2018 Draft Prospects

[WindyCity]

20 hours ago, Epyon said:

His size was covered in the Voch Lombardi vid.

Player A:   6ft 3inch Height, 32 1/2 arm length, 246lbs, 9 1/4 inch hands

Player B:   6ft 3in  height,  32  7/8 arm length, 252lbs, 9 3/8in hands  

Player C:    6ft 3inch Height, 33 3/4inch arm, 251lbs, 11inch hands 

Player D: 6ft 3inch Height, 32 1/2 arms, 246lbs, 9 3/8in hands

 

 

That's Von Miller, Harold Landry, Demarcus Lawrence, and Vic Beasley.... He's big enough.

 

 

 

None of those guys were drafted by the Bears.

There is not doubt that pass rushers can be all shapes and sizes, but the Bears, and more so Fangio have always valued height and length.

Yes, Landry’s arms are only 1/4” short than Floyd’s, but he is also almost 4” shorter than him. 

I like Landry, he has really nice chance of direction skills, but I doubt he is high on the Bears board.

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, WindyCity said:

None of those guys were drafted by the Bears.

There is not doubt that pass rushers can be all shapes and sizes, but the Bears, and more so Fangio have always valued height and length.

Yes, Landry’s arms are only 1/4” short than Floyd’s, but he is also almost 4” shorter than him. 

I like Landry, he has really nice chance of direction skills, but I doubt he is high on the Bears board.

I don’t think the Bears prioritized Floyd because he’s tall - I think they prioritized him on his length and athleticism. Him being 6’6” or 6’3” doesn’t impact his ability to get through or around a blocker. Height doesn’t alter arm length. He and Landry are virtual twins in athleticism, and as a 3-4 edge rusher Landry’s 6’3” is fine. 

This is what I’m seeing with Landry too. With technical refinement he can be a monster off the edge. All of the God given ability is already there. He passes Pace’s character test too. 

[WindyCity]

I don’t have an issue with Landry. But there are teams that he will not meet the physical requirements for.

I don’t know if that is the Bears 100%. But Pace has seemed to favor prototype size in his early picks.

[AZBearsFan]

7 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

I don’t have an issue with Landry. But there are teams that he will not meet the physical requirements for.

I don’t know if that is the Bears 100%. But Pace has seemed to favor prototype size in his early picks.

At 6-3 252 with 33” arms for a 3-4 edge? In which physical requirement is he lacking in your opinion? From strictly the Bears perspective they signed both McPhee (6-2) and Houston (6-3) to big FA deals to play the same position, and took Floyd who weighs less than Landry does with the same length and speed traits in the top 10. I’d argue that Floyd at 6-6 244 was not prototypical size. Hell he’s going to year 3 and he chill looks to be about the same weight.

If prototype size is what he’s after then that’s Davenport and I’d be completely fine with that, but I think he’s got a lower floor than Landry too. Pace certainly hasn’t been shy about upside swings at the top of the draft, and really both Landry and Davenport are bets on the come. 

[WindyCity]

6’2” and Sub 33” arms is below what many teams want as an edge rusher.

Pernell McPhee is 6’3 and has 34.5” arms. He was also a free agent, which is not as deep an available pool of comparable players.

Landry fails to meet a couple different thresholds and I expect it will cause him to fall further than we think.

I have no issue with Landry on the Bears, I just don’t see it happening. 

Edited March 26, 2018 by WindyCity

[WindyCity]

Pairing Landry and Floyd would also leave you very light on the edges. Granted on 3rd down it would be a lot of speed.

I don’t think Landry is in play at 8. But if they wanted to take Nelson and trade back into the 1st for Landry I would be fine with that.

[topwop1]

2 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Pairing Landry and Floyd would also leave you very light on the edges. Granted on 3rd down it would be a lot of speed.

I don’t think Landry is in play at 8. But if they wanted to take Nelson and trade back into the 1st for Landry I would be fine with that.

Are you saying that Floyd is a liability in the run game?

[Sugashane]

I'm not worried about having light OLBs. With Goldman and Hicks you have near 700 pounds and with another 5T nearly half a ton. If he can make reads and use his hands he won't be bad. As far as weight he is heavier than Ray Lewis and only a few pounds lighter than Urlacher was. Clearly he will never be what they were vs the run, but still.

 

I don't have an issue with getting a big OLB though, kind of the Willie McGinest role for the latter half of his career. But if we can even just get a potentially dominant pass rusher that is literally an Aldon Smith clone (subbed out for most run plays) then I'm still fine with that at 8. I want someone who consistently beats the hell out of Rodgers, Stafford, and Cousins.

[topwop1]

15 minutes ago, Sugashane said:

I'm not worried about having light OLBs. With Goldman and Hicks you have near 700 pounds and with another 5T nearly half a ton. If he can make reads and use his hands he won't be bad. As far as weight he is heavier than Ray Lewis and only a few pounds lighter than Urlacher was. Clearly he will never be what they were vs the run, but still.

 

I don't have an issue with getting a big OLB though, kind of the Willie McGinest role for the latter half of his career. But if we can even just get a potentially dominant pass rusher that is literally an Aldon Smith clone (subbed out for most run plays) then I'm still fine with that at 8. I want someone who consistently beats the hell out of Rodgers, Stafford, and Cousins.

That would be Chubb.  He's a bad man.

[Sugashane]

14 minutes ago, topwop1 said:

That would be Chubb.  He's a bad man.

If he falls to us I'd be all over him. I just won't get my hopes up. Leonard Williams all over again I bet.

[Madmike90]

I still see Pace valuing Davenport over Landry.

[dll2000]

20 hours ago, WindyCity said:

None of those guys were drafted by the Bears.

There is not doubt that pass rushers can be all shapes and sizes, but the Bears, and more so Fangio have always valued height and length.

Yes, Landry’s arms are only 1/4” short than Floyd’s, but he is also almost 4” shorter than him. 

I like Landry, he has really nice chance of direction skills, but I doubt he is high on the Bears board.

I bet Landry is high on their board.  Maybe not 8th pick high, but high.  He had 16.5 sacks two years ago.  That's a lot of sacks.  Same year as Garrett and PHilly 1st round pick whose name escapes me right now.   Remember QB runs a lot in college and his teams weren't that good relative to their competition.   He played hurt for most of last year.   He comes out two years ago and he likely goes by 8 for sure.  

Remember too that Chubb is good, but he was playing next to two other guys who are going to be drafted in top 4 rounds and will be decent to good NFL players.  

Landry was the guy to stop every play on his team for two seasons.  ND triple teamed him a few times on left side.  ND's left side is McGlinchey and Nelson, two likely first round picks.  

Landry is high on everybody's board.  I wouldn't be upset if Bears took him at 8.

 

 

 

[WindyCity]

I think the Bears will have a group of the following guys to pick from.

Nelson

Roquan

Edmunds

Ward/Fitzpatrick

 

I think worst case scenario Nelson is gone at 8 if only 3 QBs are picked.

But all 5 of those guys to me seem like really good values at 8.

 

[dll2000]

27 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

I think the Bears will have a group of the following guys to pick from.

Nelson

Roquan

Edmunds

Ward/Fitzpatrick

 

I think worst case scenario Nelson is gone at 8 if only 3 QBs are picked.

But all 5 of those guys to me seem like really good values at 8.

 

I think Roquan and Edmunds could both be great, but also have highest bust potential.

Edmunds, not for any talent reasons, but because guys that come into NFL too early seem to bust a lot for a host of reasons.   19 is really young.

Roquan, not really a bust, because it depends on team, he could be great or bad and be the exact same player.  He is cat quick, maybe quickest LB ever.  He relies on that cat quickness to dart around blocks, if presented, and make plays all over the field.  If team does not have scheme or personell to protect him, then he may get put on his back a lot and people will think he is bad.  On other hand, if he is free to run, then he will look like an all pro.

Also, if he gets hurt or loses his quickness a bit later in his career his play will drop off dramatically and fast because that is his weapon and advantage.

Ward and Nelson I think are near can't miss NFL players.  Solid NFL starters as a floor.   People thinking Nelson is going to drive guys off the field are mistaken though.  That just doesn't happen.  

Fitz has higher upside than Ward because of his size, but may struggle because he kind of played a hybrid role at AL.  If a team plans to stick him at outside corner he may not be able to do it.  He may be great, but we haven't seen it and that's not where Saban had him.   Then if they move him back he may be behind in reps and struggle inside too.   People are judging him high because he is a big, great all around athlete and covered well inside.   He didn't play over the top safety or outside corner in college, everyone assumes NFL is going to put him at safety or corner.  Nobody is saying Fitz is going to be an inside Nickel corner/OLB which was his college position.  They say safety or corner (meaning outside corner).   For these reasons, I can see Fitz falling a bit farther than people think on draft day.   But a team may have a definite plan for him.  He compares to Ramsey because he is bigger like Ramsey, but Ramsey played corner in college.   People just assumed Ramsey was going to play safety in NFL and then he didn't.   Everyone assumed teams would move Tillman to safety and nobody did.  They moved Jenkins from 1st round corner to safety (after a bit) and he flourished big time.    

You never know what a team is going to actually do with a guy who has transferable traits.  Browns took Peppers in first, and played him opposite his strengths and what he did in college and he didn't look like a first rounder.  

Ward on other hand can play outside and that's where teams will play him.  He can also play Nickel if needed there because the skill translates.

I think Landry has an outside shot at 8 and I don't think it would be a bad pick. If you liked Beasley coming out, you should like this guy.  They are very similar.  Beasley had all studs around him too, Landry was a one man army.

I wouldn't be unhappy with Nelson, Edmunds, Chubb, Landry, Barkley, Ward or a trade down.  Davenport I wouldn't hate, but not sure he fits the scheme.  Might be a tweener for a 3-4.  More of an end type player rather than 3-4 OLB.  I think Roquan is wrong for this team, but could be a great player.  

I could get on board with Fitz if Pace and Fangio discussed his role ahead of the draft and had a definite plan for him.   

Don't sleep on Derwin James either.  Another guy you need a plan for because of way college used him.  I don't love him because he seems injury prone.  But a lot of teams will love him because he is a stud with innate ability that is unusual.  He is better than his physical numbers.  He has an 'it' factor in athletic ability that can't be measured.  Bears might be one of those teams.   I wouldn't be shocked if James went ahead of Ward and Fitz.

If James stays healthy and a team figures a good use for him he could be another Ed Reed type player and best player in this draft.  Those are a lot of IFs though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IronMike84]

Edmunds’ poor instincts versus misdirection is still something that worries me a lot. It’s something we saw with Shea McClellin and it’s a big reason why he struggled when he was playing linebacker.

I mean maybe you play him at SAM and just let him set the edge, but I think he’s a MIKE and a MIKE who bites on misdirection is bad for business.