Happy Draft Day everybody!
Come watch the draft with the DBB gang tonight! Show starts at 6:30PM CST!
Happy Draft Day everybody!
Come watch the draft with the DBB gang tonight! Show starts at 6:30PM CST!
Let me be honest with you — I haven’t allowed myself to think about Ryan Poles drafting any of the ‘Big 3’ Wide Receivers (Marvin Harrison Jr, Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze) for two reasons:
This logic made sense to me for a long time. But a few things happened yesterday that have me wondering if Ryan Poles has an explosive move planned for mid-Thursday night.
First off, when asked about whether Ryan Poles felt any need to add picks in this draft he had this to say:
Ryan Poles on whether he feels the need to add more than the Bears' four selections: "No, I feel really good with where we're at."
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) April 23, 2024
Is that gamesmanship? Could be, but Ryan Poles has a habit of being unusually honest with the media in open sessions. I’ll never forget standing at Poles’ presser at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine where he all but told the media that he wanted to trade #1 overall before the start of Free Agency. Within days, the pick had been dealt.
But Poles (potentially) sticking at #9 doesn’t automatically signal interest in Odunze being the pick. The Bears could easily stick at #9 and take any of the popular pass-rushers on the board — names like Byron Murphy, Jared Verse, Dallas Turner come to mind.
But search presumed #1 Overall Pick Caleb Williams’ social media, and you’ll find a budding relationship blooming with he and Rome Odunze — is this a smoke screen? Or a smoke signal? You tell me.
Kevin Costner’s ‘Draft Day’ is the best bad football movie available. The movie barely understands its own subject matter, botching everything from draft value to basic football terminology to travel times from New York City to Cleveland, but it’s the only draft-related movie we have and that makes it awesome by default.
I make it a point to watch Draft Day once a year right around now. This year, feel free to join me.
Your Turn: Have you ever seen ‘Draft Day’? What do you think of the film?
Florida State EDGE rusher Jared Verse is as safe as safe picks get — he’s strong as an ox, plays the run & pass effectively, and at 23 years old he likely doesn’t have much untapped potential left in his game. What you see is what you get.
Jared Verse is a force when defending the run. His pass rush is solid (if sometimes unspectacular), but his run D consistently pops, especially when compared to the other EDGEs in this class.
Curious as to how much Ryan Poles & Matt Eberflus value that 3-down versatility. pic.twitter.com/hmAbW7fGkQ
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) April 21, 2024
The numbers back up Verse’s on-field production — between Verse, Dallas Turner, and Laiatu Latu, Verse posted the clear best Run Stop Rate while still posting a Pass Rush Win Rate in-line with the best names in the draft. With Verse, versatility is the name of the game.
Our fearless leader led the Building The Board scouting room through an intense Chicago Bears mock draft — check out the show here:
Building the Board: Inside the #Bears War Room – 2024 NFL Mock Draft 2.0 https://t.co/NjgZB6KN1T
— Bears On Tap (@BearsOnTap) April 16, 2024
Last Friday saw the latest Bear With Us launch, covering Caleb Williams and the #9 overall pick…
And then over the weekend, Jeff and I caught up on what he’s hearing about #9 overall (plus a full mock of the craziness that may lead up to Chicago’s pick.
Link: https://t.co/9wuFHdCznt
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) April 6, 2024
More Nine at #9 tomorrow.
Your Turn: Does the draft still feel far away? Or does it finally feel around the corner?
Tomorrow, Robert and I will be hosting a DBB Spaces on Twitter at 1 PM ET. This will be an episode dedicated entirely to the ninth pick in the draft. How will it work?
The plan is for this episode to last two hours. We want your voices to be heard. It should be a lot of fun.
Nine at #9 will continue tomorrow
Your Turn: Illini fans, what are your thoughts on Newton?
Over the next few days, my hope is to detail the names and faces behind a few of my favorite options for Chicago at #9 overall.
Today, we’ll kick off the miniseries with a cut-up of University of Texas 3-Technique Byron Murphy II, whose tape I imagine will make Matt Eberflus jumping out of his chair. We know Eberflus wants an explosive 3-Tech in the middle of his defense, and that’s exactly who Murphy is — a disruptive playmaking machine with experience across the entire defensive interior.
When Murphy flashes, he flashes. At times, Murphy’s combination of lower-body power and dynamic hand-usage makes him look unblockable while rushing the passer. Check out the first 4 clips of the cut-up below — his offensive linemen barely stop his momentum en route to the quarterback. At times, they don’t even get a hand on him.
Byron Murphy's tape is a blast — his explosiveness is obvious, his motor is relentless, but it's his hand-usage & feel for leverage that put him over the top imo. Can rush speed-to-power, swat hands, and win 1v1 rush lanes.
21 years old. Have to think the #Bears are interested pic.twitter.com/B3JsIB54KC
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) April 2, 2024
Athletically speaking, Murphy is quite short in stature but excellent in most other measurable categories. His 10 yard split & broad/vertical jumps are great signals for his explosiveness, but Murphy’s weight also stands out to me — weighing at 297lbs at the combine (and listed at 308 on Texas’ official website), Murphy stayed away from being a size outlier and instead registers as ‘pretty small’. In a league that’s moving closer and closer to 280lb 3-techniques every day, I think the extra 10-15lbs he’ll to carry compared to other defenders of similar quickness will be a major advantage for him in run defense.
Deep in the NFL Offseason, sometimes all we’re left with to talk about is drama. It doesn’t always have to be interesting, either — nearly anyone can go viral for saying something inflammatory, be they an ESPN Analyst, a former NFL Quarterback, or even just a fan with a take that’s truly out of left field.
Yesterday saw a perfect example of that juicy juicy drama catch fire all over the Chicago sect of Twitter — JT O’Sullivan, the analyst that runs the YouTube Channel The QB School, had this to say about Chicago in relation to Caleb Williams:
“Is it the ideal situation for him to go where he’s going to go? I mean… absolutely not…. the track record is the track record. If I could pick where he would go… that’s just not what I would want for him”
https://twitter.com/DCdude202/status/1774267071687180349
Obviously I’m cherry-picking one take to talk about amidst a long, well-done podcast by Bootleg Football, but I’d like to talk about it nevertheless — I think this take is tired, largely because I think Chicago’s ‘Track Record’ has become overblown over time.
Let’s re-contextualize the Bears’ five most recent 1st round Quarterback selections, stretching past the last 37 years — maybe you’ll see the same trend I do:
The picks have yielded poor results, no doubt. But should we be shocked that Chicago’s consistent inability to select a better option than the 4th/5th best QB in a draft class might be just as large a problem as their inability to surround those QBs with talent?