I get that this receiver has the physical ability NFL scouts look for, but where is the production? Top 10 WR needs to have both. Huge red flag to me. Seems more of a round 2 project vs a Top 10 playmaker. Pass.
This is how you miss top playmakers tho, thinking you NEED this or that. Look at the tape, look at the roster he's on, look at everything, not just "he needs numbers".
Look at Ridley's QB, Hurts has attempted (according to ESPN) 222 passes, 96 QB have attempted more passes than him. Maryland's anemic passing attack, that went through 3-4 QBs, their leading passer has more attempts. Another note about Hurts, he has 137 rush attempts, most on the team. Damien Harris has 110, Bo Scarbrough has 108, and 4 other guys have more than 20 attempts (55, 43, 24, 21). Alabama runs the ball. 36 if their TD have come on the ground. Hell, to go back to their passing attack, Tua Tagovailoa(the backup) has 8 TD passes (compared to Hurts 15), I will guarantee Ridley wasn't on the field to even attempt to score on most those plays.
When looking at Calvin, you HAVE to look past the numbers, he can play. If you do care about numbers, look at last season, he can do it.
Edit: Ridley has 55 receptions, the next closest? Bo Scarborough and Cam Sims at 14, crazy!
I don't HAVE to accept anything. The TOP wrs make plays regardless of bad QB play. His numbers put him in the back end of round 1 or round 2. I hear there is a super fast WR from West Virginia with limited production, that should work out.
This is how you miss top playmakers tho, thinking you NEED this or that. Look at the tape, look at the roster he's on, look at everything, not just "he needs numbers".
Look at Ridley's QB, Hurts has attempted (according to ESPN) 222 passes, 96 QB have attempted more passes than him. Maryland's anemic passing attack, that went through 3-4 QBs, their leading passer has more attempts. Another note about Hurts, he has 137 rush attempts, most on the team. Damien Harris has 110, Bo Scarbrough has 108, and 4 other guys have more than 20 attempts (55, 43, 24, 21). Alabama runs the ball. 36 if their TD have come on the ground. Hell, to go back to their passing attack, Tua Tagovailoa(the backup) has 8 TD passes (compared to Hurts 15), I will guarantee Ridley wasn't on the field to even attempt to score on most those plays.
When looking at Calvin, you HAVE to look past the numbers, he can play. If you do care about numbers, look at last season, he can do it.
Edit: Ridley has 55 receptions, the next closest? Bo Scarborough and Cam Sims at 14, crazy!
I don't HAVE to accept anything. The TOP wrs make plays regardless of bad QB play. His numbers put him in the back end of round 1 or round 2. I hear there is a super fast WR from West Virginia with limited production, that should work out.
Did you just compare Ridley to White?? Too bad Chicago couldn't have drafted the player Ridley most compared to that draft. Ridley plays in a completely different system than White. You can see when Bama passes the ball, it goes to this kid. The kid is their passing attack, but why pass when you can run the ball with a team that is bigger, stronger, faster, and frankly, better than nearly half/most of their opponents?
so many needs... We need some WRs. There is no doubt about that. Does a WR in the 1st make sense? I guess it could depending on what happens in FA and where we pick and who is available.
I can argue for and against. I want a pass rusher, but I also want a WR. We need better OL also.
FA and what happens in the draft before the Bears will matter more. You could be looking at great prospect that is not a WR, or no prospects but WR depending on where the qb's go in this draft. This is not a great top 10 draft(from what little i've read) but it looks to be a really deep draft.
I get that this receiver has the physical ability NFL scouts look for, but where is the production? Top 10 WR needs to have both. Huge red flag to me. Seems more of a round 2 project vs a Top 10 playmaker. Pass.
Round two isn't likely but he's currently seen as a mid first round guy (15-20) so taking him as high #9 would more than likely mean we're leaving better players on the board to focus on position.
I believe teams will focus far more on his speed, his toughness, and his skill set than on his scoring production which can also be dependent on his QB and the offensive play calling as well. 55 catches/896yards/16.28ypc is pretty damn good.
Ridley might make sense if everyone Pace has on his board at #9 is gone, Ridley is next up, and he can pick up a 3rd round pick or more by trading down. That possibility could exist come April.
I get that this receiver has the physical ability NFL scouts look for, but where is the production? Top 10 WR needs to have both. Huge red flag to me. Seems more of a round 2 project vs a Top 10 playmaker. Pass.
This is how you miss top playmakers tho, thinking you NEED this or that. Look at the tape, look at the roster he's on, look at everything, not just "he needs numbers".
Look at Ridley's QB, Hurts has attempted (according to ESPN) 222 passes, 96 QB have attempted more passes than him. Maryland's anemic passing attack, that went through 3-4 QBs, their leading passer has more attempts. Another note about Hurts, he has 137 rush attempts, most on the team. Damien Harris has 110, Bo Scarbrough has 108, and 4 other guys have more than 20 attempts (55, 43, 24, 21). Alabama runs the ball. 36 if their TD have come on the ground. Hell, to go back to their passing attack, Tua Tagovailoa(the backup) has 8 TD passes (compared to Hurts 15), I will guarantee Ridley wasn't on the field to even attempt to score on most those plays.
When looking at Calvin, you HAVE to look past the numbers, he can play. If you do care about numbers, look at last season, he can do it.
Edit: Ridley has 55 receptions, the next closest? Bo Scarborough and Cam Sims at 14, crazy!
Yup, and teams will. Like I posted he's ranked mid round one now but he is still the best WR in this draft which means he could go higher. He's an Amari Cooper with more speed but less size. Whoever has him as the top guy on their board when they pick is still gonna get a good WR.
I mean he's already better then Kevin White seeing that he can run routes but that's a bit too high for his lack of production.
Maybe if we trade down to the mid-teens?
Agreed, I would think Sutton is the first WR taken, and probably the only WR taken in the top 10; but it's hard to tell, not a ton of Pass rushers rated much higher then the WR's this year. But it seems like a good year for OT's, will it be enough to fill the void?
Listening to 670 this AM(Hub and anothe guy around 4-5 pm eastern), they talked about the history of Pace's drafts w/the Bears and broke it down into the early rounds and the mid/late rounds. Early on he's not necessarily looking for a finished product, but a guy that can create real issues w/his physical traits at a need position, White/Floyd/Trub/Whitehair/Shaheen all fall in line w/that. But later he is looking for specific players that might have fallen, Langford/Amos/Nicky K/Howard/Jackson all fall in line w/that also.
So don't be surprised if he doesn't buck that trend. Look for Pace to take the best physical freak in the draft at a position of need
Don't forget, we need to move on from Zach Miller too.
+1 Here's the deal. Every year we will lose a percentage of our players due to age/injuries/whatever. All the more reason to not let our better players walk (like Fuller). It's not like we have a dozen 1st round draft picks each year. We have 1 a year. I'm not that smart, but even I can do the math here. When we let a good player leave us, and we can't seem to get top FAs to come here. Then we have a problem. A big one. We don't even have a 3rd round pick this year. So we have a 1st and a 2nd round pick. Those two picks have to hit bigtime... but even if they are great picks, it is a drop in the bucket if we let good players leave us - and we already have critical problems at multiple positions already. Do the math. We have problems. Big problems with this roster. It is delusional to not recognize this. Then we wonder WHY we are always the last place losers year-after-year-after-year in our division.
You nailed it, and I hope Pace has finally realized this. You will never be competitive if you let the players who are playing above average walk because you don’t want to pay them what the market says they are worth.
I really don't understand the "numbers" argument. Not mentioning everything I did above already, let's look at his freshman year with Jake Coker, 89rec 1045yds (11.7) 7TDs, replacing Amari Cooper.
Now his sophomore year, when Jalen Hurts is an unknown, providing a spark with his legs, he puts up 72rec 769yds (10.7) 7TD.
I agree, it's not a good look going down in every category besides touchdowns above, but that's the Jalen effect. But here's a thought, who was coaching him? Lane Kiffin, who I respect for his football knowledge. Then you get Brian Daboll, a guy with 17 years of NFL experience. He has good NFL teachers, plus his numbers this season, 16.3 yds/rec, is nothing to scoff at. He may not have video game numbers, but not everyone plays in a Oklahoma St, Washington St, West Virginia, (you get my point) offense.
I mean he's already better then Kevin White seeing that he can run routes but that's a bit too high for his lack of production.
Maybe if we trade down to the mid-teens?
Agreed, I would think Sutton is the first WR taken, and probably the only WR taken in the top 10; but it's hard to tell, not a ton of Pass rushers rated much higher then the WR's this year. But it seems like a good year for OT's, will it be enough to fill the void?
Listening to 670 this AM(Hub and anothe guy around 4-5 pm eastern), they talked about the history of Pace's drafts w/the Bears and broke it down into the early rounds and the mid/late rounds. Early on he's not necessarily looking for a finished product, but a guy that can create real issues w/his physical traits at a need position, White/Floyd/Trub/Whitehair/Shaheen all fall in line w/that. But later he is looking for specific players that might have fallen, Langford/Amos/Nicky K/Howard/Jackson all fall in line w/that also.
So don't be surprised if he doesn't buck that trend. Look for Pace to take the best physical freak in the draft at a position of need
That's a great point. Tho, I just don't think it would hurt to grab a player with a high ceiling (edit: I meant floor) like Ridley, especially a WR to help Mitch grow.