NEWSLETTER
Good morning! This set of Bullets is coming from an Amtrak train this morning because I’m on my way to St. Louis for Arch Madness. It’ll be my first time in the area since my memorable Friendsgiving trip. And my beloved Southern Illinois Salukis will be taking on the Missouri State Bears.
So if you see me tweeting about my preference to see the Bears lose tonight, that’s why.
- I feel as if the big takeaway from Thursday’s Combine action was that if the Bears were going to trade back in the draft to take an edge defender, then this is the time to do it. The options seem plentiful. Sure, Will Anderson Jr. stands out above the rest. But as we’ve discussed previously, this class is loaded with talent that should go in the first two rounds. It makes trading down a little less scary.
- Patrick has a round-up of Thursday’s happenings over at BN’s NFL wing:
- If you were looking for a big, individual winner from Thursday’s events, then you’d probably point at the big guy from Alabama:
- As I was saying earlier, Anderson is giving off Khalil Mack vibes — and I’m VERY into it.
- Size. Speed. Strength. Big numbers at the college level. The ability to rush the passer *AND* stuff the run. Anderson does it all. And he has done it against some stiff competition in the SEC. It’s not as if you can win SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors and take home All-American recognition while coasting in that conference.
- AHEM!
- Add NBC Sports Chicago’s Josh Schrock to the list of those who were impressed by the pass-rushing prowess of Thursday’s top performers at the Combine. The depth was definitely something to write home about and is encouraging on so many levels. Depending on if the Bears can tack on additional draft capital, I wouldn’t mind double-dipping along the defensive line on NFL Draft weekend. It probably wouldn’t be ideal when you consider how many other needs this team has, but it is fun to think about the possibilities.
- Alternatively, the Bears using the draft and free agency to bolster that defensive line might be the best deployment of resources. Imagine flexing that cap muscle to sign Dre’Mont Jones (it’ll take a bunch of flexing based on recent reports) in free agency, then maneuvering to take Will Anderson Jr. in the draft. That is a dreamy scenario to me.
- This tweet is *chef’s kiss* good:
- With all these intriguing DL options, trading down isn’t all that scary. But before we fully go down that rabbit hole, Patrick Finley (Sun-Times) points out the Bears have to wait out teams to go “all-in” on drafting a quarterback. It might not take much to get there. However, it isn’t like we need much to get the ball rolling in that direction. After all, it just takes two teams being crazy about one QB to accelerate the process.
- To that end, ESPN’s Adam Schefter thinks the Bears could have a “feeding frenzy” for that top pick. Ryan Taylor (NBC Sports Chicago) sorts through what that could mean for this team if that scenario plays out.
- The “feeding frenzy” could result in a tremendous haul of draft picks:
- Seriously … sign me up for THIS. Because getting multiple future first-round picks and still drafting in the top 10 is a dream scenario I’d love to see happen — even at the expense of losing out on a prospect of Will Anderson Jr.’s caliber.
- This is tremendous news if you’re a Bears team trying to move out of the first pick:
- Sending this tweet in the GM group chat would make Ryan Poles a legend, IMHO.
- Friend of the program Greg Braggs Jr. is really in his bag at the Combine. (CHGO)
- Heart-warming stuff:
- I wonder if the Bears see what the Blackhawks are doing and plan on drawing inspiration from it:
- Oof! The Bulls are a MESS:
- Nico leading off would make him an interesting fantasy sleeper, especially if the guys behind him in the order can knock him in:
