5th Round (173rd overall) - WR Darnell Mooney, Tulane | Bears 2020 Draft

[soulman]

He's our replacement for Taylor Gabriel.  A little bigger but just as fast.  Probably a smart pick for where we were able to get him.

We don't yet have an impressive downfield passing game so IMHO spending a higher pick on a player who was no more effective in this offense than Gabriel was would have been a reach for us based on need.  But guys like Mooney or Knox (also a 5th rd pick) can help at least provide a cheaper threat than a pricier vet FA who ends up as a #3 WRs.

I believe both Miller and Ridley are capable of stepping up their games this year especially if the QB situation improves.  Both have that ability and with Graham seeing a majority of the offensive snaps and assumedly Kmet getting some looks that would tend to subtract some looks from whoever is #3 because we know ARob is still the go to guy.

[Heinz D.]

1 hour ago, soulman said:

He's our replacement for Taylor Gabriel.  A little bigger but just as fast.  Probably a smart pick for where we were able to get him.

We don't yet have an impressive downfield passing game so IMHO spending a higher pick on a player who was no more effective in this offense than Gabriel was would have been a reach for us based on need.  But guys like Mooney or Knox (also a 5th rd pick) can help at least provide a cheaper threat than a pricier vet FA who ends up as a #3 WRs.

I believe both Miller and Ridley are capable of stepping up their games this year especially if the QB situation improves.  Both have that ability and with Graham seeing a majority of the offensive snaps and assumedly Kmet getting some looks that would tend to subtract some looks from whoever is #3 because we know ARob is still the go to guy.

What you're saying does make sense, but I think that if Foles is under center, the downfield passing game improves significantly, and that improvement would be pretty much immediate. (That is, unless Mitch manages to get his act together, but either way my overall point still stands.) I also expect bigger and better things from Miller, Ridley and Wims, but when you consider that all Pace had to do was re-sign Amukamara to a smaller deal to be able to get Claypool or Mims...I'm not convinced he went about things the right way. 

[soulman]

15 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

What you're saying does make sense, but I think that if Foles is under center, the downfield passing game improves significantly, and that improvement would be pretty much immediate. (That is, unless Mitch manages to get his act together, but either way my overall point still stands.) I also expect bigger and better things from Miller, Ridley and Wims, but when you consider that all Pace had to do was re-sign Amukamara to a smaller deal to be able to get Claypool or Mims...I'm not convinced he went about things the right way. 

Everything is a roll of the dice Heinz.  Personally the only WR I was hot for at all with either of our 2nd round picks was Reagor.  He was a guy who could have taken Cohen's place but others saw his game breaking potential as well and he went early.  Many of the others seem to duplicate guys we already have who deserve a shot at stepping up.

We could have brought back Amukamara for less but at some point in time CB had to be addressed and it seems as though we got a kid who much like Jackson could have gone much sooner if not for his injury history.  We gambled on Jackson and it paid off so let's hope it does again.  Johnson appears to be a much younger and cheaper version of Amukamara.

Then we also have the issue of Fuller cap hit which reaches $20 mil in 2021.  With a $9 mil dead cap hit if released he'll be in line for an extension or some kind of a restructure and he turns 29 next year.  That's not ancient but how much longer can we keep him and at what price?  The sheer number of CBs we've added says Pace is looking to 2021 and beyond.

We seem to have drafted a couple of good CBs to add to the mix and still got the kind of speed WR Nagy wanted so I'm good with this.

[Heinz D.]

3 minutes ago, soulman said:

Then we also have the issue of Fuller cap hit which reaches $20 mil in 2021.  With a $9 mil dead cap hit if released he'll be in line for an extension or some kind of a restructure and he turns 29 next year.  That's not ancient but how much longer can we keep him and at what price?  The sheer number of CBs we've added says Pace is looking to 2021 and beyond.

I guess that's the root of what pissed me off so much about the draft. And it even goes beyond planning for a Fuller departure. The whole thing stinks of long term planning, to me. How about maybe, you know, trying to win the Super Bowl this year, Pace? 

[AZBearsFan]

51 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

What you're saying does make sense, but I think that if Foles is under center, the downfield passing game improves significantly, and that improvement would be pretty much immediate. (That is, unless Mitch manages to get his act together, but either way my overall point still stands.) I also expect bigger and better things from Miller, Ridley and Wims, but when you consider that all Pace had to do was re-sign Amukamara to a smaller deal to be able to get Claypool or Mims...I'm not convinced he went about things the right way. 

Prince has been a FA for more than 9 weeks and isn’t currently on a roster despite being 100% healthy. If he were believed by anyone running an NFL team to be a good starting option at this point in his career that almost surely wouldn’t be the case given that he plays a premium position. 

[AZBearsFan]

14 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

I guess that's the root of what pissed me off so much about the draft. And it even goes beyond planning for a Fuller departure. The whole thing stinks of long term planning, to me. How about maybe, you know, trying to win the Super Bowl this year, Pace? 

The draft always has an eye toward the future, especially in the later rounds, but despite that both 2nd rounders are expected by everyone to be guys relied upon immediately. Do you think the Graham and Quinn signings were about the long term plan? 

[Heinz D.]

18 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

The draft always has an eye toward the future, especially in the later rounds, but despite that both 2nd rounders are expected by everyone to be guys relied upon immediately. Do you think the Graham and Quinn signings were about the long term plan? 

Nope. I'd have much rather had an offensive lineman and a speed receiver in the second round, though.

Did you think it was a good draft? If I was to grade it, I'd say it was probably a C-. Maybe a C. 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Heinz D.

[Madmike90]

7 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

Nope. I'd have much rather had an offensive lineman and a speed receiver in the second round, though.

Did you think it was a good draft? If I was to grade it, I'd say it was probably a C-. Maybe a C. 

So who would you have taken? Hamler & Cleveland? Because talent for talent neither of those guys are better than Kmet or Johnson.

[beardown3231]

10 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

So who would you have taken? Hamler & Cleveland? Because talent for talent neither of those guys are better than Kmet or Johnson.

I would've done this:

43. Delpit 

50. Mims

155. Nick Harris

163. Prince Tega Wanogho

173. Bradlee Anae

226. Bopete Keyes

227. Stephen Sullivan

Edited April 26, 2020 by beardown3231

[Heinz D.]

31 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

So who would you have taken? Hamler & Cleveland? Because talent for talent neither of those guys are better than Kmet or Johnson.

I would've taken Mims and Josh Jones. I wouldn't have cared if my scouts had them rated .32 points lower, or higher, or whatever. Kmet, from everything I've seen isn't anything special. Very good? Sure. Special? No. I would've viewed the Graham and Harris signings as what they are--a Band-Aid--and taken a developmental TE later. Waited until I could draft a better TE than Kmet, if need be.

20 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

I would've done this:

43. Delpit 

50. Mims

155. Nick Harris

163. Prince Tega Wanogho

173. Bradlee Anae

226. Bopete Keyes

227. Stephen Sullivan

Yeah, Delpit would've been hard for me to turn down, for sure. And not certain I could have. That would have worked for me. And been a helluva lot better than what we ended up with...

[Madmike90]

4 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

I would've taken Mims and Josh Jones. I wouldn't have cared if my scouts had them rated .32 points lower, or higher, or whatever. Kmet, from everything I've seen isn't anything special. Very good? Sure. Special? No. I would've viewed the Graham and Harris signings as what they are--a Band-Aid--and taken a developmental TE later. Waited until I could draft a better TE than Kmet, if need be.

Yeah, Delpit would've been hard for me to turn down, for sure. And not certain I could have. That would have worked for me. And been a helluva lot better than what we ended up with...

I think the NFL front offices show what they feel about Mims and Jones...no doubt they could turn out to be better players...but truthfully I would put money on Kmet & Johnson having the better careers.

[AZBearsFan]

4 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

I would've taken Mims and Josh Jones. I wouldn't have cared if my scouts had them rated .32 points lower, or higher, or whatever. Kmet, from everything I've seen isn't anything special. Very good? Sure. Special? No. I would've viewed the Graham and Harris signings as what they are--a Band-Aid--and taken a developmental TE later. Waited until I could draft a better TE than Kmet, if need be.

Yeah, Delpit would've been hard for me to turn down, for sure. And not certain I could have. That would have worked for me. And been a helluva lot better than what we ended up with...

You may like your version better but it also leaves us relying significantly on highly unproven UDFA at both corner and TE. You’re kicking the can down the road at CB and TE to take OL who may not even play in 2020 and a less important and fill a more easily replaceable DB spot with a guy most experts agree was a lower rated prospect than Johnson while leaving us relying on at least one of the TEs last year who played a significant role in the worst group of TEs in the league. Who’s more likely to help us in 2020, Kmet or Horsted? Or Braunecker? Or Holtz? Who’s more likely to be any kind of real player in the NFL? The answer is incredibly clear. 

I’d have been fine with your draft too but I don’t think it’s better - it’s just different. That’s not meant as a dig at you either - we couldn’t address all the needs to everyone’s satisfaction. 

[soulman]

1 hour ago, Heinz D. said:

I guess that's the root of what pissed me off so much about the draft. And it even goes beyond planning for a Fuller departure. The whole thing stinks of long term planning, to me. How about maybe, you know, trying to win the Super Bowl this year, Pace? 

I get your point but I think we all have to admit that any shot we have of even getting to a Super Bowl in 2020 runs through the offense and the ability of our coaching staff to resolve our issues at QB and with the OL.  We've added some talent and depth at both spots and looking back to previous years the offense has not exactly been ignored.

Pace has added OL draftees like Whitehair and Daniels as well as developmental guys like Bars, Coward, and others.  He's drafted 3 WRs currently on the roster and added both ARob and Gabriel via FA.  He's also drafted RBs like Howard, Cohen, and Montgomery.  So the offense has not been left out of his plans at all.  Just the opposite.

The defense looks sound for now but it's gonna need to stay that way for awhile longer.  If this team is ever to find itself in a SB again soon it will as it has in the past be the defense whose most responsible for getting us there and for us to win.  JMHO

[soulman]

1 hour ago, Madmike90 said:

So who would you have taken? Hamler & Cleveland? Because talent for talent neither of those guys are better than Kmet or Johnson.

I gotta agree.  There is no way Ezra Cleveland is a day one NFL LT.  Taking him over Kmet would have been classic over drafting, a reach.

And in this offense at this moment in time I'm not sure what Hamler could have offered that Mooney doesn't also have the same potential to offer.  Even with Foles should he start we are still not an accomplished downfield passing team.

[Heinz D.]

29 minutes ago, soulman said:

The defense looks sound for now but it's gonna need to stay that way for awhile longer.  If this team is ever to find itself in a SB again soon it will as it has in the past be the defense whose most responsible for getting us there and for us to win.  JMHO

And it could be this year.

In spite of my anger at Pace over this here draft, let's not all forget that the Super Bowl is still a possibility. (If there IS a Super Bowl.)