I’m not sure you can count the guy the Bears drafted…he’s basically Devin Hester. Almost the same age too.
I don’t think I’ve loved an Eagles draft more. All 3 guys were on my dream draft list (in different orders, I didn’t know Dean would drop due to undisclosed injury concerns), and they got AJ Brown, AND they picked up an extra 1st next year right before the draft started. What a time to be alive
Hopefully Mafe helps Seattle put more pressure up front.
Correction: These are the numbers I found on whatever site, but on a different site I saw that the Falcons trade included a fourth rounder, not third. And then I noticed that 114 is not in the third round, it’s in the 4th.
Damn, I was hoping Howell would still be there when the Bears picked in the 5th. He looks like a awesome plan B behind Fields this late in the draft and a cost controlled backup. Smart pick for the football team here.
Bears had a couple picks coming up but they just traded out of their first. Wonder if they traded out because one of the guys they liked (Howell?) got snaked. Eh, probably just . bodies, quantity over quality. Need an OL or another WR in this round.
And the Bears trade back again…stacking up late 5ths and early 6ths.
Yeeeeaaaah…not loving the Ryan Poles era so far. Solid need-based first 2 picks in Gordon and Brisker. But it’s a bit of a trainwreck after that. Say what you will about Pace, but he crushed the middle rounds. These guys haven’t played a snap yet, but I don’t see much production to indicate any reliable projections.
Velus Jones Jr. - Speedster and return man with middling WR production. Undersized. 25 years old.
Braxton Jones - Good size, long arms, agile. Bad technique and not powerful. Also played average against middling competition. 23 years old.
Dominique Robinson - Nice measurables and prototypical size for a 4-3 End. High School QB, College WR who converted to Edge in his junior year. Never started a game at Edge for Miami, OH. So basically no meaningful production against top-level competition. 100% a project and a Undewear Olympics guy.
The Bears traded back and a lot of higher-rated guys on the OL came off the board. These last 3 picks look like reaches, a couple small school guys and another guy who bounced around. Seems to favor guys who look the part over guys who produce. Not a fan.
Not hating the Giants haul, which was substantial. They drafted 11 guys, all by 6.3.
1.05 DE Kayvon Thibodeaux (Oregon)
1.07 RT Evan Neal (Alabama)
2.11 WR Wan’Dale Robinson (Kentucky)
3.03 G Joshua Ezeudu (North Carolina)
3.17 CB Cordale Flott (LSU)
4.07 TE Daniel Bellinger (San Diego State)
4.09 S Dane Belton (Iowa)
5.03 LB Micah McFadden (Indiana)
5.04 DT DJ Davidson (Arizona State)
5.30 G Marcus McKethan (North Carolina)
6.03 LB Darrian Beavers (Cincinnati)
Three offensive lineman, two defensive lineman, two linebackers, a tight end, wide receiver, cornerback and safety.
All indications are that both New York teams had fantastic drafts.
I hope they pan out. I really really hope the Giants’ draft does.
@Hamlet how did Russ Yeast not make your all-name team this year?
I dig the Browns drafting a kicker in the 4th. Those picks end up being gambles anyway, I feel like teams should probably spend a 4th rounder every year to draft the best kicker. Plus our kicking has sucked for years and it has cost a significant number of games.
This is a pretty clutch kick: Cade York 57 Yard Field Goal | LSU vs. Florida | CFB - YouTube
I remember when the Jets drafted a kicker I felt similarly to you. Of course they Jetted it up by drafting him in the 2nd, but the 4th round isn’t much better.
The problem with kickers is that replacement level is good enough. You really can’t afford to pay them what you have to if you want to keep them beyond a rookie contract. Mike Nugent was great with the Jets, but only spent 4 years there and then bounced around a half a dozen different teams for the next 10 years. Because that’s what kickers do.
EDIT: It’s kind of remarkable how similarly NFL teams view kickers to how fantasy teams do. It’s practically perfect representation.
I’d say the difference between 2nd and 4th round is pretty big. I wouldn’t be happy with a second round kicker unless he was maybe the greatest kicking prospect ever and it was the end of the second round.
Well, the draft is in the can. Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa State is your Mr. Irrelevant and going to the 49ers with pick 262.
Several late-round picks for the Bears round out what will assuredly be graded either a D or F by most of the experts in the next couple days. I won’t argue with them. Certainly Poles is paying for the sins of the previous regime in some respects, but he didn’t need any help to underwhelm.
Round 2: No. 39 – Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington
Round 2: No. 48 (from LAC) – Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State
Round 3: No. 71 – Velus Jones Jr. , WR, Tennessee
Round 5: No. 168 (from BUF) – Braxton Jones, OT, Southern Utah
Round 5: No. 174 (from CIN) – Dominique Robinson, LB, Miami (OH)
Round 6: No. 186 – Zachary Thomas, OT, San Diego State
Round 6: No. 203 (fro BUF) – Trestan Ebner, RB, Baylor
Round 6: No. 207 (from HOU via SF via NYJ) – Doug Kramer, C, Illinois
Round 7: No. 226 (from CIN via NYG) – J’atyre Carter, G, Southern
Round 7: No. 254 (from LAC) – Elijah Hicks , S, California
Round 7: No. 255 (from LAC) – Trenton Gill , P, NC State
Already praised those first 2 second round DBs so I won’t repeat myself, I think these guys will help the team and were nice values where they were taken. We have some desperate needs elsewhere on the roster so taking 2 DBs and ignoring WR, OL and DL will be quite unpopular with the general public. Certainly they won’t help Justin Fields a lick and they aren’t replacing big names like Robinson, Mack, Hicks or Goldman. I expect a lot of hate.
The next 3 picks are flat out terrible. While they each address those aforementioned needs, pretty much all of them look like desperate reaches. And with the exception of Robinson it’s hard to see much in the way of breakout star potential there, so you can’t even rationalize it that way. Velus Jones Jr. might be the single worst day 2 pick.
Today Poles traded back a bunch to add late round picks. Not sure I love that strategy in general since there always seems to be a huge drop off after pick 150 or so. 4th and 5th rounders often turn into regular starters and occasional stars, 6th and 7th rounder much, much less so. They don’t create graphics listing 5th round diamonds in the rough for a reason.
Poles did go hard at the OL finally but I can’t say any of these guys sound like plug and play guys. Southern Utah, San Diego State or Southern aren’t exactly Offensive Lineman factories. Illinois isn’t either but at least they are in the Big Ten and OL factory adjacent. Every one of these guys is a long-term project at best. With the exception of Kramer each can play multiple positions and all seem to trend towards the nimble, mobile style of blocker. Clearly Poles has a type and I think he might be a little arrogant about his ability to outsmart the other GMs when scouting and developing OL talent as a former OL himself. We’ll see.
The other two picks are baffling. Probably the only position group where the Bears aren’t paper thin is RB. Yet we draft one in the 6th. And he’s a guy who may be more of a PR/KR guy just like Jones Jr. I love me some Special Teams but Jesus Christ…and they draft a Punter, the 4th one off the board. Yes, we showed O’Donnell the door and we need a punter…but we didn’t even grab one of the top 3 guys who have gotten all the buzz. Part of me wonders if Poles was expecting Araiza or Stout to be there in the 6th and when they were gone he panicked.
Right now the Bears look like a team that will be drafting in the top 3 next season. Yay.
Just curious if anybody can post a link to an impartial ‘report card’ that grades each team’s draft this year? I haven’t found one yet, but the verdicts may still be out.
TIA.
They are pretty much all “partial” so I’m not exactly sure what you’re hoping for.
Here’s one. 2022 NFL Draft Team Grades - WalterFootball.com
Aw, at least the Jets got a good grade. Well, hopefully all the Giants reaches will pan out.
Mel Kiper’s grades are paywalled on the ESPN site, but here’s a free blog post from some rando on NFL.com:
Apparently he liked the Giants draft much better.
He gave the Bears an A-. He must be an idiot. Or a random letter generator.
The sports illustrated rankings are free:
These rankings also liked the Giants draft (A-), but they were not impressed by the Bears (C).
Here’s pro football focus, also free:
Both the Giants and the Bears get a B-, which I’m starting to think might be about right.
I think what’s happening is that some of these grades really only pay attention to the top of the draft. The Giants draft looks much better in that context.
With no #1 pick this year, I can live with my Colts getting a B+