My Offseason Plan Part II, THE DRAFT!

On the eve of free agency, I gave my plan for the offseason when dealing with free agency.  And I must say, I didn't do a bad job.  Called the cuts of Davis, Spaeth and Toeina (I know, not exactly groundbreaking stuff).  Called for Sam Baker, but the Bears went out and signed Jermon Bushrod.  I did nail the contract terms being "a little cheaper than Will Beatty's deal".  Also threw Martellus Bennett's name out there, and that came to fruition.  Now if the Bears can do some restructures and get a couple other guys back, it will be pretty accurate.

Now onto the draft.  I have run many mock drafts thru my head and down on paper, but haven't really shared anything with the blog.  I'm going to try to change that as there are several different ways the Bears could go, especially on the first 2 days of the draft with having filled 2 major holes and still not completely done in free agency.  This mock was actually put together BEFORE the news of Brian Urlacher and the Bears going in their separate directions.

1 (20)- Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas State.  Was really hoping for him to be there in the 2nd round so the Bears could go another way in the first and still get what I consider to be the best LB in this draft.  But as the pre-draft season goes on, Brown just keeps climbing up draft boards.  Playing at about 228lbs this season, Brown looked like a prototype WLB in a Cover 2 scheme.  But on gameday, he doesn't play like a WILL LB.  He's a guy that hits anything that moves, takes on blocks surprisingly well, and runs like the wind.  Showing up at the combine at 241lb proved he could bulk up to possibly play SLB and even MLB in the 4-3, but would the extra bulk slow him down?  After running in the low 4.6s at his pro day, there's no question to me that Arthur Brown could be the next great MLB for the Chicago Bears.  Ideally, the Bears would be able to trade down in the 1st and still get him while picking up an extra pick, but teams like St. Louis, Minnesota, Indianapolis, and Green Bay could all use LB help, and I doubt Brown makes it past the Ravens being that he's getting some comparisons to a young Ray Lewis.

2 (50)- Markus Wheaton, WR, Oregon St.  This is a player I wanted on the Bears back in September.  Back then, Wheaton was still flying under the radar as a nice WR in a WR loaded PAC-10 conference.  After seeing him fly down the field and fly up draft rankings, I wrote him off as an option in Chicago...figuring he would go too high for our tastes.  But then I did some homework.  And while it isn't the Bears biggest need, the team has stated they want to add some speed to the WR corps to stretch the field for their bigger guys underneath.  So why Wheaton this early?  GM Phil Emery has drafted his share of WRs in his time as GM and head scout for the Falcons, Chiefs and now the Bears.  And what do Roddy White, Harry Douglas, Jonathan Baldwin, and Alshon Jeffery all have in common?  All were drafted in the first 3 rounds when Emery had some say so.  Wheaton has drawn comparisons to this year's big FA signee, Mike Wallace.  The Bears, then under GM Jerry Angelo, were very interested in Wallace, almost pulling the trigger on him before trading down for a guy that could jump out of a pool (don't get me started).  The Chiefs, with Emery as head scout, also showed a ton of interest in Wallace coming out of the draft, interviewing him at the combine and Senior Bowl.  Wheaton can stretch the field and should be able to work from outside or the slot.  He has good hands, runs strong routes, and was a 100m champion at Oregon St.

4 (117)- Allen Bailey, OG, Arkansas.  This is later than I'd like to wait for OL help, considering the Bears have 2012 UDFA, James Brown as the only current option to start at LG next year.  So, hopefully the Bears can find someone to hold the fort at LG in case Bailey isn't ready from Day 1.  But Bailey fits the mold of the Saints OGs that made Kromer (Bears OC, former Saints OL coach) a sought after assistant coach.  In fact, Bailey is almost the exact same size as Jahri Evans was when the Saints drafted him in the 5th round in 2006.  Bailey quietly had a very strong combine, including running 4.95 in the 40.  But he's also from a power blocking scheme and is a 3-year starter, with 38 starts in his career.  His strength showed in his 27 bench reps.  He's played both LG and RG, including some times on the same series as the Razorbacks put him to the side they were often running to (or pulling from to run to the other side).  Needs some work on technique, but he has all the tools to be a solid NFL guard and will be coached by a guy that knows what he's doing when it comes to interior OL.  Experienced enough to be a Day 1 starter at LG.

5 (153)- Steve Williams, CB, California.  Another guy who quietly had a very strong combine performance. 4.42 in the 40, looked very good in the drills backpedaling and showing ball skills. Continues with the theme of this draft to get faster as a team. If you look at the Bears when they went to the Superbowl, they had a lot of speed. Urlacher, Briggs, and Tillman were all young and hadn't lost a step yet. They had speed on the front 4 also. Williams starts out as the #4 CB, playing special teams and eventually takes over the nickel. Despite being a little undersized, he's also very tough against the run, racking up 80 tackles this season.  A defensive tackle is also an option here as depth is very slim...but so are the draft options at the position after the 4th round.

6 (188)- Michael Ford, RB LSU.  This may be one of my favorite picks. It is a luxury pick, but if the Bears make this pick, I'd be willing to bet that they would reap huge benefits from it in 2014. Quietly was in the top 10 in the 40 at the combine for his position. Prototype RB size at 5'10", 210 lbs. Former Parade High School All American, and one of the top recruited players in his class 3 years ago. But only 243 career college carries in 3 years due to playing in a loaded backfield for all 3 seasons. Dynamic runner with career 6 yards per carry in the SEC.  Shown flashes of being a good receiver out of the backfield. He's the #3 RB for his rookie season while he works on improving pass protection skills. Then in 2014, he allows the Bears to release Matt Forte, clearing 7Mil off the cap for next year, and becomes the #1B to Michael Bush...eventually either becoming "the guy" or the #2 to a 2015 draft pick. Either way, I think Ford will be a steal. He had the potential of being a 2nd round RB if he had gone to a school where he would have been the primary runner.