Bears Draft Analysis, Day 3

Round 4: 117th Overall- Khaseem Greene, LB, Rutgers.

Love the player!  Not a huge fan of the pick.  With only 5 total picks (at the time), I thought drafting 2 LBs out of the first 3 picks was a little overkill, especially after signing 2 free agent LBs this offseason.  The Bears are now pretty deep at LB.  You have DJ Williams, and James Anderson on 1-year deals.  Two drafted rookies.  JT Thomas and Blake Costanzo, core special teamers that have shown flashes when thrown into games.  And there's that Lance Briggs guy.  My two gripes with this pick are that: A) over the last 2 or so weeks, I have come to the conclusion that Greene may be pigeonholed as solely at WLB in a 4-3 defense.  While Briggs is getting older, he's still very capable, certainly for the 2013 season.  So, the Bears have basicallly picked a guy that's going to be redshirted for his entire rookie year.  B) the Bears could have gone with a player that could have contributed some as a rookie.  A CB there could have come in to compete in the nickel and dime packages with Kelvin Hayden.  A WR there could have come in and contributed for time as the #4.  A DT, DE, even RB or QB could have competed for playing time in some form right away.  The Bears say Greene will compete, but I don't see him being able to hold up at SLB, especially when his prinary competition will be a guy drafted 2 rounds ahead of him and an experienced veteran who the coaches raved about in the brief mini-camp.

As for Greene the player, I've become sort of a Rutgers homer over the last few years.  Really fell in love with guys like Ray Rice, Mohamed Sanu, Logan Ryan, and now Greene.  He's a very good straight-line athlete that was a tackling machine at Rutgers.  Made a ton of plays in all facets of defense for the Scarlett Knights.  He had almost 280 tackles over the last 2 years, with 26.5 of those coming in the backfield.  He's an avid blitzer with 9.5 sacks over the last 2 years (6 as a senior).  Also added 2 INTs in the pass coverage this year and fits right in with the Bears scheme with his 15 forced fumbles in his career, which apparently is an NCAA record.  He's wonderful at going for and getting the strip out of a ballcarriers hands, so imagine how good he can be once Charles Tillman gets to him and teaches him the "PEANUT PUNCH". 

On one hand, Greene was likely BPA when the Bears picked at 117.  He'd been graded in the high 50s-to-low 60s by NFL draft scout for most of the season before dropping the last week and a half or so.  But on the other, this was potentially the last chance to get a contributor for the 2013 Bears.  Greene is NFL ready, so he could contribute if given a chance.  But I just think he won't get that opportunity any time soon.  And I question whether they could have waited a year to take what is potentially Briggs' successor.

Round 5: 163rd Overall- Jordan Mills, OT, Louisiana Tech.

This is one of the prototypical late round picks.  A dominant small school player who has questions about his ability to produce against more talented players and who is very raw and could really benefit by good NFL coaching.  Mills has good enough size (6'5", 315lbs).  He's average to slightly above athletic ability.  Perfect 34" arms.  Good frame.  Probably never going to be an NFL left tackle, but with good coaching and development, looks like he could be a starting RT down the line.  Really made a name for him self kind of after the senior bowl.  Ezekiel Ansah dominated in the game, but a look at the week's practices showed Mills as one of the guys on his own squad that could block the eventual #5 overall pick. 

I think he's a guy that is probably going to have to be the 4th OT as a rookie (not sure can sneak him on practice squad).  Then he competes to be your 3rd/swing OT in his second year if he shows some improvement in his technique.  Maybe then he gets some time due to injury and you see how he competes.  Year 3, either get a very cheap serviceable starter at RT or a backup with some experience that won't kill you if he has to get in there and play.  Really like the value of this pick.  Potentially could have gone as high as late 3rd, early 4th with the way OL were coming off the board early in this draft. 

Round 6: 188th Overall- Cornelius Washington, DE, Georgia.

Another good value pick.  Easily the best value of the draft for the Bears, and possibly best value overall.  Washington had a late 2nd to 3rd round grade from a lot of people, including the guys at NFL Draft Scout.  He measured in a 6-4, 265lbs at the combine, which isn't ideal 4-3 DE size, but it's pretty clear he has the frame to add weight and was staying at that weight to also draw interest as a 3-4 OLB, which is the position he worked out with at the combine.  At that weight, Washington dazzled in Indianapolis with a blazing 4.55 time in the 40.  He also backed that up by being the strongest LB by far, repping 225lbs a whopping 36 times.  Washington also finished top 3 at his position in the broad and high jump events, showing off his explosion and straight line ability. 

While, he didn't quite excel at the agility events, his power and speed were on display at the Senior Bowl.  Guys like Ansah and the 2 stud LTs got a lot of the publicity, but frankly, I thought Cornelius Washington looked like one of the top 5 players on the field in Mobile to me.  He consistently got edge pressure (lined up at DE with hand on the ground), using a combination of a very quick first step and a powerful bull rush. 

Washington doesn't offer much in terms of run defense as of yet, but I think the Bears can use him right away as a pass rush specialist.  Reminds me a lot of Mark Anderson when the Bears drafted him 6 years ago.  He won't put up 12 sacks like Anderson did as a rookie, but hopefully, he won't also disappear.  If he can come in and win the 4th DE job, I think he can give the Bears 4-6 sacks as a rookie and then the Bears can decide whether to bulk him up to about 275lbs so he can move up the depth chart or keep him as another speed rush option across from Shea McClellin. 

Round 7: 236th Overall- Marquess Wilson, WR, Washington St.  

This is another player that had 2nd or 3rd round aspirations, but fell for much different circumstances.  I'm sure you all know what happened, so won't get into that.  But as for the player himself, the Bears said they wanted to replace Johnny Knox, they may have done it with a bigger, albeit slower, version of him.  Like Knox, Wilson is a very "slender" WR to put it nicely.  He's about 6-3, 190lbs soaking wet.  Not blazing fast, but looks like a sub 4.5 speed guy on the field.  Long strider, so the speed is deceptive and he seems to get up to full speed pretty quickly for a guy his size.  Can eat up a cushion in a hurry.  And has huge big play ability with a career average of nearly 17 yards per catch in college, where he was a 3-year starter until being suspended from the team for the last 3 games.  The biggest concerns with him on the field are that his hands can betray him at times, and he's really raw as a route runner being that he's only 20 years old.  He also doesn't look like he can or will add much to his slight frame, making him questionable against press coverage. 

That suspension is the reason Wilson's stock dropped so far, as NFL teams didn't really know what to think about the guy's heart and love for football in general.  So, if he has his head on right, the Bears could be getting a dynamic WR to stretch the defense to give Brandon Marshall even more room to operate underneath. 

Overall, Day 3 was pretty good.  I think most teams pretty much have a consensus on the top 60-80 prospects, but after the mid-3rd draft boards get a little murky.  I think the Bears picked up 4 guys on Day 3 who conceivably were all top 50-100 on various team boards at some point between the end of October and draft day.  I think a lot of Bears fans may be disappointed in Emery's draft (everyone seems to be bent out of shape about not drafting Ryan Swope for some reason), but people are always going to be upset when a guy keeps his gameplan so close to the vest.  People want to know what's going to happen and talk themselves into disliking anything that happens that they didn't plan for.  And while I would have done some things very differently, Emery stuck with point 5 of my "draft day insight" article and consistently went after the best big athletes of the bunch.  If all 6 of these kids come to play and the new coaching staff can get the most out of them, this will be a very productive draft.