This article will only touch on players drafted with the eight picks the Bears ended up with, all undrafted free agents will get a chance to shine in an article if they make the roster.
The White Devil
Dillon Theineman
He can hopefully be a superstar out of Oregon and he’s quite the player. Not slow, not small, packs a punch and can cover in zone. His one weakness right now is man coverage, but he was the only guy circled a hundred times on the Bears’ draft board and now they have their starting safety. Thieneman has 91 speed and is sub linebacker eligible, so look for him to get up and busy in the box to help the bears defense, who struggled against the run, pass, and everything in between last season.
Not Your Mother’s Monster of The Midway
Suritane Perkins
He fell further than Chicago expected and he now steps in as the most important player on the Bears defense. He can be the hard-hitting leader that embodies the Monsters of the Midway, but he’s more than that with 90 speed at the linebacker position. His 90 hit power and 80 change of direction should help him be an every down player who can guard most positions and blow up blocks. He’s 20 years old and already was a first round talent, sky is the limit regardless of dev.
From Beyond The Grave
Aaron Graves
The versatile DT fell far, once hailed as a first-round pick, he lasted until 3.16, even as a first-second round talent. He is very fast and fairly strong, but his real specialty is power rushing, which could really help Chicago in an area they need. He’ll get his chance to prove the slide was wrong as a starter. Iowa had a brutal bowl matchup as a 6-6 team, but Graves as normal will still make plays, or lose his spot to Deone Walker while trying.
Who Needs Brisker?
Isaiah Nwokobia
The Bears let Brisker and Byard walk, so it was likely they would draft a second safety, even if he wouldn’t start over Kyler Gordon, who’s now a safety. Nwokobia is a very solid find in the fourth round at 69 overall, but 23 years old. He’s pretty balanced in coverage, but he is an aggressive player running downfield to hit running backs and blow up flat routes with 91 hit power.
It’s a Metaphor for Salad
Austin Romaine
It’s a metaphor for salad because he is a bland boring, yet bright piece of romaine lettuce. He will be shaped by the ingredients and dressing that the coaching staff loads him up with. 20-years old in the fifth round as a future depth linebacker or special teamer.
The Seventh Round Flyers
James Neal III
Chicago waited and waited and still got a fairly decent OL in Neal, even if he’s slow and not particularly strong or great.
Robby Ashford
A swing and a miss. He’s a fun player, but I don’t want to roll out anyone with these accuracies in a real game.
Logan Parr
I was between Neal and Parr at 7.2, and I got the other at 7.23. He’s slightly worse, so Neal was technically correct, but Parr is much more mobile and not much weaker.
Filling Holes With D
B+
Overall, this was a great draft, but it can always be better. I personally agree with my decisions to jump on safety at 16 and take Perkins later instead of Anthony Hill at 16 and a different safety in the second round. I didn’t want to start any safety in this class that wasn’t Downs or Thieneman, and even though Hill was LB1, Perkins is 90 speed, and I really struggled against drags and stretches last season. After that, I really didn’t have anyone I wanted besides Graves and I was blessed he fell that far to let me fill three starting spots on my defense in one draft. New DT2 in a 4-3, new MIKE LB and SUBLB 1, and the all-important safety that can do it all and will hopefully develop fast as a superstar.
Nwokobia and Romaine will be here all cycle guaranteed, although I can’t guarantee they’ll play much as rookies or even beyond if I can find better players. Both Romaine and Nwokobia hit HARD, so if they force just one fumble each on special teams across 4 seasons, I’ll be happy.
Neal and Parr are some very solid depth that I’ll try to give attribute requests to so they can be plug-and-plays. Madden now correctly punishes a player for being out of position, so having five backup players matters to have the best option possible regardless of which starter might go down. I’m sure there was better than them in the draft, even in the 7th round, but I can’t hate on 68 and 69 overall.
Finally, Ashford is nothing unfortunately and I’ll replace him whenever I have a pick I can throw away to do it. Backup QB is something I like to have and season two is now the season where Caleb can’t get hurt or I’m chalked. He was best combination of speed and throw power left, but my other choice was Sawyer Robertson and he still came in almost as bad, at 62 overall compared to Robby’s 56. I should have taken my boy out of tulane, Jake Retzlaff, also a 62, but I actually know of him in real life, where I only know Ashford from previous PML cycles.
