Grade the Draft

[Chewie]

Noob here. If you guys had to rank our positions of need, what were the top 4 or 5 positions and in what order?

1- WR
2- FS
3- DE
4- OT
5- CB

[karch34]

If you include Cutler the draft gets an A.
On the picks alone, a high B+

Round 3, Pick 4 (68) (From Seahawks) Jarron Gilbert DE 6'5" 288 San Jose State:

Incredibly athletic player who can fit in at DT or DE. Gives us some depth at DT where we have some talent, but questionable health.

Round 3, Pick 35 (99) (Compensatory selection) Juaquin Iglesias WR 6'1" 210 Oklahoma:

Solid WR. Probably not a #1, but not drafting in round 1, we weren't going to get that type or WR. I'd have been happy with him at #49, so getting him at 99 with bonus picks for the Seattle trade is great.

Round 4, Pick 5 (105) (From Seahawks) Henry Melton DE 6'3" 260 Texas:

This is the Angelo headscratcher pick. He's got a ton of athleticism, but is very raw to the DE position. It will be at least a year, maybe two before he becomes O-gun's replacement if that's what he was drafted for.

Round 4, Pick 19 (119) D.J. Moore CB 5'9" 192 Vanderbilt:

If he was 2 inches taller, he'd have probably gone late 1st round. Totally reminds me of the Vasher pick, which was a great pick. Problem with Vasher now is the contract vs production/health, but to get a CB with playmaking ability in the late 4th is a good pick.

Round 5, Pick 4 (140) (From Seahawks through Broncos) Johnny Knox WR 6'0" 185 Abilene Christian:

He's a project. I think we're hoping he becomes our poor man's version of Eddie Royal. He's developmental, but can do some good things and will contribute immediately in special teams.

Round 5, Pick 18 (154) Marcus Freeman LB 6'0" 239 Ohio State:

Didn't like this one as much as the experts. I guess the positive is anyone who's pretty much started for almost his whole career at OSU can't be a terrible pick. Could fit nicely, could be Okwo pt 2.

Round 6, Pick 17 (190) Al Afalava FS 5'11" 213 Oregon State:

A Chris Harris type pick. Won't start early, but will be a force on special teams.

Round 7, Pick 37 (246) (Compensatory selection) Lance Louis OG 6'2" 303 San Diego State:

Another great athlete. Was a highly thought of TE and word is we're looking to make him a blocking TE for us. Not sure about that, but if he could lose 20lbs, he might be the FB I really want us to have.

Round 7, Pick 42 (251) (Compensatory selection) Derek Kinder WR 6'1" 210 Pittsburgh:

Practice squad candidate. But decent gamble.

I think we got at least 1 starting WR and a rotational DL for sure. Should have some potential depth at LB, S, and a WR with speed who isn't Hester. Good value for what we had pick-wise and worst case is we've significantly upgraded special teams.

[emperorjones]

If you just look at this as the Players we drafted in these two days, I'd give it a B. JA did the best with what he could. This draft could have only been an "A" IMO if we grabbed a top end WR in the first round to go with everything else we did wgich obviously was impossible. Which leads me to how I feel you have to view this draft...

The press is gaga over what the Jets did getting an untested Sanchez. Imagine if the Bears had pulled the Cutler deal off on draft day and left this weekend with Cutler AND the draft that they had? They would unquestionably be the draft day winners - Thus IMO you have to give this draft (the entire draft - which includes the Cutler deal as an integral part of the draft) a solid A.

I think this is the best offseason in Chicago Bears history.

[Cliff Levingston]

A+ if you include Cutler. People are lauding the Jets for trading their 1st and 2nd this year for Sanchez and we've got the much better QB (so far at least) for a little higher price.

Without Cutler, this draft gets a B+. Cliff Levingston LOVED the value we got with the Iglesias and Moore picks. Gilbert is a great pick under Marinelli and we filled the rest of the picks out with need positions. Cliff Levingston, like everyone else, would've just liked to see us address the FS position a little more adequately but apparently Angelo is content with our current stable of safeties + Afalava.

[NZB2323]

Let me prefect my post by stating that I don't follow college football and that I haven't watched any of these guys play in any games throughout their lives. However...

I give the Bears an A+. Defensive line I felt was our biggest need and we definitely addressed it.

Picking WR in the draft is kinda a crapshoot, so I'm glad that we picked 3. You've got to figure that in between Bennet, Kinder, Knox, and Iglesias, one of them will be a solid option next to Hester.

Freeman, Aflava, and Moore should give our defense some depth.

And you have to keep in mind that we did all this while losing a 1st and a 3rd! When you keep in mind the Culter trade and the o-lineman signings, I say Angelo for GM of the year!

[DanTown8587]

I wanted to go B+, so since it wasn't an option I went B. I felt the Bears did some things well (like the drafting of Moore, Freeman, Gilbert) but I think the Bears failed to do two things:
1. Address the need for safety
2. Didn't draft a developmental OL or QB.

everything was good though. And if you add Cutler, definite A grade.

The off-season grade goes to A+ if they add a starting WR before camp.

[Chewie]

FoxSports.com :
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9501382/Grading-every-team%27s-NFL-Draft

Chicago

GM Jerry Angelo took the draft's first day off, but that's because he made his major move weeks ago when trading for Denver quarterback Jay Cutler, a proven performer. Based on his recent results, Angelo's trade for Cutler was undoubtedly better than any players he could have taken in the draft. If Cutler leads the Bears to the playoffs, this draft was a total success.

Oklahoma receiver Juaquin Iglesais was a solid pickup with the 99th overall selection. Some teams rated him in the second round. Vanderbilt cornerback D.J. Moore is a very tough player despite his 5-9 frame. But the steal for the Bears could be San Jose State defensive end Jarron Gilbert, who was known for his You Tube video of being able to jump out of a swimming pool. Grade: B-

[Chewie]

walterfootball's Broncos grade for those interested as it relates to da Bears. I didn't even realize they traded away one of their 2010 1st rounders as I was caught up in the Bears :

John Clayton said it best: "Josh McDaniels doesn't have a grasp on how to build a team."

McDaniels had a franchise quarterback and shipped him away for what turned out to be Kyle Orton, Robert Ayers, Alphonso Smith and Richard Quinn.

Speaking of Ayers, how does he fit into the 3-4? This is why putting together a logical mock draft is futile; Ayers, a 4-3 guy, could be lost in Denver's scheme. Does he balloon up and play up front? Does he somehow play rush linebacker even though he couldn't get sacks in college? Does McDaniels even know he's running a 3-4?

McDaniels traded both of his third-round picks to move up to No. 64, where he took a blocking tight end. A freaking blocking tight end!

McDaniels also failed to address the defensive line. Denver should once again rank dead last versus the run.

And to top it off, McDaniels traded away next year's first-round pick to move up for Alphonso Smith. Smith will play nickel in 2009, while the Seahawks will likely be drafting in the top five next April.

Grade give on 4/27/09: D

[Sonny_D1]

You have to give it an A+, simply on the acquisition of Cutler alone. Even if we would have pulled a Ditka and traded away every pick for him, I'd still give it an A+. A 25 year old franchise quarterback simply doesn't come around very often, if ever.

But getting back to the draft for a second, I'm absolutely giddy over Iglesias. He has excellent hands and he's tough, our version of Hines Ward. those are the type of football players you need to win in this league.

People forget that guys like Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall were ranked 14th and 18th respectively for WR's coming out of college. They turned out to be pretty damn good, mainly because of the QB throwing to them. Sure the system helps, but I'm a firm believer that the QB makes the WR more so than the WR making the QB. People thought Moss was done in Oakland, only to come back a year later and post unbelievable numbers.

The rest of the draft for me was just gravy. I would have liked to have seen some safety help, but adding Freeman and a guy like Gilbert, who if he turns out to be the type of player people think he can be, pressure on the QB is a secondary's best friend. I don't care if you have 4 pro bowl safties back there, if you can't pressure the QB he'll find a way to beat your secondary.

I can't tell you how excited I am about this team right now. I haven't had this much anticipation since the 85 year. With Cutler at the helm, I have a great deal of confidence in our receiving corp. As I stated above, he's shown what he can do with unheralded wide receivers in the past. As long as Turner puts a system in place that utilizes our teams strengths, to borrow an old quote, "we'll be fine."

[Chewie]

Kiper :

Chicago Bears: GRADE: B
I think Jarron Gilbert is one of the steals of the draft. Wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias was a good pick, as were cornerback D.J. Moore and wide receiver Johnny Knox. Seventh-round pick Derek Kinder could turn out to be quite a sleeper if he's able to return to his strong level of play before his injury a couple of years ago.

[emperorjones]

Seems as if the whole Mohamed Massaquoi desire was a smokescreen and the Bears wanted Iglesias all along, just not in round 2. If true thats interesting.

[ChronicKerr]

I heard JD say that as well. They were after Chung and Mitchell at 49.

[fleet]

This is weird.
I don't understand grading NFL players before they play, because you never know, especially with football players. But I will say one thing about the Bears approach. I love it. They haven't always focused on athleticism as much as they could have. And thats and understatement. It was almost as if they could never see the forest only the trees. Who are these guys and who took my Bears away? This game is often largely about fluid athletes and coaching them up.

A+ on the new approach anyway. I almost don't mind how the players turn out. I wanted some change for changes sake from this organization. I'm getting so much change now I can't see straight