Draft prospects Ryan Pace may trade up for
Apr 3, 2019 22:30:44 GMT -6
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Post by mpbears68 on Apr 3, 2019 22:30:44 GMT -6
3 years is definitely fair and that's the commonly cited time frame needed to properly evaluate a draft. I'm still holding out hope for Shaheen this year to live up to billing as I mentioned.
But, I'd say you generally see signs in the first 2 years if a player is going to work out or not. And so far with Shaheen the evidence for "working out" is pretty thin. Yeah he clearly was over-drafted. Pace needed a big pass-catching TE after Bennett was sent packing and apparently fell in love with Shaheen's measurables. Like Cohen, he dominated far inferior competition at a small school in college. Unlike Cohen, Shaheen hasn't been able to stay healthy, provide much production, and was drafted 2 full rounds earlier.
Anthony Miller was drafted about where Shaheen was and has scored double the TDs, had twice as many receptions, and gained more than double the yards that Shaheen has in just one season as opposed to two. Yes, there's still time to turn things around but he's got a lot of work to do this year to justify the expectations of a 2nd round pick. He's been a real disappointment so far to me.
As far as injury goes, I kind of view that as an explanation but not an excuse, at least not after 3 full years. Either the guy produces recs, yards, and TDs or he doesn't. I don't think, fault or no fault, that any of us would deny Kevin White was a bust and huge disappointment for the Bears. I'm sure we all would agree that injuries played a large role. But it ultimately comes down to the rubber meeting the road--teams tends to negotiate new contracts with productive draft picks after their 3rd year and the tend to move on from unproductive ones. For instance, Eddie Goldman & Charles Leno vs Kevin White. The latter would have to have had an absolutely monster season in 2018 to remain with the team as clearly Pace had decided he wasn't a player he could rely on and moved on from him last offseason with Robinson, Gabriel, and Miller coming in.
Shaheen is kind of where Kevin White was 2 years ago. He's gotta stay reasonably healthy and demonstrate he belongs this season or the writing will pretty much be on the wall.