…but if ifs and buts were candy and nuts wouldn’t it be a Merry Christmas.
As previously mentioned, I’m participating in a mock draft with 32 other knowledgable fans. In the first round I took a very talented but less than ideal inside linebacker and middle linebacker of the future C. J. Mosley. I was hoping to do better in round 2.
Here’s how the first 2 rounds shaped up before the Bears second round pick:
FISRT ROUND
| Houston Texans | Jadeveon Clowney, OLB/DE, South Carolina |
| St. Louis Rams (from Washington Redskins) | Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Khalil Mack, OLB, Buffalo |
| Cleveland Browns | Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn |
| Oakland Raiders | Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M |
| Atlanta Falcons | Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M |
| Minnesota Vikings | Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh |
| Buffalo Bills | Eric Ebron, TE, UNC |
| Detroit Lions | Anthony Barr, DE/OLB, UCLA |
| ***TRADE*** St. Louis Rams (from Tennessee Titans) | Hasean Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama |
| New York Giants | Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M |
| ***TRADE*** Tennessee Titans (from St. Louis Rams) | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville |
| Chicago Bears | C. J. Mosley, LB, Alabama |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Morgan Moses, OT, Virginia |
| ***TRADE*** Arizona Cardinals (from Dallas Cowboys) | Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville |
| Baltimore Ravens | Zack Martin, OL, Notre Dame |
| New York Jets | Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State |
| Miami Dolphins | Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State |
| ***TRADE*** Dallas Cowboys (from Arizona Cardinals) | Timmy Jernigan, DT, Florida State |
| Green Bay Packers | Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, Washington |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State |
| ***TRADE*** Cleveland Browns (from Kansas City Chiefs) | Marqise Lee, WR, USC |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Jason Verrett, CB, TCU |
| San Diego Chargers | Louis Nix III, NT, Notre Dame |
| Cleveland Browns (from Indianapolis Colts) | Blake Bortles, QB, UCF |
| ***TRADE*** Kansas City Chiefs (from New Orleans Saints) | Odell Beckham Jr., WR, LSU |
| Carolina Panthers | Cyrus Kouandjio, OT, Alabama |
| New England Patriots | Dee Ford, DE/OLB, Auburn |
| San Francisco 49ers | Kyle Fuller, CB Virginia Tech |
| Denver Broncos | Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State |
| Seattle Seahawks | Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State |
SECOND ROUND
| Houston Texans | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno St. |
| Washington Redskins | Shayne Skov, ILB, Stanford |
| ***TRADE*** New Orleans Saints (from KC via Cleveland) | Kyle Van Noy, OLB, BYU |
| Oakland Raiders | Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State |
| Atlanta Falcons | Jeremiah Attaochu, DE, Georgia Tech |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Xavier Su’a-Filo, OG, UCLA |
| Minnesota Vikings | Jimmie Ward, S, Northern Illinois |
| Buffalo Bills | Joel Bitonio, OT, Nevada |
| Tennessee Titans | Chris Borland, ILB, Wisconsin |
| New York Giants | David Yankey, OG, Stanford |
| St. Louis Rams | Ra’Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota |
| Detroit Lions | Davante Adams, WR, Fresno State |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Allen Robinson, WR, Penn Stete |
| Dallas Cowboys | Cody Latimer, WR, Indiana |
| Baltimore Ravens | Troy Niklas, TE, Notre Dame |
| New York Jets | Jace Amaro, TE, Texas Tech |
| Miami Dolphins | Gabe Jackson, G, Mississippi State |
Top players left on my board were:
Carlos Hyde, RB, Ohio State
Corey Latimer, WR, Indiana
Cyrus Kouandjio, OT , Alabama
Deone Bucannon, S, Washington State
Stan Jean-Baptiste, CB , Nebraska
Taking any of the first three was never a serious consideration. I only include them in the list because it demonstrates something I noticed through out this entire process. The offensive talent is unbelievable in this draft. I could have had my pick of any one of multiple players at any point from the first round on that would help a lot of teams.
Unfortunately the Bears need help on defense and that is, of course, where I went with this pick. At this point the Bears still needed a safety and a defensive tackle badly. Not taking one of those here would mean that it would be unlikely that I’d come away with a starter at either or both of those positions and the draft would have been an abject failure. Furthermore, if I passed on Bucannon, I wasn’t going to see another safety that looked like he was even close to a starter. In my opinion it was basically Bucannon or nobody and I “ran to the podium” to take him. He was a good value here.
Having said that, he, also, is not ideal. I had recently acquired safety Ryan Mundy penciled in as the starter at strong safety before this but he’d almost certainly move to free safety, a position which he’s played extensively in the past, with this pick. Bucannon would start with a floor as a good strong safety but the hope is that many of the scouts are wrong and that he can be as interchangeable as Mundy is. As I understand it from Bears general manager Phil Emery, versatility is the name of the game in the new Bears defense. This guy won’t be a bust but he’s only going to fit in with that philosophy if he shows he can cover receivers. Time will tell.
It’s a shame I couldn’t take an offensive player this high. I could think about it next round but defensive tackle is still a serious need. And suicides are supposed to be more common at Christmas anyway.