2023 NFL Draft Prospects

[Epyon]

10 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

You would take Matt Forte with a little more lateral agility #9 overall?

Other than Witherspoon (because I think he is a potentially elite corner, provided he remains healthy at his size), I don't really want a defensive player in the first. Philosophically speaking, my goal this year is evaluating Fields, so I frankly don't care if we're 0-17 so long as the offense looks good and we know whether or not we're drafting a new qb next year or not, especially when I think we aren't going to compete this year (with Detroit being Detroit, our division might be wide open now, but I don't see us being any real threat in the post season just yet)

My ideal drafts right now have us securing a weapon and offensive tackle in the first two picks, but doing so involves an earlier pick in the second round than we currently possess, so likely some kind of trade down in the first and maybe a corresponding trade back up in the second

Best value OT I see are Wright (trade down target) and Dawand Jones (a guy I think is being way undervalued right now and is a possibility in the early 2nd round). Broderick and PJJ also up there, but less likely to be there on trade downs

Weapons wise I'm looking for one of JSN-WR or Bijan-RB (my only two first rounders), while second round targets being Gibbs-RB, Hyatt-WR, Washington-TE, or Flowers-WR (who I've been lowering on because he's very small, despite being incredibly talented).

So yeah, mix and match any tackle and weapon from that list and I'm thrilled with the draft, so best strategy is trade down and just take whatever is left of those players. THAT being said, Paris, Broderick, Darnell, and Dawand are literally the only 4 OT I have as starters year 1 and as much as I feel like Fields needs more weapons, we simply HAVE to draft one of them, which means without any trades (or if the picks gained from trading down don't include an early 2nd rounder), then the first pick HAS TO BE an OT.

Edit, as an addendum: the only scenarios where we trade down and don't select any weapon in the first two picks I'd be happy with, are us grabbing offensive tackle and then offensive center (JMS or Tippman)

Edit, as a second addendum: The one wrench that could really crush my plans here is if Dawand Jones doesn't make it to the early 2nd round, and instead is picked in the 20-32 range.... At which point we might end up not being able to replace Borom if we went with any non offensive tackle in the first.   In such a case, my early 2nd rounder would have to be securing Darnell Washington-TE

 

SO TLDR I wouldn't hate it, BUT, it'd have pretty ugly consequences for my next move, since I'd be compelled to trade up heavily to get an OT. EDIT or trade up for a very specific tight end who is functionally an offensive tackle. EDIT again.... and to directly answer your question, yes, Matt Forte with -=ALOT=- more lateral agility (it's not just a little, Forte had an elite 3 cone but he wasn't shifty in the same way Bijan), and contact balance would be a very very special player, worthy of #9 overall outright....

Edited April 22, 2023 by Epyon

[Sugashane]

16 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

You would take Matt Forte with a little more lateral agility #9 overall?

Last time we took a player at 9 overall was Leonard Floyd. I'd take Forte's career for Chicago over Floyd's. Lol

 

Seriously though if we had taken a swing on McGary and signed Ngakoue I'd be fine with Bijan at 9. He would be a great option in the passing game too, but Poles put himself in a spot where he almost has to pick at OT imo. Unless Jenkins is really the RT (Pole pulling a Pace-level smokescreen?) and Leatherwood is competing with a few guys at LG I just don't see how he can justify taking a RB that high right now.

PHI can because they have the talent around Hurts but they can get Kelce's heir anyway so why bother? 

[G08]

2 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

You would take Matt Forte with a little more lateral agility #9 overall?

This is a joke, right? 

[beardown3231]

19 minutes ago, G08 said:

This is a joke, right? 

He said it, not me. He's been pounding the "draft Bijan" table for awhile now and then compared him to Forte with a little more lateral agility

[G08]

12 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

He said it, not me. He's been pounding the "draft Bijan" table for awhile now and then compared him to Forte with a little more lateral agility

Woof, bad take. 

[beardown3231]

1 minute ago, G08 said:

Woof, bad take. 

Explain why taking Matt Forte #9 overall is a good take

[G08]

2 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

Explain why taking Matt Forte #9 overall is a good take

No I meant calling Bijan Robinson "Matt Forte with a little more lateral agility" is a bad take. 

 

Are people not watching this kid? His vision is elite and you combine that with elite cutback ability and you have a ******* freak. 

[beardown3231]

2 minutes ago, G08 said:

No I meant calling Bijan Robinson "Matt Forte with a little more lateral agility" is a bad take. 

 

Are people not watching this kid? His vision is elite and you combine that with elite cutback ability and you have a ******* freak. 

Once again, I didn't say it. To me he's an even better Christian McCaffrey

[Epyon]

54 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

He said it, not me. He's been pounding the "draft Bijan" table for awhile now and then compared him to Forte with a little more lateral agility

You keep misquoting me here. It's not  and has never been "a little" more lateral agility.... It's much more lateral agility... it's also better contact balance and yards after contact.... I mostly bring up Forte because they're very similar measurables, and both have a relatively smooth running style, and I feel the film I've seen on him going out for passes is extremely reminiscent of Forte. Matt Forte is where I expect Bijan's FLOOR to be.

I'd add, you keep acting like Forte at 9 would somehow be a bad pick, when if anything, that would have been an excellent pick. The guy consistently had ~1k yards rushing and ~500 yards receiving, and multiple seasons near the top of the league in combined scrimmage yards, all while playing on an "all star" selection of terrible bears teams, and still being relatively healthy for the majority of it. Frankly I think if Forte had been drafted by New England and had his entire team next to Tom Brady, he might be getting Hall of Fame consideration. Guy was an absolute stud, and criminally underrated.  He was getting the same level of production that Ekeler and McCaffrey got last year with 16 game season instead of a 17 game season (albeit Forte, while capable of more receiving, had a higher ratio of rush yards vs air yards than either McCaffrey or Ekeler.... and I think Bijan will end up with a rush yardage/air yardage ratio more in line with Forte than either McCaffrey or Ekeler)....  I think you just underrate Forte, because I didn't at all mean it as some kind of knock on Bijan to compare the two.

[G08]

1 hour ago, beardown3231 said:

Once again, I didn't say it. To me he's an even better Christian McCaffrey

I know you didn't say it bud, and I agree about him being better than CMC.

[beardown3231]

9 hours ago, Epyon said:

You keep misquoting me here. It's not  and has never been "a little" more lateral agility.... It's much more lateral agility... it's also better contact balance and yards after contact.... I mostly bring up Forte because they're very similar measurables, and both have a relatively smooth running style, and I feel the film I've seen on him going out for passes is extremely reminiscent of Forte. Matt Forte is where I expect Bijan's FLOOR to be.

I'd add, you keep acting like Forte at 9 would somehow be a bad pick, when if anything, that would have been an excellent pick. The guy consistently had ~1k yards rushing and ~500 yards receiving, and multiple seasons near the top of the league in combined scrimmage yards, all while playing on an "all star" selection of terrible bears teams, and still being relatively healthy for the majority of it. Frankly I think if Forte had been drafted by New England and had his entire team next to Tom Brady, he might be getting Hall of Fame consideration. Guy was an absolute stud, and criminally underrated.  He was getting the same level of production that Ekeler and McCaffrey got last year with 16 game season instead of a 17 game season (albeit Forte, while capable of more receiving, had a higher ratio of rush yards vs air yards than either McCaffrey or Ekeler.... and I think Bijan will end up with a rush yardage/air yardage ratio more in line with Forte than either McCaffrey or Ekeler)....  I think you just underrate Forte, because I didn't at all mean it as some kind of knock on Bijan to compare the two.

And I think you overrate Forte because he played for the Bears. He played 10 years and had 5 seasons of 1k rushing yards and 3 of 500 receiving yards. I loved Forte, but I'm not taking a better version at 9 overall

FWIW I'm just playing devils advocats. Again I loved Forte but I'd rather have an Andrew Thomas or a Warren Sapp at 9

Edited April 23, 2023 by beardown3231

[Superman(DH23)]

14 hours ago, WindyCity said:

This is archaic thinking.

With the amount teams pass and the quality of the rushers at the LE spot… you need to have a legit RT. The days of having a big run blocking stiff at RT are over and have been for awhile.

In addition… if we draft an OT at 9, I think he will be given the first shot at LT. Braxton Jones is no where near good enough that you don’t do what is best for the 9th overall pick.

Braxton Jones was the best rookie OT last year.  You are severely underrating BJ.  He graded out as an ELITE run blocker and an above average pass protector...as a 5th round rookie from Southern Utah.  Now if an OT can come in and best him out at LT, then so be it.  But the Bears are not drafting an OT to replace Braxton Jones.

[Superman(DH23)]

14 hours ago, Epyon said:

Other than Witherspoon (because I think he is a potentially elite corner, provided he remains healthy at his size), I don't really want a defensive player in the first. Philosophically speaking, my goal this year is evaluating Fields, so I frankly don't care if we're 0-17 so long as the offense looks good and we know whether or not we're drafting a new qb next year or not, especially when I think we aren't going to compete this year (with Detroit being Detroit, our division might be wide open now, but I don't see us being any real threat in the post season just yet)

My ideal drafts right now have us securing a weapon and offensive tackle in the first two picks, but doing so involves an earlier pick in the second round than we currently possess, so likely some kind of trade down in the first and maybe a corresponding trade back up in the second

Best value OT I see are Wright (trade down target) and Dawand Jones (a guy I think is being way undervalued right now and is a possibility in the early 2nd round). Broderick and PJJ also up there, but less likely to be there on trade downs

Weapons wise I'm looking for one of JSN-WR or Bijan-RB (my only two first rounders), while second round targets being Gibbs-RB, Hyatt-WR, Washington-TE, or Flowers-WR (who I've been lowering on because he's very small, despite being incredibly talented).

So yeah, mix and match any tackle and weapon from that list and I'm thrilled with the draft, so best strategy is trade down and just take whatever is left of those players. THAT being said, Paris, Broderick, Darnell, and Dawand are literally the only 4 OT I have as starters year 1 and as much as I feel like Fields needs more weapons, we simply HAVE to draft one of them, which means without any trades (or if the picks gained from trading down don't include an early 2nd rounder), then the first pick HAS TO BE an OT.

Edit, as an addendum: the only scenarios where we trade down and don't select any weapon in the first two picks I'd be happy with, are us grabbing offensive tackle and then offensive center (JMS or Tippman)

Edit, as a second addendum: The one wrench that could really crush my plans here is if Dawand Jones doesn't make it to the early 2nd round, and instead is picked in the 20-32 range.... At which point we might end up not being able to replace Borom if we went with any non offensive tackle in the first.   In such a case, my early 2nd rounder would have to be securing Darnell Washington-TE

 

SO TLDR I wouldn't hate it, BUT, it'd have pretty ugly consequences for my next move, since I'd be compelled to trade up heavily to get an OT. EDIT or trade up for a very specific tight end who is functionally an offensive tackle. EDIT again.... and to directly answer your question, yes, Matt Forte with -=ALOT=- more lateral agility (it's not just a little, Forte had an elite 3 cone but he wasn't shifty in the same way Bijan), and contact balance would be a very very special player, worthy of #9 overall outright....

I hate to have to tell you this but Dawand Jones won't even be in consideration for the same reasons that Orlando Brown wasnt.

[Superman(DH23)]

14 hours ago, Epyon said:

To be fair, Bijan would step onto this team and IMMEDIATELY be the AT WORST, #2 receiver by talent on this roster behind Moore....  (and that's even with me liking Mooney). And would probably be the #3 WR for this draft class behind JSN and Jahmyr Gibbs, if he played receiver.

My comp for Bijan is actually Matt Forte (albeit Bijan has much more lateral agility), where he's just really freaking good at everything, but doesn't quite have that top gear for the home run threat (which is a touch interesting, since his 40 time is the same as Forte's and he also wasn't really a home run threat..... but Fields was only 0.01 seconds faster and routinely outruns people.  Even more curious is that Fields had by far the worst 10 yard split at 1.59, while Bijan is at 1.52 and Forte was at 1.49)

Fields expected to run in the 4.38 range and stumbled on his start.  Forte ran 4.48 and Fields ran 4.44.

[BeaReylo]

1 hour ago, Superman(DH23) said:

I hate to have to tell you this but Dawand Jones won't even be in consideration for the same reasons that Orlando Brown wasnt.

Yeah, scheme fit is crucial with O-Line.  I am coming around on Darnell Wright.  Plus he is a natural right tackle.