HappyDays

Only one premium position drafted in the first 160 picks is a big miss. Especially in a draft that was particularly deep at three premium positions.

Our reasonably aged safeties also didn't stand out in the 13 seconds game. Our defense is going to underperform in the playoffs. That is just a fact of life under current leadership unless we have like 5 all-pros. So yes I want us to if anything over invest in the offense and try to just purely overwhelm teams in the playoffs. It's nothing against Cole Bishop as a player. It's the value of taking him versus the value of taking a different more impactful position that might make a meaningful difference in January.

I mean this was considered one of the deepest WR drafts ever, so yes I hoped we would use that opportunity to double dip. I am still very much against the safety and RB picks where we made them but it is what it is. If it's announced that we're trading for Aiyuk post-6/1 I won't have any complaints though. Adding a player of his caliber AND a 1st round (close enough) WR in the same offseason would be the smartest thing Beane has done since drafting Allen.

Beane has referred to Samuel as a "weapon" this offseason, not a WR. I think they signed him to be the much better version of McKenzie/Harty. He will get some outside looks like those players did from time to time but I don't think he is our Z. By the way I loved the Samuel signing but you need two starting caliber outside WRs on the roster and we just don't have that right now.

I used comparable skill sets to make it an easier read, but you can just look at it as we lost 4 WRs this offseason and have only added 3. We are -1 on the roster. Something has to be coming. If it's a post-6/1 vet trade I'm good with that, possibly great with that depending on the player. Ideally Aiyuk, if not him ideally Deebo, if not them I guess Courtland Sutton as a baseline #2 outside WR isn't too bad. Maybe there's some other name no one is talking about. But a starting caliber addition simply has to be made.

I hope so. I said earlier in the thread there's no way our #2 outside WR is Hollins or Shorter. There has to be another plan, it's the only thing that makes sense.

Did any team trade up in the 4th using 2024 day three picks? There were three trades for 2025 3rd or 4th rounders. The NFL is telling you day three picks have no value to anybody this year. So I'm thinking it just wasn't doable.

But we pretty clearly are missing a WR on the roster right now. Coleman replaces Davis, Samuel replaces Harty, Hollins replaces Sherfield. There's one glaring replacement still missing. And I'm not saying I expect any rookie WR we add to match Diggs, but objectively there is a gaping hole on the roster there.

It's not that hard man... WASH-ING-TON

Probably intended as a replacement for Tyler Matakevich. I'm fine with it. I've been saying we should have day three rookie contracts starting on special teams instead of veteran contracts. It's an easy way to save money so we don't end up in predicaments like we did this offaeason.

Hopefully a trade has already been agreed upon and we are just waiting until June. I simply don't believe we are going into training camp with Mack Hollins and Justin Shorter in competition for the #2 outside WR. Ideally we will draft one of these tier 3 guys, and our final WR depth chart will be Coleman, veteran outside WR that we trade for, Samuel, Shakir, and one of Hollins/Shorter/tier 3 rookie WR.

Most likely coming in the 2025 offseason, unfortunately. I think @GunnerBill's assessment is right. They aren't punting on the 2024 season but they are anticipating a down year. The moves they're making now are to set up 2025. The idea of a post-6/1 trade for a WR also really intrigues me. Aiyuk or even Deebo suddenly makes a ton of sense if we're only giving up 2025 capital for one of them and putting them on the roster after Tre White's cap savings kicks in.

I just realized the pick we gave the Bears was their pick to begin with. They effectively traded us a 2025 4th rounder for Ryan Bates.

That is the surprise of the draft for me, he has not moved up once. I'm guessing the cap issues have forced them to be more willing to let day three rookies fill out the bottom of the roster. Not a bad thing IMO. Getting younger and cheaper at the bottom of the roster allows for more talent at the top of the roster.

Sounds like the only downside is that he's a pure center, no versatility at all. But in the 5th round that's fine. I won't be shocked if he wins the starting job and McGovern kicks back to LG. He is not a raw player, has a lot of experience and plays a position that is pretty easy to transition to in the NFL.

I really like that trade. Honestly a no brainer. Next year we will likely have three 4ths because of Gabe Davis' comp pick.

Text I got on this pick:

Okay this pick I really like. 5th round is the right value for a center.

We had Ty Johnson making those plays for us after signing him off the waiver wire. It's no surprise the board's favorite picks are the safety and the RB. It is easy to find decent NFL caliber players at those spots, and Bishop and Davis both look like day one NFL caliber players. But we don't need just NFL caliber players at easy to fill spots. We need guys at premium positions that make plays. In the 4th round it is of course harder to find those guys but I would still rather try than do the safe thing and draft a dime a dozen RB.

Just from a high level philosophy, drafting a safety and a RB with two of our first four picks is bad strategy. The players might be good. But there is extremely low upside with that strategy. It's the two least valuable positions on the team.

It just feels like a lot of RBs with that kind of profile are still on the board. Wait until the late 5th to take one.

Not a fan of taking another RB this high. With our last three picks we have taken a safety, a backup DT, and a backup RB. And he'll be 25 years old in November. A lot of mileage on him already, over 800 touches in college. No high upside traits to write home about. You can get that caliber of RB in the 6th/7th round.

Sigh. Another RB in the first 4 rounds. With our last 3 picks we have taken a safety, a backup DT, and a backup RB.

If some team wants to give us a 2025 3rd for our 4th I would easily take that deal.

The Bears had three great picks, but using 1 of their 4 picks on a punter is a choice... And that ends their draft.