Chicago Bears offseason

[WrigleyField 22]

14 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Seems like a ballsy pick to take a guy who nobody expects to play as a rookie in the third. But they probably don’t want to give Braxton jones a second contract and you can never have enough OL. 

Kind of sounds like Braxton Jones.  Who of course best expectations and started day 1 at a average level.  

[minnesotacubsfan]

A punter in the 4th? Now Poles is just being cocky

 

[PosterToBeNamedLater]

10 minutes ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

A punter in the 4th? Now Poles is just being cocky

 

Weirdly I was kindof hoping for this.  Odds of another player actually ever being anything probably weren't that great (especially in this draft where it has been said the talent level really drops off in the later rounds).  The current punter was bad, so getting someone who actually is sort of a "weapon" as a punter and really good at pinning punts inside the 20 doesn't upset me.  

Edit to add: kind of funny to hear Eisen say that he was probably Iowa's best offensive weapon, and that he wasn't even joking.  

Edited April 27, 2024 by PosterToBeNamedLater

[Old Style]

 

[Old Style]

 

[Bertz]

6 minutes ago, Old Style said:

 

I already love Caleb so much

[UMFan83]

Yeah not a big fan of drafting specialists especially when you only have 4 picks and that was your last one (unless they trade back in) but whatever. If they didn’t see anyone they loved and he was their BPA so be it. 
 

Eberflus can’t love not taking a single defensive player but we’ve committed plenty of resources over the last 2 years

[UMFan83]

Gotta think the Bears can find a way to get back into the 5th or 6th round. Bears have a decent number of later picks next year and seems like there are always teams that end up with a lot of late round picks and not enough roster spots. 

[jersey cubs fan]

The late rounds of this draft are widely considered to be trash. Don’t know why they would try and move back in. 

[PosterToBeNamedLater]

1 minute ago, jersey cubs fan said:

The late rounds of this draft are widely considered to be trash. Don’t know why they would try and move back in. 

Yeah, honestly, my main hope for today was that they wouldn't trade any future picks to move up.  Next year is supposed to be much deeper because of how many players stayed in college that could have come out.  

[Old Style]

Well they did trade back into the draft.  

[Old Style]

 

[UMFan83]

5 minutes ago, Old Style said:

Well they did trade back into the draft.  

And that’s why you try to trade back in. When a guy with a 3rd round grade drops to the 5th and you have conviction in him. Booker took a top 30 visit to Chicago so obviously they liked him

[minnesotacubsfan]

What did they trade to get Booker?

also tho, drafting to punter in the 4th seems a little more palatable now

[minnesotacubsfan]

1 hour ago, PosterToBeNamedLater said:

Weirdly I was kindof hoping for this.  Odds of another player actually ever being anything probably weren't that great (especially in this draft where it has been said the talent level really drops off in the later rounds).  The current punter was bad, so getting someone who actually is sort of a "weapon" as a punter and really good at pinning punts inside the 20 doesn't upset me.  

Edit to add: kind of funny to hear Eisen say that he was probably Iowa's best offensive weapon, and that he wasn't even joking.  

I guess he’s a great punter prospect, but it felt early

 

glad they got Booker too

 

[sweetpeteman]

9 minutes ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

What did they trade to get Booker?

also tho, drafting to punter in the 4th seems a little more palatable now

Next years 4th.

 

What's funny is that the pick they got back was their original pick they traded to the Bills for Bates.

[Brian707]

The punter from down under. I can dig it

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm not upset about it or anything, but on principle, I refuse to agree with the concept of trading up to get a punter.

[jersey cubs fan]

32 minutes ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

I'm not upset about it or anything, but on principle, I refuse to agree with the concept of trading up to get a punter.

Did they do that? I thought they just took him with the fourth that they already owned.

[bukie]

My Bears draft snap thoughts/analysis:

1-1: Caleb Williams, QB USC  - Easily the best QB prospect in a QB heavy draft (that teams made even more QB heavy by reaching on QB picks worse than a fantasy draft). Still yet to be seen if this round of coaching staff can maximize his abilities, but he's already endeared himself to the team and the franchise, and there's effectively an entire offense in place for him already instead of hanging him out to dry for two years. Love the pick and the situation.

1-9: Rome Odunze, WR Washington - Top tier WR prospect, one of 6 blue chippers in the draft, old high school buddy of Caleb Williams, they hoped to play together, took a picture together getting off the plane on thew ay to the draft, and everything fell into place with the QB frenzy to leave him available for the Bears, and they didn't overthink it.

2-40: Traded for EDGE Montez Sweat - They effectively used the pick to upgrade their defense, and with the extension, it's effectively the same as it would be to draft an edge rusher, except this one's already playing at a Pro Bowl level. No complaints.

3-75: Kiran Amegadjie, OT Yale - A huge OT physicality that lacks technique, seems like a Poles special. Bonus that he grew up a Bears fan and has been wanting to play for the Bears his whole life. Even already has a relationship with Eberflus and told him a year ago he'd be playing for the Bears. Depth at OL is always good, and developing offensive tackles might be the best thing about Poles overall, so this is a good depth pick at worst.

4-110: Traded for WR Keenan Allen - One of the best slot receivers in the game, and paired with DJ Moore and the Odunze pick allows him to be that slot receiver. Injury concerns cause a bit of hesitation, but it's at worst a one year flyer on a high level WR target, and if they don't extend him then that probably means Odunze developed faster than expected and this year was really special.

4-122: Tony Taylor, P Iowa - Drafting a punter is typically a puzzling decision, especially with limited picks overall, but a few things are intriguing...first, this is the best punting prospect in a long time that was effectively and unironically the best offensive weapon on a Big Ten champion. Secondly, this draft really had a dearth of talent depth, and if you can get the chance to get by far the best player at a given position, it's worth a flyer. It would be nice to have a punting game that's a weapon instead of a penalty on special teams.

5-144: Traded for C/G Ryan Bates - I don't know exactly how special Bates is, but it provides depth at guard and center, and that was the weakness of the team's offensive line in recent years, because as soon as Jenkins went down with injury, the middle of the line was an instant sieve, so using late-round draft capital to bolster OL depth is a solid play, especially with this lack of depth in the draft.

5-144: Austin Booker, EDGE Kansas - Bears traded back into the draft (to get the same pick they traded away for Bates) to snag a potential steal in the late rounds, someone with potential that slipped in the draft. At worst, it's defensive depth for a line that is probably the biggest weakness on the team right now. At best, it's a steal of a pick for the 5th round in a thin draft.

6-184: Traded for OL Dan Feeney - Hey, they can't all be winners. Waste of a pick on a guy who really didn't help the team all that much, then left in free agency.

7-231 - Traded for WR N'Keal Harry - Yep, two clunkers overall. At least they've since upgraded the WR corpse to the point where this mistake doesn't end up long lasting.

So to sum up, their draft capital this year was spent on the top QB, a top tier college WR, a top tier NFL slot WR, a Pro-Bowl EDGE, a toolsy OT prospect, OL depth, an undervalued EDGE prospect, and Robo-Punter, while taking a swing and a miss with 6th and 7th round picks for OL and WR depth.

Edited April 27, 2024 by bukie

[bukie]

7 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Did they do that? I thought they just took him with the fourth that they already owned.

That is the case. They traded up in a sense to get Booker (they traded the Bills for the pick they traded to them before for Ryan Bates, but this time the Bills get a 4th next year).

[bukie]

Early UDFAs:

 

 

[Old Style]

 

[BigSlick]

Punters aren't a big deal but the punting game for the Bears has never recovered after losing Brad Maynard, and it was absolutely a problem last year.

 

Anyway, I hope (and expect) Caleb is right that it wont matter too much next year

[BigbadB]

14 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Did they do that? I thought they just took him with the fourth that they already owned.

He's drunk. The Bears always had that pick as 122.