WrigleyField 22

Small sample size and all, but his last two years he has a higher OPS than Barney. Probably not better in the grand scheme of things, but... makes you pause.

Is it written in the rule book the DH has to be for the pitcher? I'd put Barney at 2B and DH for him.

The primetime and multiple day airing has killed my enthusiasm. The draft is ideal saturday afternoon background noise in the spring. But it blows as primetime television and spread across half a week. The fact that it is May has nothing to do with it for me. The biggest positive was making the first round quicker and putting it into more bite size viewing pieces, round 2-7 are more background viewing to me, whereas the first round I pay closer attention to. I like the round one format though I can't decide if I'd rather have it on a Thursday night when there's other prime time television or Friday night when when I might be doing something. As far as May... Tbd. I don't necessarily like the extra time but may end up enjoying the shorter turnaround to the OTAs, minicamps, etc.

And porn.

I mean it's scary to think about but yea, doesn't make sense. Sure it does. I LOVE Watkins as a prospect but when you're looking at a strong WR class, it isn't worth that premium you'll pay when you already have a top 5 receiver because you gotta go top 3/4, but realistically Jax and Cle aren't moving down, which means you gotta pay STL their kings ransom. Better to grab another WR later and fill another need, of which they have many. It would be one thing if he fell to them or they were trading up a few spots, but that's not going to happen.

I mean it's scary to think about but yea, doesn't make sense.

Fun rumors from the RealGM draft guy. Two and three sound plausible. One... Not so much

If you didn't have a QB (and many QB needy teams haven't for a long time) I'd say you would regret passing on a Matt Ryan. But the number 1 rule of player comps is to match skin color, so I don't like this one.

Edit

Browns go D again Victor Hampton, CB

I'd rather just have Nelson Cruz or one of the other random OF's we couldv'e gotten and not [expletive] with Rizzo. Ellsbury Should have done major backloading to Choo and Ellsbury and gotten them both. They're both signed through at least 2019, when were supposed to get TV money. Start them both at 7 or so and that's basically Tanaka's annual allocation. Then spread over the 7-8M difference in Y1 over the last three years. Soriano money covers the big Y1 to Y2 jump in 2015. But we wanted to go all in for Tanaka without really going all in, so now we left money in the table and our OF is awful.

While I can't place Hageman to any team, it still feels like his potential is too much to let him fall much. If he is a part of the Emery six, he isn't going to take his chances on him falling unless it just works out that he takes one of his other 6. Sent from my Lenovo S5000-F using Tapatalk

Looks like Roberson is gone too. Two other names are Kelsey Quarles DT, South Carolina, and Terrence Brooks, S, Florida St. Both double ups though Brooks probably less so, but Quarles rated higher at this point. Sent from my Lenovo S5000-F using Tapatalk

Can't find anything about a Hageman visit. Sent from my Lenovo S5000-F using Tapatalk

Ravens select Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska

I'd probably consider doing it only if the Bears drafted high, knowing I'd bail if it did indeed become boring. But if the Bears are picking late am I gonna stick around doing the waiting game? Nah.

Even though they had a pretty good D last year they can't keep ignoring the defense. CB is a bigger need, but this is a better value Browns select Yawin Smallwood ILB, UConn

Yea the only way it would be a major trade is if all six of their targets are gone. But even one extra pick that gives more flexibility to be aggressive in Rd2 or rd3 would be nice. That being said I'm sure my board is different than Emery and if he trades down we'll miss out on a player I really like and I'll complain.

It will be interesting to see what the board is like too. I wasn't a fan of trading down at first, but if they really did have three of their six there they could pocket another pick. Emery has had one trade each year. Maybe this is the year of multiple trades.

What? They don't have to be "impact bats" to be huge upgrades in our outfield. And given what our infield could be, guys like that could easily be enough to make this offense pretty good. We could be pretty good right now with a league average outfield.

I think the Bears would be willing to move up if necessary, especially when you hear Emery talk about the offense defense split in the draft. I wouldn't be surprised to see a move up in round two (say a fifth) to get another of the top available defensive players, and then trading down in round 3 or 4 to pick up another day 3 pick and get some of that offensive depth Emery talked about. Kony could go round one, but he's no sure thing to either. I could see him dropping down, especially if there is a WR or OL run, which based on Kiper and McShay, could happen. Close enough to be worth mentioning when ranges are so big, IMO.

Trying to Figure out Emery's 6, I have it down to 8 guesses. Listening to his comments there's obviously a range, as they seem to think best case scenario 2-3 will be there (although obviously this is assuming we take him at his word- a risky proposition, even for a relative straight shooter like Emery). So I think at least a few of those 6 will likely be gone and must be graded as borderline top 10 prospects. My 8 guesses at Emery's 6 (no particular order) Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix Alabama S 6'1" 208 - Position of high need. Fairly good overall measurables, but not elite athelticism. Experience in Big time conference and program a plus. Pre-draft visit is big indicator he could be on list. Anthony Barr UCLA 6'5" OLB/DE 255 - A very good athlete and I think any pass rusher would have to be considered. No pre-draft visit, but a pro day visit. A guy who was an early top 10 guy, but now is projected to fall by some places, so hard to figure out. Louis Nix Notre Dame 6'2" 331 Another pre-draft visit. For his size, a pretty good athlete. While strictly a NT, should be able to play across schemes. Emery has talked about size, so he fits in that regard. Kyle Fuller Virginia Tech CB/S 6'0" 190 Deone Bucannon Washington St S 6'1" 211 Calvin Pryor Louisville S 5'11" 207 - Top safety prospects with pre-draft visits. So all worth mentioning. Fuller worth mentioning because he's a CB who may switch to S. Pryor worth mentioning as he is often up there with Dix as the consensus top ranked S. Bucannon worth mentioning just because he's by far the top athletic performer, across many fields. Hard to imagine the Bears would work out all 4 of these safeties and not have some separate from the pack. Hard to say which ones would have though. Ra'Shede Hageman DE/DT Minnesota 6'6" 310 - One of the more versatile picks in the range, with great size and athleticism. So checks a lot of marks, yet no sign of pre-draft, pro day or other visits. Still we didn't know about Long last year until after the draft, so Hageman's worth mentioning. And for my surprise pick, although this player has picked up steam, so I don't think he will be there: Taylor Lewan Michigan OT 6'7" 309 If I had to pick an offensive position Emery would consider, it would be OT. For a long time he was in the 10-20 range, and now there is talk he could go top 5. He's probably at least top 10, but still it would make sense that at least a few of "Emery's 6" are top 10 guys. No indication the Bears are interested, but he gets mention over others for his measurables and for being a good fit for Kromer's scheme. Even looking at this list, its hard to look and say that we'd be ecstatic for 3 guys to make it (even taking away the worst two). Three guys who should be on the higher end of the range, but I couldn't justify based on rumors and history were Mosley, Gilbert, and Dennard. Taking those three extra guys as wild cards and actually forcing it down to 6 I'm saying Lewan, Mosley, Clinton-Dix, Pryor, Bucannon, Barr. The following guys I "evaluated" while doing this and while I didn't think they were Round one considerations, I think could be round 2 targets: Kony Ealy DE Missouri 6'4" 273 Kelcy Quarles DT South Carolina 6'4" 297 Dominique Easley Florida DT 6'2" 288 Will Sutton Arizona State DT 6'0" 303 Jimme Ward S 5'11" 193 Joel Bitonio Nevada OT 6'4" 302 Keith McGill Utah CB 6'3" 211 Kyle Van Noy OLB BYU 6'3" 243 The most interesting guy on this second list was one I hadn't really read much about until researching this. Joel Bitonio gets a mention for being an absolute top athletic performer. He actually sounds like Kyle Long, but with actual experience- though not at a top program. He seems to be grading as a 2-3 round prospect, but reads like a dark horse round 1 guy to me.

I liked it a lot. Edit- to expand, it was an easy read while still being pretty informative and enjoyable. If you want to get super into details Larsen uses a lot of footnotes, but it's not necessary reading either.

Its gonna be awesome when Rizzo is our 5 hitter. Sent from my Lenovo S5000-F using Tapatalk

Do we still need a big event like the Olympics to usher in new city planning today? Rahm doesn't want the Olympics and hilariously is angling for a Super Bowl. Soldier Field needs to be regutted IMO to be a serious SB site, so our efforts should probably go elsewhere. Sent from my Lenovo S5000-F using Tapatalk