Still Gotta Come Through Chicago

The NFL Draft is here!

The NFL Draft is here: Thursday, April 23: Round 1 (7 p.m.) Friday, April 24: Rounds 2-3 (6 p.m.) Saturday, April 25: Rounds 4-7 (11 a.m.)

Before we get going, I give you the must-watch video of Jon Gruden breaking down the Mitch Trubisky pick in 2017.

Jack M Silverstein @readjack

this clip of Jon Gruden absolutely destroying Mitch just minutes after we drafted him is my new Zapruder film

The hilarity and sadness of that video aside, I’m so gassed up for this thing. I’m going to watch every goddamn pick. Guy I don’t know? Bad pick. Guy I do know? Great pick. Guy from the Big Ten? Yes sir. Guy from the SEC? Great pick. Guy from the MAC? This guy is going to be an All-Pro.

Let’s go!

Quickly want to thank everyone that’s been reading. It makes the work I put into this thing feel worth it. Engagement has been better than ever. Help me keep building and tell someone to subscribe today:

Slow down the Pace

The NFL Draft kicks off tonight, but the Bears probably won’t be involved. They, as you probably know, do not have a first round pick.

Ryan Pace has reached territory with me that no other Chicago GM ever has. I’m actually afraid this dude will get excited in his dining room and do something wild.

For years, it seemed like every Chicago sports decision maker was conservative. Nothing ever exciting happened. That’s why Theo Epstein, and then later on Rick Hahn — when the Sox unleashed him a bit — were such a breath of fresh air. They were making moves — Theo was finessin’ other GMs left and right and then, some would argue, Hahn even finessed Theo.

I love the action. It’s why, and it pains me to admit this, I was even excited when the Bulls signed Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo weeks after they said they were going to get younger and more athletic. Hell, I was even (should I say it?), I was even … sort of pumped when the Bulls gave Jabari Parker $20 million for absolutely no reason. But more than anything, that was my SGCTC brain getting to me. For the record, after a year of looking overweight, playing no defense, and being a mope, Jabari is no longer SGCTC certified. Hate to do it to one of our own, but it is what it is.

Everyone loves trades and loves big signings. It’s why it was so damn refreshing when the Bulls brought on Arturas Karnisovas and they were being discussed on national platforms. It’s just more exciting when your team is in the mix.

But Ryan Pace — he scares me, man. When that dude sets his mind to something, he’s capable of anything, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a good way. He’s like a drunk kid who decides he needs McDonalds, and you know he’s going to get it one way or another. How’s he going to get it? By any means necessary.

We saw this with Trubisky. We saw it with Khalil Mack. With David Montgomery. With Jimmy Graham. Sometimes it works out, and a lot of times it doesn’t.

So for the first time in my life, I’d prefer to see the Bears not pick in the first round tonight. They don’t have a pick, and they theoretically don’t have a lot of capital to give up, so if they do pick tonight — our man got back on his bullshit. I don’t like the sound of that.

In a vacuum, would I like some of the first round talent from this year’s draft on the team? Of course. But what it would require is just not worth it to me.

I want as boring of a draft as possible. Pace said on a conference call the other day that he’s always going to take the best player available, so if that means a QB, so be it.

I’m not against taking a QB real late. But for the love of god, let’s focus on our positional needs first. No scotch tonight in the dining room, Ryan. Enjoy the first round like the rest of us. Let’s make a few boring and smart picks on Friday and Saturday and get ready for a playoff run in 2020.

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This chart is courtesy of Rene Bugner (@RNBWVC). It basically creates a ranking of how much value — as it stands today — that each team has in the upcoming draft. The Bears rank 28th. They’ve been willy-nilly with their picks in the last few years, which has put them in this position.

It’s not a bad thing, necessarily, that they’re in this place. No one should apologize for giving up draft capital when it nets you Khalil Mack. But as I’ve said before, the more picks, the better. The draft is a crapshoot. In the early rounds, it’s a coin flip — at best. In the late rounds, it’s a total guessing game.

This is also a good time to remind you that if one of your buddies tells you who the Bears absolutely need to draft, just know that the guy who went to the same college as him is not a surefire pick. NFL executives do this for a living and miss most of the time. So regurgitating the hang clean max of a guy that went to your alma mater is not going to convince me that the Bears can’t live without his services.

Pace does, however, deserve credit for his late-round success, despite his early-round woes. Somehow, he’s mastered the harder part and not the easier one.

The major question for everyone to consider headed into this draft is who you think the Bears are right now.

Are they good enough to contend for a Super Bowl with a few tweaks?

If that’s so — they desperately need to hit on their two second rounders. Which positions they should target is up for debate — safety, tight end, corner back, an interior O-Lineman, or wide receiver.

In my mind, with Eddie Jackson returning to that ball-hawking deep safety slot this year, it shouldn’t be a top priority to get a safety to play alongside him. He’s good enough to make whoever is playing alongside him look serviceable, and if the Bears defensive line is as good as it is chalked up to be, that position isn’t as vital as others.

Plug in Deon Bush and let’s see what happens.

Filling Prince Amukamara’s slot at cornerback is a little more pressing. I’m somewhat bullish on the options we have: Kevin Toliver, the undrafted safety out of LSU and the CFL signee Tre Roberson.

“We’re excited about Toliver,” Pace said on the conference call.

Additionally, the Bears added former Steeler Artie Burns to the mix.

Drafting another cornerback would be wise, but in my mind, the second round is not the place.

For me, despite the rag-tag signings the Bears have made to bolster it thus far, the O-Line should be the priority. If the Bears were to draft two of them in the second round, which I doubt they’ll do, I wouldn’t even be mad at that.

A tight end is also a must. Jimmy Graham, well, is just not that good. We’ve got — conservatively — 40 other tight ends on the roster right now. But I’m not sure that means anything. If you have 40 tight ends, you don’t have one.

I’m not sure how strong the tight end pool is, but if the right guy is there on Friday, I think the Bears should pull the trigger.

Now, unlike most of the people you follow, I’ll admit that I have not done my research on the hundreds of players that will be drafted this weekend. I’m not going to even attempt to tell you who I think the Bears should take. When I write this newsletter, I only give my opinion on things that I absolutely have a feel for, and specific players in the draft, that ain’t one of them.

I have soft opinions, but I’ll keep those to myself. The thing we miss most about sports is being able to yammer on about shit we have no idea about, and I love that, but I won’t include my yammering here.

Someone give me a medal.

Now, if you believe the Bears are not close to contending, this draft, in your mind, means taking the best player available at every turn. That means drafting a QB high if the right guy is there.

The reason I don’t think the Bears will go this route is because admitting that would essentially mean Pace and Nagy losing their jobs. Taking a long-term view on draft picks is reserved for those that have earned the privilege of knowing they’ll be around for a while. After 2019, I don’t think anyone in the Bears organization below the McCaskeys feels that way.

Leave a comment below on what positions you think the Bears should be focusing on, and how they should handle the draft in general. Hell, if you got some names in mind — throw those out there too. Whoever guesses the most amount of Bears’ picks for the entire weekend, meaning the specific players, I’ll Venmo you $20. Let the sweepstakes begin.

Oh, and by the way, the Bears signed another kicker.

Jason Lieser @JasonLieser

Bears GM Ryan Pace says it's an open competition at kicker between Eddy Pineiro and newcomer Ramiz Ahmed.

Here we go again.

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A One-Man Team Won’t Go Too Far

That was the title of LA Times’ columnist Bill Plaschke’s article after the highlighted Clippers game in the second episode of “The Last Dance.”

For those of you who are watching and figure that the attention given to the Bulls early season struggles are overstated, they’re not.

As I’ve said before, a lot of Jordan’s career — and the ‘90s Bulls success in general — is viewed in retrospect with this feeling of inevitability. In the moment, however, it wasn’t a sure thing at all.

The ‘97-’98 team was great. But they were worse than the ‘96-’97 team. And that team was worse than the ‘95-'96 team. They were hanging on by a thread. They were getting older. Other teams were getting better. You’ll see the ensuing drama.

But it’s worth recalling what it was like at the time. Plaschke’s column is a perfect reminder.

The Bulls got their first road win against the Clippers in double OT. Jordan had to dig deep, scoring 49 on a night where he had no help from his teammates. The Clippers were one of the worst teams in the league.

After the game, the Bulls shot back at the notion that they were declining.

“They ain’t passing out championship rings this early in the season, are they?” Ron Harper said afterward.

Plaschke urges his readers not to buy that gusto. In fact, he’s more bullish about the Lakers chance at winning the title in ‘98 than he is the Bulls.

Michael Jordan is still the best player in the world. But on Friday, the Chicago Bulls were barely the best team in the Sports Arena.

The players urge Plaschke to check on them in June. He was in awe of the performance Jordan put forth that night, but wasn’t convinced that alone would be enough to get them through the playoffs.

The Bulls did nothing Friday to indicate this will be a championship team even with the return of injured Scottie Pippen.

Right now, it is Jordan and four guys who look lost.

“We’ll see you in June,” Harper said.

The heck you will.

Plaschke looks bad in retrospect. But he wasn’t wrong. And the fun of this doc will be reliving what that season was actually like, before the story book ending.

It wasn’t a sure thing then, and it wasn’t a sure thing in the Eastern Conference Finals, when the Bulls’ backs were against the wall and their legs were tired.

But you shouldn’t forget what got them through. After Game 6, what did MJ say?

Still Gotta Come Through Chicago.

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