Bears still have some picks to come but I will not be sitting at the computer any longer. Posts recapping this draft will be live throughout the coming week.
Fifth Round Selection: Larry Borom, Tackle, Missouri
Bears still have some picks to come but I will not be sitting at the computer any longer. Posts recapping this draft will be live throughout the coming week.
Three thoughts:
The Bears are currently slated to have two picks tonight.
While many have identified the obvious needs – receiver, tackle, defensive back – I would hesitate before focusing on areas of need. The Bears are now building for a Justin Fields future. They’ll not only be looking to fill roster holes for 2021, but also perceived roster holes coming in 2022 like edge rusher and interior defensive line.
When the Bears gave their postseason presser, they used the word “collaboration” a whole bunch and received the scorn of the Chicago media. Many seemed to think their reliance on clichés and platitudes showed a lack of sympathy for their fans; a failure to understand that the achievements of the previous seasons were not nearly good enough.
But anyone actually listening to that presser heard a clear message: Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy had to solve the quarterback problem. When you heard your favorite radio host (and mine) saying, “They’re not going to make any changes!” you didn’t realize he’d missed the point. The Bears were not only going to make changes. They were going to instigate change at the most important position in team sports.
They tried with Deshaun. Nothing. They had a deal for Russ. Didn’t happen. It all turned to the draft and when the Bears had an opportunity to make a bold move and get their guy – Justin Fields – they made the move. Will it pan out? Who the hell knows? But you have to take the shot when it comes to quarterbacks and the Bears took theirs.
Because of that move, the 2021 season has life. It has excitement. It has promise. And that’s all we could ask for.
DBB will be live on Twitter tonight for the first round and will immediately respond to any moves made by the Chicago Bears.
The 2021 NFL draft starts tomorrow, so I want to take a look at historical trends to see where the Bears can expect to find positional value at various points in the draft. This builds very closely off a study I did last year, so here’s a quick recap of the approach:
I looked at every draft from 2010-20 to see how many players at each position were drafted in the top 50 (their 2nd round pick is #52), top 85 (their 3rd round pick is #83), and top 175 (their 5th round pick is #164). I didn’t bother looking at their 1st round pick because the top of the draft is more about a small pool of individual players as options, and the heavy focus in draft media on the 1st round means most fans are already pretty familiar with those names.
I then used The Athletic’s composite big board, which averages rankings from a number of different draft sources, to compare to historical trends. I focused especially on positions which I identified as needs for the Bears. The idea here is that positions with more players than usual ranked in a given range are more likely to have somebody highly rated slip through the cracks, while positions with fewer players than usual ranked in a given range are more likely to have somebody reach for them to fill a need.
Here is the data for players drafted in the top 50.
A few thoughts:
Even if they aren’t able to move up for a quarterback, the Chicago Bears should still get a really good player with the 20th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
There are 17 players the Bears should be ecstatic to get their hands on this week. On the surface, it sounds bad that there are only 17 players and the Bears have the 20th pick, but consider players at other positions will also be drafted by needy organizations. There figure to be at least a few pass rushers taken off the board, a couple off-ball linebackers and probably even a guard or defensive tackle. It’s likely the Bears will have a couple of options from this list. Of the players I listed, the lowest-ranked on the 2021 NFL Draft Consensus Big Board produced by The Athletic is 26.
Considered for this list were positions of need for the Bears. They need a quarterback. The release of Kyle Fuller made cornerback another obvious pick. But we also heard the rumors of the team going after tackle Trent Williams and receiver Kenny Golladay, so we can safely assume those are positions they will strongly consider.
Here is a quick look at the players the Bears should target:
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Really, any of the five would be great. We know Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson will be the first two picks and a third quarterback will go third overall. If Justin Fields doesn’t go third, there is no way he will last to 20. The only real possibility at 20 would be Alabama’s Mac Jones — who would be a top-five pick in pretty much any other draft – and is still the favorite to go third to San Francisco.
This is one of my favorite pieces all year. This is where I told you Aaron Donald was the best player in his class. This is also where I told you Justin Blackmon would dominate the NFL. On the lighter note, last year I focused my lens on kicker Rodrigo Blankenship – because he was ridiculous looking – and he was a terrific rookie for the Indianapolis Colts.
So who are my five this season?
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I don’t get it.
I’m sure there are scouty/personnel types who will quibble at Smith’s measureables (oh no, he doesn’t weigh enough!) but when you watch him on the field, which is where he actually plays football, you see an NFL star.
In the modern NFL there are very few line-em-up-and-beat-the-corner wide receivers. The game is about matchups and Smith is a matchup nightmare. He’s the best wide receiver in this draft. He’s the best return man in this draft. He’s the best player in this draft.
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Have you seen this kid?
He’s 260 pounds. And he throws dimes.
Someone is going to draft this kid. And the fans of that team are going to absolutely love him. (God I hope that team plays in a city with several Billy Goat Taverns.) Harvin isn’t just a novelty act. He won the Ray Guy Award for top punter in college football for 2020. He’s going to kick at the next level.
In 1993, when I was 11 years old, I made my mother drop me off at the Clairidge Theater in Montclair, New Jersey – the only “independent” movie house in north Jersey – so I could see Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery. I was the youngest person in the theater by 40 years but I remember laughing at all the same stuff those older folks did, feeling like I was part of a private joke. That day, “the movie theater experience” hooked me. I wanted nothing else (until I discovered women, and booze).
I saw 30 movies in theaters that year. Schindler’s List, The Fugitive and Philadelphia at the Lincoln Cinema in Kearny. The Remains of the Day at the Franklin in Nutley. In the Name of the Father at the Williams in Rutherford. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and In the Line of Fire at the $2 second-run house behind the Holiday Inn on Route 46. Dave at the mutiplex by Willowbrook Mall in Wayne.
In 1997, at 15, I started taking the train into the city. 30 became triple digits easily, thanks to the Angelika Film Center, one of my true heavens on earth. Not a year has gone by since where I haven’t eclipsed the 100 mark. In college, in that same city, I used to spend every Friday at the Loews by Lincoln Center. I’d use Wednesday and Thursday to map out my attack plan. First movie around 11:00 AM. Sneak into a second one around 1:30 PM. Sneak into a third around 4:00 PM.
In late February 2020, I got a Regal Cinemas pass. $20 a month. Unlimited movies. I’d found that as I’d gotten older I was veering more and more towards the smaller, art house fare and lost sight of the Hollywood stuff. This would ensure that I not only saw the Marvel movies but that I saw them on the big screen as intended. (I very famously, at least in our house, watched that 5-hour Avengers: Endgame picture on an airplane.)
In March 2020, Covid happened. Until about a month ago, I’d seen 10 of the movies of 2020. Watching a movie on my couch just didn’t do it for me. I’ve been trying to play catch-up but I’m not doing particularly well. Here are thoughts on the films of the year.
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#3. What Did Jack Do?
In David Lynch’s short film for Netflix, the filmmaker interrogates a monkey about criminal activity. It might be the strangest thing I’ve ever seen, and I once saw two Greek men end a shouting match in Astoria by throwing fish at each other. I loved every second of that, and this film.
Maciej Kasperowicz is a special cinematic correspondent for DaBearsBlog. He’s also a good friend, a dedicated Bears fan/Josie Woods loyalist and the voice I trust most when it comes to all things movies.
This is his follow-up to yesterday’s column. (Just scroll down and read it.)
Whoo boy.
Minari is pretty handily my favorite of these. Granted, I’m a sucker for immigrant family stuff, but it’s as good an old-fashioned family drama as I can recall. It’s almost like a great novel in all the ways that the five main characters are allowed to disappoint, surprise, forgive, and love each other. The movie never seems long, but when I think about how much real emotion and character development is packed into the fact that it’s under 2 hours long seems astounding. I can’t bring myself to think that something this good might win the year after Parasite, but there’s a world where the Amazon stuff gets enough of the progressive wing of the Academy off of Nomadland, it turns out that many people don’t actually like Chicago 7, and this both exciting and traditional movie has enough 2nd and 3rd place votes to actually win.
I am actually picking the favorite, Nomadland, to win, though, and I’ll be relatively happy when it does. Between Nomadland and Promising Young Woman, this has been a great year for totally fair and well-written criticism of movies I still rather like. If you haven’t been keeping up, Nomadland has a scene towards the beginning filmed at an Amazon facility, and mentions that evil megacorporation a few times off-hand, all without really taking any sort of stand on them (it has been pointed out that the book the movie is based on is less afraid to have people voice criticism).
I think that’s a fair reading, though I read Fern’s off-hand remark about how well Amazon pays more as a sad reflection on the available options than any sort of endorsement. Setting all that aside, Nomadland is absolutely gorgeous-looking. And, especially when it takes time to focus on the characters Fern meets along the way, I think it does a beautiful job portraying the search for some kind of freedom and control in a harsh society while allowing for glimpses of beauty and joy. Chloe Zhao rules.
If you’re the type of reader that enjoys a thorough evisceration, I’d recommend Ayesha Siddiqi’s shredding of Promising Young Woman, much like Nomadland, a movie I quite like while totally sympathizing with many criticisms of it. Indeed, it’s very much not the satisfying rape-revenge movie that its trailer promises (and that many people do still seem to be treating it as). If anything, it’s a deeply sad movie about repeated attempts to grab onto some kind of power or happiness that offers very little solace. I think the acting by Mulligan and a cavalcade of well-cast nice guys really carries it to something unique and good (though I don’t think the ending works).
While I totally see how Promising Young Woman isn’t for everyone, Judas and the Black Messiah seems an easy recommendation no matter what your tastes are. It both works great as a Departed/Infernal Affairs style undercover cop thriller and as a quick primer about the politics of the Black Panthers and the racism of the FBI. One caveat, specifically applicable to readers of this blog, is that you’ll have to tune out how much Cleveland, where the movie was shot, really doesn’t look like Chicago all that much.
I’m not quite as in love with Sound of Metal, but it’s also a really easy movie to like, with the approachable structure of an easily frustrated main character trying to overcome adversity, largely for love (of both music and a woman). The movie really strikes a chord (thanks Sandy Kenyon, I assume) when it questions what “adversity” really means in this case and again, as expected) in its sound design.
The Father, I wouldn’t recommend to everyone, as I know several people for whom movies about dementia and Alzheimer’s are a no go, but damn, it’s actually really good. Neither a Still Alice-style straightforward weepie nor a straight play adaptation, The Father plays some Lynch-y character tricks, and it really feels like it’s playing them on us and on Anthony Hopkins’ aging Anthony at the same time. The rest of the cast is superb, the production design is excellent, I was shocked at how much I liked it (though, again, I’m not quite sure it sticks the landing).
