it's only about 60% of time.

[raw]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

Pairing Williams/Maye with Nabers/Odunze/Coleman is ideal but, given Jenkins injury history (got hurt again on Sunday) and lack of availability.  I'm wondering if Poles should go with Williams/Maye and Fasahnu/Alt instead.  Jenkins is fantastic when he plays but, it's only about 60% of time.

It's a concussion. Jenkins'll be fine. If he plays this week, that'll only be 4 games missed each of the last 2 years since the initial back/neck issue. That's not terrible to the point you have to bench him (and you certainly would for a top 8 pick). You just gotta build the depth. Don't be in a hurry to re-sign him. If he gets hurt again, he risks losing his spot. But I don't see the need to worry about that until Day 2 at the earliest.

[BigSlick]

I see no reason to not use a Day 1 (in my head thats rounds 1-3, I know its different these days) on offensive line literally every single draft. You almost never can have too many of those guys. 

[jersey cubs fan]

32 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

I see no reason to not use a Day 1 (in my head thats rounds 1-3, I know its different these days) on offensive line literally every single draft. You almost never can have too many of those guys. 

They don’t have a 2nd, so it’s only one of the two firsts or a 3rd. I wouldn’t refer to the 3rd as day one.  

[Tryptamine]

Unless they're signing one in FA, drafting a C is basically a must and what I'd like to use a 3rd on.

[Rex Buckingham]

How do you guys think Braxton Jones would project at guard? I feel like run blocking and his mobility are strengths, just not sure how it would translate to playing G. Obviously, you only do that if you get one of the big time tackles in the draft

[raw]

2 hours ago, BigSlick said:

I see no reason to not use a Day 1 (in my head thats rounds 1-3, I know its different these days) on offensive line literally every single draft. You almost never can have too many of those guys. 

Yeah, I want an OL in the first 3 rounds every year as well. Ideally, they'd get a guy with some C/G flexibility, after signing a FA center, in the 3rd....if not in the 2nd because of a trade down with the 2nd first or from a Fields trade.

But yeah the cycle should be:

2024 Draft Rds 1-3: interior potential starter quality depth, wouldn't hate some OT depth as well

2025- Jenkins is a FA, Davis is cuttable w/ minimal guarantees, Braxton is a year away from free agency, could see multiple in rounds 1-3

2026- Jones is a FA, Davis is a FA if not cut beforehand, if they sign a FA center, he's probably nearing early 30s and the end of his guarantees, probably drafting 2

2027- Wright a year away from free agency, along with 2024 pick, maybe only draft 1 depending on guys getting long-term deals.

Yeah, they need to replenish the talent on the OL pretty consistently. The Bears finally have a semblance of a professional OL and they've only spent 3 top 3 rounds picks on the position in the last 7 years. That should probably be a 1/year average.

 

[raw]

26 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

How do you guys think Braxton Jones would project at guard? I feel like run blocking and his mobility are strengths, just not sure how it would translate to playing G. Obviously, you only do that if you get one of the big time tackles in the draft

I think guards you typically want to have strong anchors to be able to stand the bullrush against guys who are 40-50lbs heavier than most of their edge counterparts. Also, because Jones has long arms, he won't be able to extend them to get the leverage he can better get in space. Not that he can't play guard, but I don't think he'd be as good of a fit there as he is at tackle.

 

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I think LT is the second highest paid position on offenses for a reason and if we have a chance to take an great one with our own first, we shouldn't let Charles Leno -- im sorry I mean Braxton Jones -- get in the way of that.

[BigSlick]

9 minutes ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

I think LT is the second highest paid position on offenses for a reason and if we have a chance to take an great one with our own first, we shouldn't let Charles Leno -- im sorry I mean Braxton Jones -- get in the way of that.

Jones seems like a fantastic depth option. He's nothing special, but he has the capability to start when needed when injuries inevitably occur. Get some more special talent at Tackle here. 

Also a Center.

And maybe a Guard too. Davis came back, they moved Jenkins, and immediately the Line played worse. So. 

[Tryptamine]

I don't have metrics to back it up, but my eye test tells me Davis has been awful.

[raw]

3 hours ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

I think LT is the second highest paid position on offenses for a reason and if we have a chance to take an great one with our own first, we shouldn't let Charles Leno -- im sorry I mean Braxton Jones -- get in the way of that.

Well, LT is certainly NOT the 2nd highest paid position on offense. WR is. There are 6 OTs getting paid 20M or more, with the top being Tunsil at 25M. There are 13 WRs getting paid 20M or more with Tyreek Hill's 30M at the top. There's 3 WRs higher than the highest OT, 1 with the same AAV, and then 4 more WRs before you get to the 2nd highest paid OT.

So, if that's the only logic for taking LT, then my earlier logic wins because replacing an average LT with a great one is not as valuable as replacing Tyler Scott with a great WR, especially considering if Scott somehow becomes great, you can still play Scott, DJ and the draft pick at the same time, whereas if Braxton somehow becomes great, you don't ever see it because he's not seeing the field without an injury.

[raw]

2 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

I don't have metrics to back it up, but my eye test tells me Davis has been awful.

He's had awful games. He's had a couple good games. He's had a couple mediocre games. I don't have the metrics either (except PFF, which people love to point out they pay no attention to) but I'd guess he's been average overall. Unfortunately, he's not in a place where it makes sense to cut him. Definitely by midseason next year, if he's not clearly above average, I'd like to see JaTyre Carter and/or a Day 2 pick taking his snaps with him being cut after the season.

[UK]

Davis makes no sense financially to cut before the end of next year where the hit to the cap is much smaller. It sounds bad but given his personal situation, early retirement might be a possibility or not starting next year like Whitehair this year, might also lead to early retirement.

As far as Jones, he is an avg at best tackle. On a good Line, he is a good swing/3rd tackle. Unfortunately, the Bears don't have a good line and have greater holes on the interior as well as greater holes at WR which would minimize the improvement of having to draft a LT in the top 10 compared to WR.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Anyone think Moore holds out for a new deal next year? His deal is too good to actually run the course. He knows he is criminally underpaid.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

3 hours ago, raw said:

Well, LT is certainly NOT the 2nd highest paid position on offense. WR is. There are 6 OTs getting paid 20M or more, with the top being Tunsil at 25M. There are 13 WRs getting paid 20M or more with Tyreek Hill's 30M at the top. There's 3 WRs higher than the highest OT, 1 with the same AAV, and then 4 more WRs before you get to the 2nd highest paid OT.

So, if that's the only logic for taking LT, then my earlier logic wins because replacing an average LT with a great one is not as valuable as replacing Tyler Scott with a great WR, especially considering if Scott somehow becomes great, you can still play Scott, DJ and the draft pick at the same time, whereas if Braxton somehow becomes great, you don't ever see it because he's not seeing the field without an injury.

I was going by average, but it make sense to do it your way. I'm sold, take a WR

[raw]

9 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Anyone think Moore holds out for a new deal next year? His deal is too good to actually run the course. He knows he is criminally underpaid.

He doesn't hold out. But I think he definitely starts talking about a new deal and eventually gets it.

[jersey cubs fan]

2 hours ago, raw said:

He doesn't hold out. But I think he definitely starts talking about a new deal and eventually gets it.

If he actually believes that Fields is better than the rookies and they do move on, he could view this summer as his last best leverage, since he might expect production to go down with a rookie. That being said, he may not actually believe that and could view it as an opportunity to get himself an even bigger deal after 2024 season. 

[BigSlick]

DJ Moore's numbers this year are truly astonishing when you factor in that he had 4 games with an undrafted rookie QB and several where Fields was completely ineffective: 

 

80 catches, 1,123 yards and 7 TDs.

 

With 3 games to go. That's top 10 in yardage and TDs (though he's tied with like, 10 other guys in TD receptions) and his catch % at 72.1% is right there with where most of the leading receivers are. (There are lots of folks with higher catch %, but they generally RBs and TEs with fewer opportunities) 

Barring injury, he will almost certainly surpass his career highs in yardage, TDs and has a good shot at beating his catch total (he's 13 away). 

Dude is such a stud. It's been a while since Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, and their top years are still better than Moore's 2023, but he may already be the best WR ever in a Bears uniform. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by BigSlick

[gflore34]

What if the Carolina pick falls to 3?  In this case, assuming Maye/Williams or Williams/Maye go 1 and 2, I'd take MHJ at 3 and Fashanu/Alt with the next pick.  Then, of course, find an OC that's going to put Fields in the best position to succeed, play call to his strengths and not try to make him into something he's not.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

If the Carolina pick falls to 3, you take MHJ, take another QB later in the draft, dump fields and find a veteran bridge QB.

[BigSlick]

1 hour ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

If the Carolina pick falls to 3, you take MHJ, take another QB later in the draft, dump fields and find a veteran bridge QB.

I’m this scenario I see no reason to not keep Fields for a 4th year worth…what like 6 or 7 million? Even if he’s a disaster (and I think he’d be better than that), I’d find that preferable to picking up Andy Dalton 3.0. The rookie is hopefully gonna sit and learn anyway.