Thread: Angelo always tinkering with NFL draft operat

Angelo always tinkering with NFL draft operation

Bears GM admits to misses along with hits, and he's taking steps to minimize the former

By Vaughn McClure, Tribune reporter
2:07 p.m. CST, February 19, 2011

Jerry Angelo's desk is cluttered with stacks of papers that include scribbled scouting notes and endless prospect lists. The television monitor near the window is paused on a video from this year's Texas vs. The Nation college all-star game.

Even with an NFL lockout looming, it's business as the usual for the multi-tasking Bears general manager as he crams for his annual April exam, better known as the draft.

Critics would say the Bears failed to achieve passing grades during Angelo's 10-year watch. He understands the scrutiny.

"I'm not thin-skinned to criticism in the least,'' Angelo says. "I'll tell you the things we need to do better, I need to do better, and the mistakes we've made. It's what you learn from your mistakes going forward.''


Get tickets to Chicago Live!, a stage show brought to you by the Chicago Tribune and The Second City >>

There have been glaring first-round misses in Cedric Benson, Michael Haynes and Marc Colombo. And the Mark Bradleys, Dan Bazuins and Jarron Gilberts of the world haven't made the detractors disappear.

"Some years, it's just not a good draft,'' Angelo says. "I would say the year we took (Juaquin) Iglesias and Gilbert, it wasn't a good draft, from my perspective — didn't have the numbers of the quality players. Sometime you get a draft like that.''

Gilbert, now with the Jets, was the 68th overall pick, selected in the third round of the 2009 draft. The player picked ahead of him, defensive tackle Alex Magee, was traded to the Buccaneers from the Chiefs and has one career start. Western Illinois product Jason Williams, whom the Cowboys took behind Gilbert, was released and now is a Panthers reserve.

Iglesias, whom the Vikings signed off the Bears' practice squad, was the last of seven receivers drafted in the third round of '09. Mike Wallace of the Steelers and Brandon Tate of the Patriots are the only two regular starters among that group.

"Drafts are funny,'' Angelo says. "They're seasons. You expect something, but it could be different than what you expected. You play the card you're dealt.''

Angelo might not fill a royal flush annually, but he has pulled out a few lower-round aces. Former sixth-round pick Chris Harris was a second-team All-Pro while Johnny Knox (fifth round), nickel back D.J. Moore (fourth) and tackle J'Marcus Webb (seventh) evolved into key contributors for last season's NFC North champions.

At the end this season, 27 players, or 59.1 percent of the Bears' active roster, were their own draft picks — the fifth-highest percentage in the league behind the Colts (72.7), Packers (72.7), Steelers (63.6) and Ravens (63.6).

All five were playoffs teams, by the way.

"Is it fair to say that some of the players haven't worked out? Absolutely,'' Angelo admits. "But what determines a bust? Are you going to say if a player's injured, he's a bust? If a player didn't fit for other reasons, our fault. But that doesn't mean he can't play. That doesn't mean he's not playing somewhere else.

Benson has enjoyed back-to-back 1,000-yard years with the Bengals the last two seasons while Colombo has started 72 games over the last five seasons for the Cowboys.

"To say it like, `They don't know personnel,' that's totally erroneous,'' Angelo says. "We understand personnel. We understand how the business works.''

Changes afoot

Angelo also realizes shrewd businessmen find ways to improve their model, which would explain why he severed ties with scouting director Greg Gabriel and director of pro personnel Bobby DePaul and replaced them with one voice: old friend Tim Ruskell.

Ruskell, who has been off-limits to the media, recently suggested evaluating, as a group, players not invited to this week's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis because he's a firm believer in late-round success stories. Angelo was open to the suggestion.

"You get a little stale on some things,'' Angelo says. "And these are the reasons that you make changes sometimes. It doesn't mean that something's broken and it needs to be fixed.''

Angelo has altered his approach some in adding more staff input into the evaluation process. The Bears will have at least four evaluations of their preferred draft prospects and sometimes five. The coaches have been more involved than in previous years.

"It's not about anybody's ego,'' Angelo says. "It's about finding players, talented players, that fit our system. That's the bottom line, based on what our coaches want and their positions. It's not about Jerry's players.''

Angelo won't attempt to compensate for previous misses in one draft, although the Bears own a first-round pick — 29th overall — for the first time since '08. The Bears have a pick in each of the first six rounds of this year's draft after surrendering their seventh-round pick for running back Harvey Unga in last season's supplemental draft.

Needs on the offensive line, at wide receiver and in the defensive backfield are obvious, and Angelo annually takes a serious look at the defensive line. Plus he intends to examine the crop of quarterbacks.

We'll always look at quarterback,'' Angelo says. "You can never have enough. We want to develop our own, and I've said that.''

On the offensive

All indications are the Bears are serious about upgrading the offensive line via the draft or free agency. First-rounders Chris Williams and Colombo are the only offensive linemen the Bears have drafted in the first two rounds under Angelo.

The Patriots' starting line, typically considered one of the best, consists of a first-rounder, two second-rounders and two fifth-rounders. And the Jets, a younger line built for the future, has two first-rounders, a third, a sixth and an undrafted free agent.

"lf you look at the last five or six years, and you look at all the left tackles versus the right tackles, well, the left tackles pretty much first or second round,'' Angelo says. "The right tackles? Later rounds. If you look at your premium guards in the league, they're becoming higher picks, too.

"I'm not going to say unequivocally that's a steadfast rule. (But) your chances of being able to find defensive linemen are greater in lower rounds than offensive linemen.''

Mocks draft will be plentiful up until draft and at least three of them already have the Bears selecting an offensive lineman. But the suggestions won't influence Angelo.

"The draft isn't about taking the best players based on the perception of how the draftniks rate them,'' Angelo says. "Draftniks do their jobs based on the information they get from the teams, what they say, what they hear. We do our board based on our football team, how we see the player and what his fit is here.''

Last year, Angelo viewed quarterback Dan LeFevour, now with the Bengals, as a better fit in the sixth round than Packers' running back James Starks, As Starks' contributions to the Super Bowl champion Packers increased late in the season, word got out, via Gabriel, of how Angelo overruled drafting Starks in favor of LeFevour after the Bears had told Starks they were taking him.

Angelo doesn't regret his decision, but he's annoyed with how he and the Bears were portrayed.

"It was a mischaracterization of the integrity that we have based on how we do our business,'' Angelo says. "It's that simple.

"… We're all flawed. Players are flawed. Coaches are flawed. General managers are flawed. Nobody's perfect. But what we try to do it make decisions based on soundness and what works for us.''

Based on this year's division title and NFC championship game appearance, maybe something's working right.

vxmcclure@tribune.com