Thread: A Look at the Bears Rookie Class After the Preseason..........

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Mc was a huge reach at 19, mid round 1ster's should be more then situational players. Guess we'll see what he does in the reg season, but it hasn't been looking good, he's not getting better, and to think once teams get tape on him he'll improve is a bit foolish. He was never strong enough to be a hand on the ground speed guy. I really hope they tranisiton him to SAM next year or we move to a 3-4.

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Alshon made up for it though, this is a legit 2nd round steal, he's going to make this O that much better this year. He'll make an instant impact.

Well then there were a lot of first round reaches Ric. You can add Irvin, Ingram and Jones as mid first round picks and Mercilus and Perry later on to the list of guys who aren't expected to play as 3 down players yet either.

Teams went to school on the Giants defensive approach last year of having a deep pass rush rotation and drafted guy high with that specific purpose in mind. None of these guys have all the tools they need to be 3 down players their first year but they're all being expected to add help as far as pass rushers.

It's a different game than it was a decade ago and teams are finding they need to be four deep at DE in order to maintain a great pass rush over a 16 game season and throughout the playoffs. We wore Pep and Izzy out last year with the number of snaps they took. This year will be different and McClellin, Wootton and Ozougwu are gonna be expected to contribute. And they will.

We'll never see a 3-4 defense here as long as Lovie is HC and I have my doubts they'd move McClellin to SLB because we don't blitz from that position. In fact we don't blitz our LBs much at all. I'm not saying we'll never see McClellin at LB but I don't think that happens after just one year.

They've asked him to play light this year so he'll remain a 250lb pass rusher for now. In the offseason if he does some weight room work and they decide to bulk him up to 270lbs or so then maybe he'll be ready to play as 3 down DE but for now I don't see any problems with leaving it as it is and expecting to play the guys sparingly and make some impact plays.

You can't really call him a reach when there were two teams who have a solid rep for drafting very well who were more than willing to draft him if we didn't. We wouldn't have gotten him any lower than we took him. We covered that ground already right after the draft.

"Well, IIRC there were rumors that both GB and NE were giving Shea serious consideration for their first draft pick. GB was picking 28th(?) and NE may well have moved up to 20 in an effort to draft Shea. If 2 of the 3 best drafting teams in the NFL are saying he was worth a late first round pick, then odds are he actually is worth the pick, from a pure talent perspective...."

XaosG, they also run 3-4's and were looking at him for a OLB. You can get situational guys w/later picks, you don't go after a situational guy at 19....and Emery was quoated after the draft that Mc was a 4 down player, so he didn't think he was drafting one either, that is a revisionist history the team has been working since OTA's.

Soul, we were not looking for a situational DE, we were looking for a 4 down 2 side DE, and in that essense Emery Whiffed. Mercelius and many others might have been rotational guys too, but they were still safer picks then an OLB in a 3-4 being drafted for DE in a 4-3.

Originally Posted by Zelezo Vlk

Essentially whomever we would've drafted would certainly not be starting Week 1.

If your not counting the O line your right. If you are Reiff, DeCastro, or Zeitler would most certainly start

Originally Posted by Zelezo Vlk

Ric, if you don't draft a situational guy in the first, then how do you explain Aldon Smith?

Essentially whomever we would've drafted would certainly not be starting Week 1.

Aldron Smith is a starter on the SF depth chart.

http://www.49ers.com/team/depth-chart.html

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

"Well, IIRC there were rumors that both GB and NE were giving Shea serious consideration for their first draft pick. GB was picking 28th(?) and NE may well have moved up to 20 in an effort to draft Shea. If 2 of the 3 best drafting teams in the NFL are saying he was worth a late first round pick, then odds are he actually is worth the pick, from a pure talent perspective...."

Ric, the Pats leapfrogged GB hoping we'd pass on him and when we didn't they took Jones instead who is also nothing more than a situational pass rusher so far. We don't know that GB wasn't also trying to move up to take him but NE beat them to it.

I think what's very clear is that at least NE had him slotted around #20 and we fooled both teams by showing more interest in Jones and Mercilus prior to the draft. My point is simple and NEs action tend to bear that out. He was not seen as a late first round pick but it really makes little difference. He wasn't gonna last until #28 when the Packers picked. Do you think if we'd have traded #19 to them for #28 they would still have taken Perry instead of McClellin?

If you want to see him as a "reach" go ahead but personally I think that's one of the most ridiculous terms ever spoken by Mel Kiper and the rest of the talking heads who devised it. If you like a player better than others and you know he won't be there at your next pick or if you trade down then taking him with the pick you own isn't a "reach". You either take him or you lose him. Do you honestly believe that he would have been worth more as the 25th or 28th pick as opposed to the 19th? That's what you seem to be saying. Come one man.

How about some of the QB's who were drafted in the top 20 these last two drafts when there were higher rated players at other positions? It's not a reach when you need a QB instead of a LB who's rated higher. Why did so many teams pass on DeCastro who was rated the #4 or #5 player overall in the draft. Did they "reach" for the guys they took when the could have drafted DeCastro?

The term "reach" is way too nebulous to be accurate based on anything else but personal taste and opinion.

XaosG, they also run 3-4's and were looking at him for a OLB. You can get situational guys w/later picks, you don't go after a situational guy at 19....and Emery was quoated after the draft that Mc was a 4 down player, so he didn't think he was drafting one either, that is a revisionist history the team has been working since OTA's.

And we took a good football player who we believe can play both LB and DE. I've already shown you that we were not the only team who took a situational pass rusher in the first round. Seattle took 245lb Bruce Irvin before we picked and even in college he'd never been anything but a situational player so you can't say it doesn't happen. Perry is struggling to adapt in GB as a full time OLB.

Man the kid hasn't even played one down of regular season NFL football and here you sit implying he's only a situational guy. He's still a rookie for cryin' out loud. Give him time. When Buddy Ryan was coaching the Bears defense he wouldn't play a rookie period no matter where the kid was drafted. Ditka ordered him to play "Fridge" in his rookie year or he'd have never seen the field and become a legend. Buddy wouldn't play Mike Singletary as a rookie and he was a second round pick.

I watched Dan Hampton play LDE in his rookie year and listened to people say that he was a wasted pick (#4 overall). Why? Because he was drafted as a DT and instead of him and his 255lbs playing DT we had 245lb Jim Osborne and 225lb Alan Page playing there. So what happened eventually? Hampton goes on to make the HOF and played both positions during his career. Christ give the kid a chance will ya'.

Soul, we were not looking for a situational DE, we were looking for a 4 down 2 side DE, and in that essense Emery Whiffed. Mercelius and many others might have been rotational guys too, but they were still safer picks then an OLB in a 3-4 being drafted for DE in a 4-3.

I saw a couple of video shots from the "war room" right after we drafted McClellin and I never noticed you sitting there. Why didn't you wave? They were thrilled to get him.

So you know exactly what was on Emery's mind and the minds of the Bears coaching staff and scouts while they were planning for the draft and just before they took McClellin? If you're that good at reading minds I know how we can make some real money instead of debating this.

First of all defensive players don't play four downs they usually play three. Second, based on what was said following the pick, we were looking for a player who could improve our pass rush primarily from the LDE spot and I believe that's what we got. The fact that he's also been able to rush from the RDE was probably anticipated but not mentioned as the main reason they drafted him. There was also never any talk of his being a 3 down player from day one. All that was said was that he would not be an OLB playing from a two point stance. Lovie and Emery both said he would be playing with his "hand in the dirt", and he has.

Ric this is all about what you think or imagined you heard and not about what Emery or Lovie ever said or intended for McClellin at this point in his career. The kid still has a lot to learn even about being a top pass rusher at this level but he's shown himself to be a very bright and a very hard worker. If you think he should be doing more than he is well than that's your opinion and you're entitled to it but how about phrasing it that way instead of using absolutes like what we were or were not "looking for" or that teams should never draft a "situational player" as high as we drafted him.

If he fails to make an impact as a rookie I'll eat crow for you in January but until then I'm gonna give the kid a chance to see what he can do. The woulda. shoulda, coulda, portion of evaluating the 2012 draft ended months ago. Now it's time to line up whoever we have and win some football games and I think Shea McClellin is gonna help us do that.