This is from Fox Sports. I feel it's better than a C- grade. I personally give the move a B+ grade.
45. Chicago Bears (via trade with Arizona Cardinals): Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland
Grade: C-
Ryan Pace is a bold, bold man. Shaheen is the third-best athlete in stacked tight end class, but ... he played Division II football. This is another boom-or-bust pick by Chicago, but this one I cannot justify.
ADAM SHAHEEN, TE, ASHLAND GRADE: C Just like that, we have a tight end run on our hands. The Bears needed depth at the position—Zach Miller’s been banged up a lot, Dion Sims has never had 300 yards receiving in a season and the rest of the depth chart is thin. Shaheen’s solid pass catching, suspect blocking combo actually will fit well with those other options. But there were a lot of other directions Chicago could have gone here.
The more I see the experts not really like the moves the more I think I do like them. They are "go big of go home" type of moves. As I like to tell my friends, "No balls, no babies."
From NFL.com
Chicago Bears Draft picks: Mitchell Trubisky (No. 2 overall), Adam Shaheen (No. 45 overall) Day 1 grade: C Day 2 grade: C Overall grade: C The skinny: Adam Shaheen wasn't a big name, but older Bears fans might think of Mike Ditka's game when they see the young man blow up defenders. The Bears weren't satisfied with Mike Glennon as their quarterback of the future, so they picked up Mitchell Trubisky. They gave up a 2017 third- and fourth-rounder, and a 2018 third-round pick to get him. That's not terrible in terms of what other teams have given up to get their quarterback of the future; other teams have given up first-round picks to pick their guy. They had to move up one spot to get him, though, because other teams were looking at that pick -- or at least that's what San Francisco told them.
SB Nation seems to have the only reasonable grade for the Bears.
Chicago Bears 2-45: Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland
After trading up to get Mitchell Trubisky in the first round, the Bears smartly traded back in the second round to get more picks. That factors into this grade, and will alter Chicago’s draft as a whole. Shaheen, the team’s second-round pick, is a nice pairing to go along with Trubisky. The small-school tight end is a big athlete with a ton of upside.
No. 45 Chicago Bears: Adam Shaheen, Tight End, Ashland 13 OF 75
David J. Phillip/Associated Press In honor of what may be the best tight end draft class ever, Bleacher Report proudly presents this field-guide scouting report on Adam Shaheen.
Productivity: A D-II tight end record setter with 70-803-10 in 2015, followed by 57-867-16 last year despite lots and lots of double coverage.
Athleticism: A 278-pound dude who can move pretty well and put up 24 bench press reps at the combine.
But can he block? Sheheen mauled his share of D-II defenders but was a catch-and-smoosh blocker, not a striker. He’ll have to get quicker-footed and nastier at the NFL level.
Other notes: Shaheen reminds me a little of Garrett Mills, the Tulsa superstar who caught 200 career passes for the Golden Hurricane but became a little-used fish-nor-fowl NFL H-back. Shaheen is much bigger than Mills but has similar traits as a blocker and receiver. Some skills just don’t ramp up.
It probably goes without saying, but I hate the Bears draft so far. No team has done less with more so far over the first two rounds. Maybe Ryan Pace and John Fox should start actually collaborating on these selections.
45 C- Bears select: Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland They are a team that needs weapons, and this kid is a player the scouts really liked. But they had other pressing needs.
It appears to me that Pace is looking for players with higher ceilings rather than higher floors, and also, he is looking for long-term highest ceiling guys, more than immediate high-floor contributors.
This Shaheen looks like a player who could be a major building block for the future (think Pats Gronk here) but yes, he will not be that guy in 2017.
Same with Trub. He won't be much (if anything) in 2017, but his 10 or more year career here (think big picture) could be that he is the most important player the Chicago Bears have drafted in the past 50 years or so. Seriously. But no, he's not going to get Pace the A+ draft grades from the "expert" talking heads from ESPN and the others.
It is a gutsy approach by Pace.
It may alienate sports writers and many fans who can't grasp delayed gratification in order to build a team that can sustain winning for many years to come. This morning I was thinking back to how Jim Finks built that 1985 team roster (most credit him for building that team). It took years to build that roster. He wasn't even with the Bears when that team won the super bowl in '85.
It took time.
It is taking Pace time too. But I do like how he is going about this. He looks like he isn't being a politician here trying to please the "experts" or even the sometimes ignorant Bears fans, but rather trying to do this right. The right way in life is not always the easy way. And it often is not the popular way. I respect people like Pace who do the right thing anyway.
It appears to me that Pace is looking for players with higher ceilings rather than higher floors, and also, he is looking for long-term highest ceiling guys, more than immediate high-floor contributors.
This Shaheen looks like a player who could be a major building block for the future (think Pats Gronk here) but yes, he will not be that guy in 2017.
Same with Trub. He won't be much (if anything) in 2017, but his 10 or more year career here (think big picture) could be that he is the most important player the Chicago Bears have drafted in the past 50 years or so. Seriously. But no, he's not going to get Pace the A+ draft grades from the "expert" talking heads from ESPN and the others.
It is a gutsy approach by Pace.
It may alienate sports writers and many fans who can't grasp delayed gratification in order to build a team that can sustain winning for many years to come. This morning I was thinking back to how Jim Finks built that 1985 team roster (most credit him for building that team). It took years to build that roster. He wasn't even with the Bears when that team won the super bowl in '85.
It took time.
It is taking Pace time too. But I do like how he is going about this. He looks like he isn't being a politician here trying to please the "experts" or even the sometimes ignorant Bears fans, but rather trying to do this right. The right way in life is not always the easy way. And it often is not the popular way. I respect people like Pace who do the right thing anyway.
+1000
If you look at the 85 team, it took 7 years to draft all the key components of the team. I give Finks a lot of credit but the blockbuster draft for that 85 bears was Jerry Vanisi's 83 draft (done with Fink's scouts no doubt) ... Jimbo Covert, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson, Dave Duerson, Tom Thayer, Richard Dent and Mark Bortz. One HOF DE and three other multiple pro bowlers. Not bad for a single draft.
It appears to me that Pace is looking for players with higher ceilings rather than higher floors, and also, he is looking for long-term highest ceiling guys, more than immediate high-floor contributors.
This Shaheen looks like a player who could be a major building block for the future (think Pats Gronk here) but yes, he will not be that guy in 2017.
Same with Trub. He won't be much (if anything) in 2017, but his 10 or more year career here (think big picture) could be that he is the most important player the Chicago Bears have drafted in the past 50 years or so. Seriously. But no, he's not going to get Pace the A+ draft grades from the "expert" talking heads from ESPN and the others.
It is a gutsy approach by Pace.
It may alienate sports writers and many fans who can't grasp delayed gratification in order to build a team that can sustain winning for many years to come. This morning I was thinking back to how Jim Finks built that 1985 team roster (most credit him for building that team). It took years to build that roster. He wasn't even with the Bears when that team won the super bowl in '85.
It took time.
It is taking Pace time too. But I do like how he is going about this. He looks like he isn't being a politician here trying to please the "experts" or even the sometimes ignorant Bears fans, but rather trying to do this right. The right way in life is not always the easy way. And it often is not the popular way. I respect people like Pace who do the right thing anyway.
Its apparent to me that Pace is playing the "long game" here. The safe thing to do would be take something like Allen-Robinson (two high floor, lower ceiling types) in rounds 1-2 but its obvious to me that Pace is drafting for 2018 and beyond, not for this year. No one can accuse him of being John Fox's stooge and trying to save his job for 2017.
Oh, and BTW, don't pay any attention whatsoever to "draft grades". They are utterly meaningless and about as predictive as astrology.
Eh. Draft grades are meaningless but I think if you're evaluating it on the NFL.com grades (or even the combination of major media grades) I'd say the Bears have earned a D so far.
Still, the only grade that matters is Pace's grade.
If these players fit what he's envisioning and if they pan out no one is going to give a crap about the initial grades.