How much better are the Bears with the NFL Draft now complete?
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How have the Bears improved after the NFL Draft?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody. We are the best show in this town to have the coach and or quarterback sit right here. Because we're here for a good time. We are here for a good time. We're fun. We're funny. We're serious sometimes. Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we laugh. Like, this is perfect. If you wanted a high chance of a drink spilled all over the studio, we are definitely your people. Middays 10 to 2. Maybe we're the show for you.
On 104.3 The Score.
i think jeff king hit it a couple days ago and that's that's really we're looking for high level competitors guys that if you took football away from they really don't know what to do with themselves it's it's a huge part they eat it they sleep it they breathe it and uh i think we're able to identify those type of guys and when you have guys like that they usually find a way to come out on top
There's another Iceman we can discuss. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. That was Ben Johnson. He and Ryan Poles spoke after the draft on Saturday, and they gave their wrap-up speech. But I want to go back to something that Ryan Poles talked about because he was also available on Friday, and that's been the point of contention, the point of discussion. When we listen to everybody who called in talking about their Bears draft grades, the third round is really where this got... i think debated and that's where the variable came in so here's what ryan poles had to say not only about the third round but about the second round and as to why they didn't end up going with any sort of defensive line help in that particular round right it seemed like defensive line may have been a need coming into this draft a little situation where you guys just didn't view it the same
or if the board just didn't go that way? Yeah, the board, the class, a little life at the back of the round. It's different. But it's really how the board shook out. When we made that turn into two, we had a good sense through our research that that was going to kind of be a hot spot at the very top of two. It wasn't really possible to get up that high without giving up a ton.
What were Ryan Poles' key statements about the draft?
And at the end of the day, we just followed the board.
And as we've mentioned, five edge rushers went among the first 13 picks in that second round. And I feel like that's when the Bears may have seen that market pass them by just based on where their draft picks fell at 25 and then not another one until 57.
I'm definitely okay with the idea that they didn't trade up necessarily, especially in the first round. Because I think, was it you who was saying, take a big shot, go up, get out of the direction?
Yeah, I was like, my thing was that day was, if you're going to trade up in the first round, let's talk about Reuben Bain. Let's talk about one of those top dogs.
And Ruben did fall a little bit. He did. So that is something that they could have considered. But you can't be mad about what they ended up with with the 25th pick in that Dylan Thienem, an area of need, obviously a highly regarded. A guy really with no holes in his game is there, a day one starter. I don't have a problem with that. I just knew the gap. And maybe he knew that, too. And that's why the draft went the way it did.
To give him some credit when it came to the price, too, consider what New England gave up just to get to 55 to get Gabe Akas out of Illinois. Patriots gave up 63rd, 131st, and 202nd. So that's three picks. You know, we've got 63, the fourth round and the sixth round just to get up. So that is a high price. And if Foles didn't think that that was a price the Bears wanted to pay, that also makes sense. I think that the dissonance for me goes back to, okay, that's what you did in the second round. You didn't have to go with a tight end or... a flyer quite literally when you consider his, his four to eight 40 speed and Xavier on Thomas in the third round. And I think that's where this, this gets tricky.
There were defensive players available on the line in that third round, still after the bears picked. Texter at the top, the Bears have glaring need.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
How have the Bears improved after the NFL Draft?
0:01–2:11
2
What were Ryan Poles' key statements about the draft?
2:11–5:06
3
Why did the Bears skip on defensive line help in the draft?
5:06–7:41
4
What are the implications of the Bears' draft strategy?
7:41–11:27
5
How do the Bears' new players compare to last year's roster?
11:27–13:25
Speakers
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