1st rd - Bears pick Roquan Smith
Apr 27, 2018 11:11:26 GMT -6
Whisky Beer Bob, butkus3595, and 2 more like this
Post by AlexM on Apr 27, 2018 11:11:26 GMT -6
I made it no secret I didn’t want Smith and didn’t like the pick. I think the positional value isn’t very good (RS is upgrading/replacing 2 UDFAs and a 4th rounder at #8 overall). And I’m worried that he’s gonna get trucked a lot in the NFL where Center’s and Guards are bigger and quicker at the 2nd level than in college. You can bet teams are going to test him a lot until he shows he’s overcome this glaring weakness from his NCAA tape.
Now that he’s a Bear and I’m gonna cheer like hell for him and fervently hope I will be proved wrong in not wanting him. Smith, to me, is kinda like a defensive version of Nelson in this draft—I have no doubt both are talented players but their positional value is such that they both need to be more than just “good” to justify going top-10; they both need to be really, really GOOD. The bar is a little higher for them in my mind than it is for an edge rusher, OT, QB, etc.
I take solace int the fact that Fangio almost certainly, in effect, made this pick. If he’s on board, that makes me feel better (in contrast to Mel Tucker for instance). VF knows more about running a defense and leveraging linebacker talent than I do that’s for sure.
One more thought: Hankins in still out there and his price must be a heck of a lot lower than it was a month ago. I’d really like to see Pace sign him to a 2-3 year deal. The success of Smith depends largely on having a stout and big DL to keep him clean. Hankins would give us 3 good 2-gap 320lb+ DLs to do just that.
Ray Lewis-6'1 240
Reuben Foster-6'0 229
Eric Kendricks-6'0 232
Ryan Shazier-6'1 237 (before injury)
Paul Posluszny-6'2 232
Patrick Willis-6'1 240
Some ok linebackers listed here