My thought:

He’s a freakish athlete and Pace/Fox/Fangio knew the Giants wanted Floyd. (It was not a well-kept secret in New York.) I love when organizations get the guy they want and the Bears did just that by trading up and getting the deal done. If he becomes a double-digit sack guy, the Bears will look back at this as one of the great trades in organization history.

The notes from CBS:

STRENGTHS: Has the requisite burst to surge past tackles as a speed rusher with underrated strength. He is surprisingly powerful at the point of attack, flashing dynamite in his hands with an effective hand slap to knock away blockers attempting to gain control.

His first-step burst and acceleration get him into the backfield quickly off the edge or knifing inside. Excellent movement skills for his tall, lengthy frame. Relentless nature and speed to collapse the pocket or chase down plays from behind. Because of his agility and closing speed, could move to a more traditional linebacker.

WEAKNESSES: The two major knocks on Floyd are weight and durability. Has lean bone structure with twig limbs, thin torso and scouts have concerns about how much weight he can add – looks like A.J. Green in his Georgia uniform, which isn’t a positive comparison for a pass rusher. Below-average functional strength.

Struggles to generate movement at the point of attack or convert speed to power. Too easily controlled on the edges. Can be eliminated by blockers when he doesn’t effectively use his length.

COMPARES TO: Barkevious Mingo, Cleveland Browns – Neither players is known for ideal power features. Floyd and Mingo have lean athleticism and get-off quickness to threaten the edge and keep blockers guessing.

IN OUR VIEW: A highly intriguing size-length-athleticism prospect, Floyd can stab, dip and flatten around the edge, maintaining his balance without losing speed to the pocket. He is deadly in space, but Floyd’s lack of functional strength and growth potential are glaring concerns. One of the best athletes in this draft class, his is not one of the best football players and would need to land in a scheme that protects him in a niche role.

1. What happens with the quarterbacks? Most believe Paxton Lynch will be gone in the first fifteen picks but will somebody have to move up to get him? Does Connor Cook sneak into the first round? Is the surging Christian Hackenberg a real story? (I know several people who believe Hack is going tonight. I think they’re nuts.) Quarterbacks set the draft’s tone and make organizations do crazy things.

2. The Cowboys, Dolphins, Giants and Bears have all been mocked with Ezekiel Elliot repeatedly. So where does he end up? If teams view him as a superstar, will they be willing to sacrifice a great deal to go up and get him?

3. Will the Bears look to bail out of the eleventh pick? I think this is their hope for tonight, barring someone from the top of their board falling into their laps.

4. How far does Myles Jack – arguably the best player in this draft – fall?

This weekend is the final opportunity for you to register for the DBB / Art of Men NFL Draft Picks Contest. There are ONLY two ways to register:

• Follow Art of Men (@ArtofMen) on Twitter and send a message reading “Draft Contest”.
• Go to Art of Men’s contact page – http://artofmen.org/contact/ – and fill out the form with the message being “Draft Contest”.

The contest will be simple. Everyone registered will submit their guess for the Bears first round pick. Those who get that player right will move on to round two…etc. The last contestant standing will receive two tickets to a Bears game this season. (Tiebreakers will be announced next week.)

If nobody gets the first round pick right, the tickets go to charity. Because, quite frankly, you don’t deserve them.

Some thoughts:

• Realistically, the start of the season is not difficult. Neither Houston nor Philadelphia strike me as being title contenders this season. The Bears are a young team on the rise and they need a few good things to happen to them early in the year so they can start to believe. This schedule makes that possible.
• Four primetime games before the bye shows the NFL believes the NFL thinks the Bears might be pretty good.
• Perfect bye week. Dead center of the season.
•  Halloween night game…spooky.

Overall, nothing really stands out. It’s a fair, balanced schedule. And it sets up well for the Bears.

If you read this space regularly, you know I don’t care about measurables. It’s not that I don’t think they are important. They clearly are a useful tool in the scouting process. I simply don’t care about them in the same way I don’t care about the Combine (which is actual pornography to measurables people), the salary cap (dead money! dead money!) and weekly power rankings.

Brandon Doughty isn’t going to be Peyton Manning. He isn’t going to be a ten-year NFL starter at quarterback. But when I watched him on the field this season I kept having the same thought over and over again, “This kid can play a little bit.”

I don’t think there is a star quarterback in this draft and I think a few years time will prove that teams reaching for Wentz, Goff, Lynch or Cook will find themselves in Ponder/Locker territory. Doughty needs a few years of serious NFL coaching and the Bears, with an established veteran QB and locked-in coaching staff, might be the perfect destination.

Read More …

Four Thoughts

• Teams have to consider the idea that Nkemdiche is batshit crazy. He’s smoking synthetic marijuana and jumping/falling out windows in the middle of his final season in college. He admitted at the Combine he was occasionally lazy on plays. He doesn’t have red flags. He is a red flag.
• He’s a physical freak. From Yahoo:

At 6-foot-3 and 294 pounds, his 40-yard dash (4.87 seconds), bench reps (28 at 225 pounds), vertical (35 inches) and broad jump (9 feet, 8 inches) were all in or near the top percentile for defensive tackles.

• Nkemdiche is one of the only players in this draft who passed my “jumped off the screen” test during the college football season. These are players that make me pause the game I’m watching and ask, “Who the hell is that?” (My three favorite examples being Ndamukong Suh, Justin Blackmon and Aaron Donald.) At Alabama, Ole Miss’ most difficult opponent of the year, Nkemdiche was the best player on the field and led the Rebels to victory. He had 2.5 tackles for loss, including a half sack. He was unblockable.
• If he falls out of the first round the Bears should be clawing at the walls of their war room throughout Thursday night. Risking a second-round pick on this kid is no risk at all because the reward could be an NFL star.

Art of Men is one of our primary sponsors (and a fantastic organization you should really check out). This year the organization is offering a pair of Bears tickets for the coming season to the winner of our NFL Draft Contest. The contest details will be announced Monday, April 25th. (It will essentially be guessing the Bears picks the same way we do it every year but we haven’t settled on the points system yet.) But in order to be eligible for the contest YOU MUST REGISTER.

There are two ways to register:

• Follow @ArtofMen on Twitter and send a message to the account marked “Draft Contest”.
• Go to Art of Men’s website contact page (located here: http://artofmen.org/contact/) and fill out the simple form with your name, email address and in the Your Message field simply write “Draft Contest”.*

REGISTRATION WILL BE CLOSED ON FRIDAY APRIL 22ND AT 6:00 PM CT.

NO EXCEPTIONS.

*This will sign you up for Art of Men’s weekly email and allow you to search the organization’s database of projects.

The Bears found a bonafide starting safety in the middle of the 2015 Draft. There may be another lurking in the middle of this year’s edition.

From a piece a few months back at NFL.com:

The scoop: “He’s a better football player than Shaq Thompson and Deone Bucannon were when they came out.” — Area scout on Southern Utah safety Miles Killebrew

The skinny: That is high praise — Thompson and Bucannon both were first-round picks. However, we’re not surprised to hear such talk about Killebrew, who has accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He jumps off the tape and has a chance to be a name you’ll hear a lot leading up to the draft. Killebrew has good size at a little under 6-2 and 230 pounds. He’s been clocked at 4.45 in the 40. Everything we hear is that his character is impeccable.

Why did I find myself watching a Southern Utah game with a dozen Guinness in me late one Saturday night? I have no idea. But I watched them play a second time to watch Killebrew alone.

Killebrew reminds me of one of my favorite Bears safeties in recent memory: Tony Parrish. He’s fine with the ball in the air but seems most comfortable closing in on the football and hitting guys. The Bucannon comparisons are lofty praise (you will recall Deone love in this space prior to that draft) but Killebrew is going to be starting safety in the league.

Muhammad Wilkerson will only be 26 years old when the 2016 season begins. And, if he’s medically cleared, he will be one of the best defensive ends in the sport. He is also available for the right price. But should the Bears pay it?

There are two sides to the Wilkerson coin. First, the Bears have to be willing to bail out of the 11th overall selection. There are not many foreseeable scenarios wherein the Bears don’t, at the very least, swap first round picks with the Jets (with the Bears throwing later picks into the mix as well). Second, the Bears will have to work out a deal with Wilkerson’s agent that is going to guarantee him no less than $40 million. Giving big money to defensive linemen is the biggest hit or miss prospect in the free agency game. For every Reggie White there’s been an Albert Haynesworth.

Would I make the deal? In a heartbeat. Wilkerson is the defensive piece that would immediately put the Bears over the top – a top tier defensive end with the ability to ruin games. Is that player available at 11? Maybe. But why play theoretical when the facts are right in front of you. Wilkerson has done it at the highest level and at 26 he’s going to be able to do it for the next 3-5 years. Is it a hefty price tag? You’re damn right it is. But spoiler alert, folks. Great players cost a lot of money. The reason the Bears have so much cap room is because they haven’t had any good players to pay for a long time.

Swap ones and try to convince the Jets to take an additional fourth. (It’ll probably cost a third but that’s fine.) Pay Wilkerson the contract he’s earned. Go from being a team expected to significantly improve in 2016 to a team that may very well contend for a division title or more.