raw

Best talent on the Board Day 3 for the Bears. Not going to include any TEs or CBs, because I don't see the Bears picking another of either. Curtis Weaver, Edge, Boise State Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB, Appalachian State Saadiq Charles, OT, LSU Bradley Anae, Edge, Utah Prince Tega Wanogho, OT, Auburn Kenny Willikes, Edge, Michigan State Ben Bredeson, OG, Michigan K'Von Wallace, S, Clemson Tyler Johnson, WR, Minnesota Tyler Biadazs, C/OG, Wisconsin Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR, Michigan Logan Stenberg, OG, Kentucky Ben Bartch, OT, St John Shane Lemieux, OG, Oregon John Simpson, OG Clemson Darnell Mooney, WR, Tulane Geno Stone, S, Iowa Anthony McFarland, RB, Maryland

A lot of the Cole Kmet hate is based on, "There was better talent there, they could have taken him at 50 or traded down". It's clear they wanted Jaylon Johnson. So best case scenario was they take Johnson at 43 instead of 50. Then they clearly wanted Kmet so who knows if they would have been even able to trade down. And who knows if they would have gotten him beyond 50 (I'm about 100% sure they would have been able to get him still at 50). So the likely alternatie was Johnson at 43 and Kmet at 50. And IDC what anyone says, Kmet was the consensus #1 TE. That much is clear based on the fact that no other TE went for almost 40 picks. The only way you grab the best player at a position in the draft, is to grab the first one. I was fine with him doing it for Trubisky at the time, even though I thought Watson was the best (we both were wrong), and I guess it's OK for Kmet. They clearly value TE in this offense more than I do. Mitch's best games the last 2 years came when Burton and Shaheen were either hurt or non-factors and the Bears went 3-4 wide.

Interesting my nerdy ass noticed this week is the Bears have no DB jersey numbers available. Every number in the 20s, 30s and 40s is taken except retired numbers 28, 34, 40 and 42. Means Jaylon Johnson will probably have to take a doubled up number of an offensive player like 29 (Cohen), 32 (Montgomery), or 35 (Nall) unless they cut a DB or force someone not making the team to change. Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

Jaylon Johnson looks pretty good statistically. QBs were 4 of 31 completing passes beyond 10 yards against his coverage. I preferred Trevon Diggs, but I think Johnson is a better fit for the Bears' scheme. Press cover guy that has ball skills. I had him as a borderline 2nd/3rd round pick. But I might have underrated him based on the stats I've read. Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

Another thing to consider is Paces affinity for trading future picks. He could do that today. Trading next year's picks is kind of interesting though. I feel pretty confident that the major conferences will have a season in some form, but I could see a lot of seasons cancelled in the sub-Power 5 conferences. And even among the power 5 you could see stretched of seasons cancelled in response to local outbreaks. So that probably makes the traditional valuation of trading future picks tough (in addition to unknowns about the combine/draft process next spring). Given the strength of the safety position from the best availables, I'm going to assume the Bears get one of those guys. Seems like there are 4 rock solid S's to pick from at 43 (Chinn being the only one not listed on Raw's top 10). Although I know it's time to restock the OT position, I kinda don't see them doing that this year since whoever they draft won't likely see the field this year. They don't have the luxury of stockpiling future talent this year given the lack of quality picks. I'll be interested to see if they pass on Kmet if he's available with their 2nd pick. Chinn and Ezra Cleveland would be my next two. I think they'll go defensive back first and then heavy offense the next 3 picks. Hopefully they can trade back unless one of those top offensive guys are there. I don't really want Kmet at 50. But could see that. Could really use a pick before 164 for whatever position they don't get between OL and O playmaker at 50. So a future pick trade could be coming today or tomorrow. Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

My best available for the Chicago Bears today: 1. Grant Delpit, S, LSU 2. Josh Jones, OT, Houston 3. Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor 4. Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama 5. Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama 6. Antoine Winfield Jr, S, Minnesota 7. Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU 8. Yetur Gross-Matos, Edge, Penn State 9. Lucas Niang, OT, TCU 10. AJ Epeneza, Edge, Iowa Ideally, the Bears can get two of these guys at 43 and 50. If McKinney comes off the board, watch for Pace to potentially trade up for Delpit. Jones is another possible trade up target, IMO. Be nice to get one of the top 3, and then trade back with 50 and get a guy in the next tier along with another pick either late tonight or early tomorrow. Or else, we got a long wait between picks. Be much easier waiting if the Bears pick up one of the top 3 and another of the 4-10.

Yeah, I understand what they are trying to do. They did that with Rodgers when they had Favre but this is kind of a different situation. Love is far less polished than Rodgers was and sitting for 2 years with a QB that's not going to help him out isn't ideal. And it's not like they got a possible #1 overall pick, like Rodgers was, that had a freefall. He was the clear 4th best QB in this draft and they traded up for him when they have huge needs to get them to championship level. I think this has more of a chance of ending like New England (where they eventually have to trade Love and are still looking for a future QB) than Kansas City (where they trade their starter and actually upgrade the position).

Trey Burton signed by the Colts

that's what i was thinking last night. It's just unfathomable how this went down. If horsefeathering fat horsefeathers jerry krause is saying hey guys this winning championships thing is great but what about drafting eddy curry instead, don't you just say get the horsefeathers out of here, idiot. I mean you already have michael and scottie, someone else can't sign bill wennington and steve kerr? Well Krause did go get Scottie too. And Grant during the first 3 peat. Not sure everyone appreciated a sharpshooting specialist like Kerr as much as he would obviously be highly valued today. Krause had his share of clunkers, but he did do a nice job building around Michael. I don't know if he was necessarily wrong to want to want to get out of the downside of an aging Pippen. The Jackson tension was a little different obviously and more egregiously his ego getting in the way it seems. If he threads the needle though, MJ could have carried a good team into his late 30s while you rebuilt around him on the fly. As it was he basically lost that battle in 97 and JR forced all the chips go in for 98, then Krause just got to do his rebuild with whatever he could get out of Kukoc, Kerr, Longley, etc and the rest walking. But there were a lot of other forces aiming towards that breakup, Krause just wanted to light a match on that kindling asap. Honestly, the dynasty was probably close to being done anyway. Like was said, that Pacers series was brutal. The Jazz were right there most of the games and were kind of a tough matchup. That being said, I would have loved to seen them let Phil go and let the rest of the team make a run just to see how it ended. Scottie's contract made that tough, but if Jordan was there I think he would have been. The strike shortened season is whatever. The Knicks team that won the East as an 8 seed was the same the Bulls used to beat up on. Them against the twin towers of the Spurs would have been interesting. But I would love to have seen the Bulls, slightly retooled with role players vs. Phil Jackson and the 99-00 Lakers. Jordan and Pippen in the twilight against a prime Shaq and young Kobe, with Phil as the coach. If not for Jordan getting his dad killed and Krause's ego, the Bulls could have legitimately threatened the Celtics 11 rings in 13 years with 11 straight.

I want footage of Scottie berating Krause on the team bus. And I know it's there because there was bus footage.

Bears cut Trey Burton and signed Jason Spriggs from the Packers and the mighty Indiana University. Burton is designated as a June 1 cut, which means his dead cap is spread over 2 seasons. Only a 4Mil dead hit this year, which will go down if another team signs him by the amount that he signs for, though I'd imagine he's probably really close to looking at retirement. Hasn't been healthy in over a year from a groin surgery. Saves almost 2.5Mil.

I'm interested to see how this plays out. Nuggets kinda go for "team" players, who all move the ball and pass well. A lot of balance. I don't think the Bulls have very many players on the roster who fit the bill. Maybe Coby White. But LaVine and Lauri are kind of ball dominant guys. I really think the Bulls can build a team with one of LaVine/Markkanen, but I'm more intrigued by what an actual good GM could get for them.

Love is an interesting prospect as a multiyear starter who passed some basics on completion%, led Utah State to a top 25 offense in 2018, and has good dims and tools but I'm having trouble getting on the wagon before like the 5th round. He plays slow, has a slow release, performance waned in 2019 while Hurts broke out, his physical tools don't really separate him at that position because it's QB and Hurts has plenty, and then is just outclassed in intangibles and experience...The consensus knock on Hurts seems to be passing outside of the pocket, but he's also by far the most prolific rusher of the QB prospects which mitigates some of that I would think One thing to note with Love is that he lost his top 4 WRs from 2018 to 2019, his TE was Dax Raymond who spent the year on the Bears practice squad, and his RB was Darwin Thompson who won the Superbowl with the Chiefs. Eight of his 21 INTs the last 2 years came in 3 games against power 5 teams. While it does suck he didn't shine in big matchups, there was a clear talent disparity between his team and say, the LSU team he played this past season. I'm biased though, because I'm a big fan of his. His improvisation looks a lot like Mahomes. He has a long way to go in the pocket to get to that level, but he's a classic guy that can sit for a year, learn, and then can come in and play in an offense that emphasizes RPOs and read options and getting the ball out quickly.

What's Jordan Love got on Hurts besides being taller? Hurts is way more plug and play with both more and higher quality experience, was more prodicutive, answered questions about his size and physicality. Granted there's system quesions but it's the same system the past two #1 overall picks came from Love has the (much) better arm. And while both are able to make plays off-schedule, Love has the ability to create with his arm and legs, while Hurts mostly adds only legs as a weapon when the pocket breaks down.

For whatever Paces downfalls I do think he is going to read the draft as it comes to him and react. If he falls in love with a guy he certainly might. But he also has trade down 3 times from the 2nd round (two in one year). So maybe he trades down from 43 and picks up a late third, but also trades up from the 5th to the late 4th by dangling a pick next year (thinking that may be the range he jumps at a QB if he isn't targreting in with 43 or 50.) I'm not one to try to create a mock draft because I don't follow college football enough to know the prospects. I do have some fun with trying to understand markets and how teams can value picks. An article from last year talks about a newer trade value chart made to represent current rookie deals/CBA impacts, etc. https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-Value-Chart-Rich-Hill.asp https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/04/10/bill-belichick-every-team-uses-the-same-draft-chart/ So I played with this calculator with the Bears picks and found a few trades to try to see what Pace could do to pick up some extra picks Trade down w/Broncos, #43 for #46, 178, 181 Trade down w/Ravens, #46, 226 for #60, 92 Trade down w/Seahawks #50, 163 for #64, 101, 144 Trade down w/Patriots #92, 233 for #98, 172 Bears picks would be rd 2,2,3,3,4,5,5,6,6,6 60 64 98 101 144 172 178 181 196 200 I realize that the other team has to want the trade to happen and all that. And I just kinda looked at teams with lots of picks to move around with, so not a prediction in any way, but more of an example of what I hope to see happen. I like the idea of trading down from 43 and keeping 50. I feel like the Bears really need at least 1 more pick in the top 120. Ideally, the Bears would do this without trading picks from future years. The Ravens are the ideal team to trade down with because they have multiple picks in all the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds. They also have a pretty well stacked team and not a ton of need for that many early draft picks. I think the Bears HAVE to get an offensive lineman and an offensive playmaker early. Would be nice to add a young premium talent on D with an extra top 100 pick. But an extra pick could also allow for them to draft a luxury like a developmental QB.

I wasn't saying Hurts would go 3rd or 4th. I was saying he should, but will go in the 2nd, when I wouldn't be comfortable taking him for the Bears (unless it's a trade down). Also, Jordan Love is the next QB after the top 3. And as far as I'm concerned, the Jets can have Fromm. Not a fan of him or Eason honestly.

I really like Jalen Hurts as a prospect and probably moreso as a person. He just seems like a really good kid, who is extremely coachable, a natural leader, and a great potential face of the franchise type. That being said, I don't touch him in the 2nd round. His actual talent says late 3rd to late 4th round. I think he's similar to what Dak Prescott was as a prospect, and he went late 4. I love the idea of setting up the 2021 team to have a QB in waiting if necessary, but not at the price of a 2nd round pick. The Bears have too many other needs (OG, OT, SS, maybe TE, and there's some WRs and CBs I wouldn't pass up at 43/50).

Kerry Wood 20K game on ESPN right now. Crazy that both Wood and Reynolds have 8 strikeouts through 4 innings, yet are pitching very different games.

Say what you want about Cam Newton, but this dude really threw for 35 TDs and 10 INTs, with another 10 rushing with Philly Brown, Jerricho Cotchery and Ted Ginn as his WRs and went 17-1 before Von Miller constantly destroyed his OL. All-time great season and Carolina really screwed him by refusing to give him decent receivers or an OL before his body couldn't hold up anymore.

Was really hoping there was a correlation here. Need a larger sample size.....of t*tties.

Bears also gave Roy Robertson Harris a 2nd round tender. His salary will be about 3.4Mil for this year. So, the Bears probably used 10Mil of their projected 24 Mil of cap space yesterday. This was a necessary move, but I wouldn't hate it if someone offered him a long-term deal and the Bears got a 2nd round pick back for him. That's not going to happen though.

I don't love the Trevathan re-signing. But hard to complain about them re-signing an obvious good player and leader on defense. Word is they tried to sign Kwiatkoski, but doesn't seem like he was open to it. Trevathan got 7M per which is steep, but Kwit is easily going to get 8 per and maybe as much as a 4/40 type contract. That being said, i would have preferred to go cheap at ILB. I would have re-signed Kevin Pierre Louis, who played extremely well in his few starts to end the season. Then I would have gone after a guy like Darron Lee. Lee and KPL could probably both be had for similar or even less than Trevathan got. Lee was a former 1st round pick, who had some decent (not great) years with the Jets. Traded to Chiefs last year and didn't really see much of the field on D. He fits the mold of a fast LB who can blitz and cover that the Bears like. He's a very good special teams player (like KPL) and I think the competition between those 2 to start next to Smith would have yielded a pretty good LB duo. Could see if KPL could continue his play from his first time getting an extended look last year or Lee could have really taken off (at still just 25-26 years old) surrounded by studs at each level. If Trevathan had walked and gotten a 3/21 deal from someone else he would have added to the Bears comp pick formula.

Devonte Green and De'Ron Davis become the first IU senior class since 1972 to not play in a tournament game at all in their 4 years.....the day after they probably clinched getting to the tourney.

Statistically speaking, they aren't much better if at all. Granted, QB rating isn't the end all be all of statistics but: Keenum- has 2 seasons in the last 4 worse than Trubisky's 2019 83 QB rating. Only 1 season in his career better than Trubisky's 2018 95.4 rating. Also, 32 years old with no upside to get better. Mariota- has 1 season better than Trubisky's 2018 95.4, and that was a 95.6 season. Same issues as Mitch with taking sacks. Doesn't throw a lot of picks, but similar gunshy and doesn't process quick enough to anticipate hitting an open receiver. More consistently mediocre though than the rest of this group, Trubisky included. Dalton- was statistically worse than Trubisky in 2019. Only has 1 season with a better QB rating than Mitch's 2018, and that was back in 2015. Older than Keenum so also doesn't have upside to improve. A little INT happy at times. Doesn't have a bunch of arm talent. isn't passer rating up league wide? if it were a good statistic we wouldn't be talking about replacing trubisky. his 2018 wasn't nearly as good as his passer rating makes it out to be. at least, not if you're looking at it from the standards of even 5-10 years ago. Not sure the point you were trying to make here. And if anything, his passer rating doesn't take into account his legs which makes his 2018 out to be worse than it actually was. But using the same metrics for all these guys, they aren't significantly better if at all.

Statistically speaking, they aren't much better if at all. Granted, QB rating isn't the end all be all of statistics but: Keenum- has 2 seasons in the last 4 worse than Trubisky's 2019 83 QB rating. Only 1 season in his career better than Trubisky's 2018 95.4 rating. Also, 32 years old with no upside to get better. Mariota- has 1 season better than Trubisky's 2018 95.4, and that was a 95.6 season. Same issues as Mitch with taking sacks. Doesn't throw a lot of picks, but similar gunshy and doesn't process quick enough to anticipate hitting an open receiver. More consistently mediocre though than the rest of this group, Trubisky included. Dalton- was statistically worse than Trubisky in 2019. Only has 1 season with a better QB rating than Mitch's 2018, and that was back in 2015. Older than Keenum so also doesn't have upside to improve. A little INT happy at times. Doesn't have a bunch of arm talent.