Shea McClellin - I have no problem with this pick at all. The Bears went into the Draft with a pass rushing DE as their #1 priority. They got what they wanted. There is no telling if Ingram was higher on their board or not, but what we do know is that they could've taken just about anyone else at the position and they opted for McClellin, so that means they had him pretty highly rated. McClellin is a little undersized for a 4-3 DE at 260 lbs., but he's drawing some pretty interesting comparisons. His athletic ability makes him unique coming off the edge. He was faster than Mercilus and on tape, he looks pretty impressive. Seems to be a more ideal 3-4 SLB than a 4-3 DE, which is why rumors have New England, Green Bay, and Baltimore chomping at the bit to get this guy. His natural ability and technique are supposed to be immediately noticeable at this level, which I'll have to see for myself. Some scouts have said this guy can be a 10-12 sack guy in this League and if that is even remotely true, then you can't really argue with this pick. There is talk that he struggles to set the edge and that will certainly have to improve. But 10 lbs. from now, if McClellin can fatten up to 270 without losing too much get off, you could have a devastating DE tandem.
Alshon Jeffrey - Gotta love this pick. This is serious aggression in the Draft to identify and land playmakers to complement your Franchise QB. The Bears via Emery realized this team had some serious deficiencies, and he has gone out and tried to solve as many of those problems as humanly possible in a single offseason. The Bears have solved their backup QB situation, added a starting caliber backup RB to put legit pressure on their Franchise holdout back, drafted a pure pass rusher, added a little depth on the interior OL, rebuilt much of the Special Teams coverage units that have been so dominant, and now top off a huge addition of Brandon Marshall with another huge addition at WR in Jeffrey to give Cutler some legit weapons. Jeffrey has issues, no doubt, but that's what happens in order to see a top 15 talent drop into the mid 2nd Round. Jeffrey is a big body at 6'3" and weighs anywhere from 215 lbs to 235 lbs. Obviously, the Bears are going to go out of their way to keep this guy under 230 lbs, but speed isn't Jeffrey's strength. His incredible hands (the King of the freakish one hand catch), ability to break press coverage (tape of him playing off Dre Kirkpatrick with ease), ability to manipulate his body in the air to get the ball, Red Zone ability and ability to go up over undersized blanket coverage (dominated little Janoris Jenkins), and good enough speed make Jeffrey a big time talent. All we have to work on is the mental part of it. With Jeffrey and Marshall lining up at WR in the Red Zone, who needs a TE? Cutler should have a host of mismatches all over the field and now has more weapons than he can count. Marshall (a top 5 WR in the NFL), Jeffrey (a promising young rookie with excellent size and incredible hands), Bennett (his boy from Vandy who he has the best rapport with), and Hester (not a #1, not a #2, but OK in the slot so as a #4 he's a massive mismatch in his own right). I expect Marshall and Bennett to start with Jeffrey as the #3 in many packages and Hester in a series of packages designed specifically to get him the ball in space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fljiaojL5fM Brandon Hardin - Real head scratcher here. I understand the logic behind wanting to select 6'3", 220 lbs Safeties who have a track record for hitting people and who also have 4.43 speed. That's pretty freakish stuff. But Hardin is a workout warrior on paper and in reality, he has about 100 red flags. He's constantly injured, missing 1.5 seasons with some sort of injury including his last season with a broken shoulder. If you can't hold up in the PAC-10 (12), how the hell are you going to hold up up in the NFL? The other problem is that this guy has one full season of starting experience and like Chris Conte before him, it was at another position, having played CB in College even though he was better suited to play Safety. Injuries, experience, out of position, three seasons to become a starter, etc. Scary selection here. But we've taken 8 Safeties in 8 seasons, so is anyone that surprised? Sounds like the Bears intention is to play this kid as a backup Safety behind Major Wright in 2012, and then hope he can compete for a job in 2013, and in the meantime play every Special Teams unit that the Bears can imagine and some that they can't. A bit high to take an injury prone Special Teams ace who isn't named Devin Hester, regardless of how freakish of an athlete he is.
Evan Rodriguez - Here's a real interesting pick. Obviously the Bears see some combination of talent on our OL and lack of talent in the Draft on the OL that I'm missing. I see a lot of players in the 4th Round that are more critical than an H-Back like Rodriguez. The MO on Rodriguez is that he's a tweener FB/TE who is drawing comparisons to a Aaron Hernandez in some round about way. Problem with Rodriguez appears to be that he's short and that he doesn't really do anything exceptionally well. He's not a great blocker, he has questionable hands (catching the ball with his body too much), and can't carry the ball (not really a FB). What he does do well is run. Rodriguez can do enough of everything to warrant some time on the field to try and create mismatches because he's fast. Real fast. At 240+ lbs in a short 6'1" frame, you don't expect him to get down field with 4.56 speed, yet he does. While Rodriguez was asked to block a lot at Temple, he won't be in the NFL. He slipped into the flat a lot, took little dumps, and then tried to make something happen. Hard downfield runner. Just an interesting selection here. No doubt he can play Special Teams with his size and speed, but I hope we didn't just go back to back Special Teams selections here.
Isaiah Frey - Who the f**k is this guy? With all of the needs the Bears have right now, I'm getting kind of lost in what is going on here. I don't mind the fact that I know absolutely nothing about this guy since it is in the 6th Round and these guys don't always make the team for more than a year or so anyway, but I truly don't understand this. Frey is an undersized CB (5'10", 188 lbs) and isn't particularly fast (4.45 speed). He doesn't seem like a particularly solid fit for the Bears defensive scheme which seems to prize ideal larger and more physical CB's who tend to lack speed. Mayock has this guy rated as an Undrafted Free Agent and we pop this guy in the 6th Round. There isn't a developmental OL or LB that we could add here that fits what we do? We went and got a guy that doesn't even have a scouting report to view? Wow. I hate to go overboard about a 6th Round pick that are trivial typically anyway, but after an injured Safety and a hybrid H-back that is a long shot to be a major contributor from his outward appearance, this pick is kind of baffling.
Greg McCoy - I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone at this point. The Bears appear to have drafted their 4th Consecutive Special Teams only player. McCoy is tiny. He's small for a High School CB, let alone in the NFL. He'd need platform shoes to be 5'10" and would need a winter coat and a swimming pool to weigh 180 lbs. What he does have going for him is speed, athletic ability, agility, and ball skills. No argument there. But McCoy is so tiny that most NFL teams rated him an undrafted player (which bottom of the 7th isn't that far off that mark), but the guy simply doesn't fit into the Bears Defense unless he becomes a backup Nickelback and a backup return man (since we seem to collect returners for some reason). I feel like this Draft was basically run from top to bottom by Dave Toub. Wow.
Bottom line - This Draft class is two instant impact guys at two huge need positions and then four Special Teams players, of which only one is likely to ever even challenge for a starting position.
I would rate the class like this:
Round Player Weighting Percentage Grade Score Result Reasonable Expectations for the Pick? .
1st Round S. McClellin 18 40% A- 3.66 1.46 1st Round pick should be an immediate starter potential 95% of the time
2nd Round A. Jeffery 12 26% A 4.00 1.04 2nd Round pick should be able to compete for a starting job
3rd Round B. Hardin 8 17% C 2.00 0.34 3rd Round pick should be a player able to develop into a starter
4th Round E. Rodriguez 5 11% C+ 2.33 0.26 4th Round pick should compete for a starting job within 3 years
5th Round N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 5th Round pick is likely a backup at best
6th Round I. Frey 2 4% F 0.00 0.00 6th Round pick should be competing to make the roster
7th Round G. McCoy 1 2% C- 1.75 0.04 7th Round pick is lucky to make the roster
Total Score 46 100% 3.14
Based on this rating system, 2/3 of a team's Draft class is what they can do in the highest rated picks. Lucky for Emery, the Bears landed a couple key pieces in the top of the Class. The rest he kind of reached for and that dropped the overall grades on those picks. Since I don't put a whole lot of stock into what a GM can do in Rounds 6 and 7, those very questionable picks won't impact the overall grade nearly as much as the 1st and 2nd Rounders will.
Final Grade for this Draft is a B+ for the Bears. Two huge needs filled and then a whole lot of Special Teams additions in this class.
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