THE draft thread (2013 version)

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The first dude is a LT we took and many projected him at LT

i haven't seen those projections

the ones i see call him an interior prospect or maybe a RT

[Bretsky]

Yeah, drafting Rodgers, Collins, Matthews, Raji, Hayward, Jennings, Cobb, Nelson, Bulaga and others had really transformed the bottom of our roster to the point we can't even compete in our own division let alone the post season.

I think part of Wists point is he's very against the constant trade downs and sacrificing of quality for quantity. I don't have time but a roster analyis of GB may be in order.

What sticks out when I read all the players you listed.....what was the lowest round guy up there ? Two ? Sitton and Bishop were the two strong hits we got in four or after.
I think Sitton was round four, right ?

I'm still not sure how much I liked giving up that three but if the OT is as good as you think he is maybe we'll be fine.

[wist43]

Yeah, drafting Rodgers, Collins, Matthews, Raji, Hayward, Jennings, Cobb, Nelson, Bulaga and others had really transformed the bottom of our roster to the point we can't even compete in our own division let alone the post season.

What is the common link for all those guys??

Let's see: 1st round, 2nd round, 1st round, 1st round, 2nd round, 2nd round, 2nd round, 2nd round, 1st round.

Strange, don't see any 5th, 6th, or 7th round picks there.

This year?? We drafted 2 guys in the first 2 rounds - and 38 guys in the last 3. What are the odds any of those 38 slugs is a household name in a few years??

[Bretsky]

UDFA's coming in
Texas A&M center Pat Lewis
Illinois State
Ben Erickson S 6'1" 194
Matt Brown QB

Mississippi State
DL Gilbert Pena 6'3" 330 lbs

Made a separate thread for this as a fyi

[wist43]

I'm still not sure how much I liked giving up that three but if the OT is as good as you think he is maybe we'll be fine.

If the Islamic guy is a player and lands at LT?? Hallelujah - but that is a bittersweet find then, b/c that means that TT's 1st round pick from 2 years (Sherrod) is a bust, and he's either riding PUP, IR, or outright looking for that bartender job.

TT was supposed to have fixed the LT position 2 years ago - but of course missed very badly on Sherrod. Those misses are all the more glaring given TT's 7.08% success rate in rounds 4-7.

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i can also see wists point about just churning over the bottom of the roster

there's a chance one of those guys becomes something, but in all honesty, they're just bottom of the roster fodder until next draft

[Bretsky]

As you recall Bretsky was never a fan of that pick as I was busy pimping somebody else back then....who had one stellar year and one injured year...aka...Brooks Reed

[smuggler]

This year?? We drafted 2 guys in the first 2 rounds - and 38 guys in the last 3. What are the odds any of those 38 slugs is a household name in a few years??

Samuel Wordsworth Shields.

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Samuel Wordsworth Shields.

undrafted free agent

[wist43]

Samuel Wordsworth Shields.

He wasn't even drafted, he was a street FA.

Which only further buttresses my argument that TT should be focusing on quality, not quantity. There are plenty of FA's out there that fill the same bill that 6th and 7th round draft choices do.

It's a beauty contest, and when you get to the bottom of the draft it's what flavor you like as opposed to manuevering around to get a "can't miss guy".

What TT did in the 2013 draft was nothing short of moronic. I really do believe that Schneider, McKenzie, and Dorsey were the voice of reason in his ear, and now that they're gone there's no one there to stop him from doing stupid shit.

[smuggler]

Shields is a scattershot gem. The more looks you get at the pebbles, the higher chance you have to uncover a sapphire.

You're right that this draft isn't energizing, but it's almost a testament to the characteristic of this class itself. I'll give them until training camp before I write everyone off has HORBZ like you, wist. No offense, but you are over-reacting.

And as always, the Bears still suck.

[rbaloha1]

He wasn't even drafted, he was a street FA.

Which only further butresses my argument that TT should be focusing on quality, not quantity. There are plenty of FA's out there that fill the same bill that 6th and 7th round draft choices do.

It's a beauty contest, and when you get to the bottom of the draft it's what flavor you like as opposed to manuevering around to get a "can't miss guy".

What TT did in the 2013 draft was nothing short of moronic. I really do believe that Schneider, McKenzie, and Dorsey were the voice of reason in his ear, and now that they're gone there's no one there to stop him from doing stupid shit.

Lets wait and see. Overall I liked this draft.

6th and 7th round selection which may have been free agents in the past are important since its not worth gambling on bringing them in as free agents.

Other teams are scouting the same potential Sam Shields. The only late one I question is the wr from Maryland.

[RashanGary]

There are a couple common themes of TT's best picks.

1. Yes, they are mostly high round picks.

2. They were known ball players.

Rodgers - A proven college QB. Winner. Questions about his ball carriage, but was a competitor.
Collins - Small school, but he had filthy game.
Jennings - Small school, not as tall as you'd like, didn't run in the 4.3's. But he was a fuckin baller
Sitton - Small school, but they played the same style OL play as we played here. TT talked about him "always blocking his guy." Translation, *baller*
Bulaga - Underwealming athlete, but he came from a school that teaches NLF style OL play and did it well. Baller
Bishop - Bad athlete, but he was a baller in college
Hayward - Underwealming athlete, but he was toted as knowing the game and being a natural football player
Raji - High pick. Beast, baller
Hawk - Drafted way to high, but he's a solid player. He was a baller in college
Cobb - Could do it all. He's as pure of a football player as you'll find
Nelson/Matthews - Both only did it for a year. Unusual for TT's successful picks.

This year, we took football players. Datone Jones is an A+ hand fighter for a college player. Plus he's got physical talent. He's a football player though. He does it with his technique, competitiveness too. Lacy is a legit running back. Some of McGinn's scouts liked him better than both Ingram and Richardson. All of them thought he was the best back in this draft (but has injury concerns.) The OT is toted by coaches and the NFL comittee as a 2nd or 3rd round junior talent coming out. Unfortunately he wasn't as big or athletic as everyone thought when they watched him play. His combine hurt him. But he's a ball player. He blocks his guy (both run and pass.) Franklin is the UCLA all time leading rusher. Does everything well. He's a player. Hyde was the big 10's best DB. He's smart, savvy, natural. He's a football player.

Sherry was a project. Neal and Worthy were projects. Mike Daniels, he was a football player later in the draft. Of course, he played better than the project, Worthy. We didn't take projects this year, and I completely disagree that these guys are bad picks. Outside of the one OG/C project, TT went with what's worked for him and he took guys who play good fucking football. Not shitty athletes, but like Bulaga, Jennings, Bishop, Nelson, and Rodgers he took guys who are competitive, quality, smart, tough footballl players. I get a great feel for the first 5 picks of this draft. Later, it's a bunch of projects, but that's life. He definitely stayed true to football players first and he kept taking good ones all the way through the 5th round with Hyde. Even the DE/DT is a good player. He's just too marginal of an athlete. He's going to need to work at it for a bit I think.

[wist43]

Shields is a scattershot gem. The more looks you get at the pebbles, the higher chance you have to uncover a sapphire.

You're right that this draft isn't energizing, but it's almost a testament to the characteristic of this class itself. I'll give them until training camp before I write everyone off has HORBZ like you, wist. No offense, but you are over-reacting.

And as always, the Bears still suck.

There are players to like in there - but we said that about the guys they are going to replace.

The overriding point has to be - if you've been drafting for depth for years, you've hit on a few earlier picks here and there, you're a playoff team, but you're just below the best teams - you have to upgrade your starting lineup, i.e. you have to fill holes with competent and better starters.

If the 4-7 picks are longshots - which they are - and rounds 1-3 are where the starters are - why in poo-perfect-hell is TT running as fast as he can from from the orchard with good, ripe fruit, for the orchard with dead, rotting fruit that he picks thru hoping to find one he can wash up and say, hey, look what I found??

That is completely illogical - yet that is TT's 2013 draft; and in general his philosophy overall.

TT even said it himself in a presser a few years ago - that you can't just keep doing what he did today - you have to surgically go after the guys you know you can plug into your starting lineup, and churn the bottom of your roster more thru street FA's and minimum wage vets (something that TT rejects out of hand).

What TT did in this draft is indefesible given those facts.

[RashanGary]

Wist,

He also said he thought this draft was deep through the middle rounds, that's why they made so many picks there. Every draft is different. And there was a lot of talk going into this draft about the top being so/so, but it being deep.