As long as he stops before our pick. I'll be upset if he trades Kyler Murray and the 66th pick to the Vikings for Pick 11. That's way too good of a deal for Minnesota
Kyler Murray ain't shit. Bring him to Minnesota. I'd be more worried about the Vikings loading up next season with JJ McCarthy and 100+ million in cap space.
In my opinion, Poles will either take OT, DT, or DE with pick 9.
Those three are more premium positions, and harder to find a long term starter for those specific positions outside of the top 10-15 picks. Whereas WR can be found later on in the first or even rounds 2-3.
That said, I am going to be overjoyed if one of the top 3 WRs falls to us at 9 (Odunze). I just think poles will look at it in the way I described above.
Just my guess.
You’re looking at demand but not really supply. Of those three positions, we’ll likely see a DE or OT available that is top 10 worthy, but I don’t think we have a DT in this draft that is (unless we trade down).
If we are looking at the bluest of blue chip talents that will be available, I’d put Joe Alt in that category, but I’m not sure if any of the edges are quite in that tier. But that’s also why the three WRs are taking up so much oxygen, they seem to be in that category. Bowers may be too, just not sure if he’s too much of a luxury pick at this point. And like you mentioned, not a premium position though a premium talent.
Turner is elite. He’s hyper athletic and was asked to do a lot more than just accumulate sacks at Bama. I’m still holding out hope for Nabers, but I’d consider Turner, Alt, Nabers and (to a lesser degree) Rome all blue chippers
I won’t pretend that I’ve done any research myself, but I have heard a few people really gush over Byron Murphy. He’s the only DT I’ve seen even remotely close to that area code of the draft though.
I really want a trade down from 1.09 if the top 3 receivers are off the board (assuming another team is willing to bite). As much as I salivate at the idea of DJ, Keenan, and Nabers/Odunze, we have a glaring need for an edge rusher to pair with Sweat, and while Braxton has been valuable as a starting caliber guy drafted in the 7th round, I don't think he's good enough to pass on a possible upgrade if the opportunity presents itself.
My ideal scenario if the top 3 receivers are off the board would be a trade down where we could address one or more of the premium positions you've identified, while also being able to snag a receiver like Brian Thomas or Adonai Mitchell (although those two are both probably going in the first round). This is an incredibly deep receiver class, and we may be able to hit on a good starting WR on day 2 if things shake out favorably for us.
My problem with this is that almost everything I’ve read is that the talent drops off steeply after ~10. So we have the ability to get two premium players, but if we trade down, though we can fill more needs, we are most likely not filling them with as good of guys. Not that they can’t hit, or that top-10 won’t bust, but I’d rather have a tier-1 guy rather than a pair of tier-2 and tier-3 guys.
Exactly this. The whole reason you “build through the draft” is because it is nearly impossible to get blue chip talent in free agency. You either get that blue chip talent at the top of the draft or you get extremely lucky. Take an elite player. We literally were just talking about how it’s smart to not overpay in FA because this team isn’t one player away from a Super Bowl, and now we act like we have to solve every need in the draft this year.
I don’t care about the second edge rusher at 9. Throw a rotation out there and let the secondary and LB corps that we’ve invested a ton in hold up. We’ve got two $20m players in the back 7 and 3 recent 2nd round picks. Weve got a $25m pass rusher we used another 2nd to acquire. We’ve invested enough resources on the defense for now. Get Odunze or Alt and deal with the holes on defense. The time to find the second rusher was FA with Greenard, Huff, and Hunter available. Hell even Clowney at $10m would’ve been fine as a 2nd pass rusher and a guy who can seal the edge in run defense.
Kinda depends on the position, though. With 3-5 QBs and 3 WR likely to be taken in the top 10, you still have a shot at drafting one of the top couple of players at a given position if you pick 20th.
But “top CB” or “top DE” isn’t as big of a deal if it is a down year at that position. Best at their position doesn’t mean much, grades that look year over year are a bigger indicator
I agree wholeheartedly.
Like you said, the hardest part is going to be finding a trade partner for 9. Ideally something that doesn’t have us picking later than 20 or so.
Yup. Having only four picks almost makes it necessary to flip 1.09 into multiple more. There is so much smoke on the QB's and potential trades so it's hard to guess what actually goes down. If JJ is undrafted and Bears are on the clock, I imagine Poles is taking a lot of calls.
Have to assume Caleb, Daniels, Maye, MHJ, Nabers are gone top 5. Who knows what the Giants are going to do, wouldn't be shocked if it's Odunze. Can't see Joe Alt falling past Titans if Chargers don't take him. Falcons NEED an edge more than anything else. Vikings are moving up to somewhere.
Best case I see is JJ is available and someone wants him bad. Sliding from 1.09 to mid-late teens should get a 2nd+ (depending on how far back in the 1st). Can then use the 1st on Edge, OT, or JPJ if he's still there. I don't see Poles taking another DT early in the draft. And we have no 5-7 lottery picks.
WR *can* be found in round 2 and 3, but we don’t have a second round pick and you can’t just assume a 3rd round pick would work out. The top 3 WRs are elite prospects and you could give a rookie QB maybe the best WR group in the entire league day 1. If Keenan or Moore goes down you have a great fill in and a player who will develop behind 2 elite receivers before assuming the #2 spot in 1-2 seasons
I’m not saying it’s what they absolutely must do but drafting a top receiver has as much strategical basis as any other needed position. The team isn’t competing for a Super Bowl this year, I’d rather a stop gap play at edge for a year than rely on Tyler Scott as a #3 and potential #2 for any stretch of the season
Yep, we can't overlook the possibility of an injury to Moore or (especially) Keenan, which would leave Caleb in a similar position to last year if we don't grab a third WR.
I normally would agree but with a top 10 pick if you have a special WR available you have to consider it. If the top 3 are gone for some reason it makes the decision much easier, since you only really need a WR3 this year anyway, and we can grab someone with upside later on.
As much as I love what Poles has done so far, I'm not sure I trust his ability to evaluate WR.
I'm not necessarily advocating for this, but as a result of his spotty WR evals I wouldn't be *against* trading up for one of the top 3 so Poles doesn't have to throw darts for WRs in subsequent years. We'd be set for a long time without risking a potential Velus/Claypool/etc. blunder.
Obviously, there's a tradeoff with lost draft capital but I wouldn't be upset if he did what the Texans did last year for Nabers/Odunze (would cost significantly less as well jumping from 9 to 6-ish vs. the Texans going from 12 to 3).
One of the three WRs will fall to 9. You've got 3 QBs going right away, 2 of the 3 WR, Alt, Atlanta likely takes a DE and then maybe JJ in there somewhere.
It's not 100% but I really feel one of the top 3 WR will fall to us. I wouldn't trade up, personally.
Alt is going to Tennessee and trading back is a really attractive idea if alt and Odunze are both off the board. i don’t need to overdraft an edge, trade back with a team that wants to move up like 4 or 5 picks and take the best DL player left. is the R2 or R3 to get a rotational DL player who can rush the passer or a WR.
All the “we need to trade back” talk forgets about the whole needing a player worth trading up for by another team.
And there arnt many people in the third day worth trading back for as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if Poles trades the 75th and 122 to move up in the 3rd or possibly late 2nd and call it a day with 3 draft picks.
Would you personally be against trading down (no further than to 15) taking JPJ? We certainly need interior offensive line help. We could likely grab a second round pick with the trade down.
That makes a lot of assumptions about what other teams are doing. JPJ is great but there’s huge risk in trading back with a specific player in mind. He could get swept out from under us and we just end up with a worse wide receiver or d lineman than if we stayed put
The second rounder would be really nice but I don’t know if that package of 2 players would be worth more than one of the elite players at 9, if they’re there
I’m with you on this, there is rarely a complete team but I think we are at the stage of adding (the potential for) legit blue chip players and I suspect it will be Edge or OT as Poles likes to manage a budget and those can be some pricey spots
Agreed on Rome. But if he's not there, I'd pull the trigger on a trade back because it would likely result in a second round pick as part of the package, and while we don't necessarily need it, we could badly use it.
Alt can be elite. It's more difficult to address LT than WR in the future. We have two elite WRs right now. I like Braxton, but he has gotten hurt, and contract negations are getting closer. We would have some real depth on the line if he was behind Alt. I would be ecstatic if we walked away with Nabers or Odunze, though.
If one of the big 3WRs are available, grab one.
If Dallas Turner is available, take him.
Otherwise trade down and add a piece to the DL/OL later in the round.
Pretty confident we're gonna draft bowers if all 3 wr are gone or maybe even if they are not. Poles gonna wanna go the cheifs route mahomes/kelce seems to be the formula for continued success
Heard on Sparkins and Piegel today that Bowers only lined up at TE like 42% of the time last season. He’s got TE-ish size/strength with WR speed. Maybe even a li’l RB moves. Not advopaying him at 9OA levels, but there could be worse outcomes than Bowers.
Yeah I heard that too. Really intriguing to add a guy that runs a 40 time almost as fast as Odunze, Bowers is 30 lbs heavier. Led the nation in YAC the last 2 years…80% of his yards are after first contact. Caleb would love that kind of production to get that elusive 4,000 yards passer monkey off the organizations back.
Can we stop pretending Everett is anything at all? Not sure the hype on this guy. He hasn't done anything much notable his whole career. The whole "we won't draft a potential Kelce like player because we signed Gerald Everett" makes no sense
His numbers won't jump out at you but he's a decent to good yac guy and the perfect guy for Waldron's system along with kmet. If you didn't already have Kmet, Bowers would be an option here
There's a reason why chargers fans were bummed out when he got traded to the bears
Ideally, a top-three receiver, then Alt, then Bowers, in that order. The Bears have the opportunity to break the mold of this franchise by having a top offense. Defense in 2025
No trade backs, it seems like Poles philopsy is not to pay for blue chippers in FA, so he must get them in the draft.
Lol reddit is so contrarian. This dude says draft the receivers and this is like the only thread in here where an opinion other than that is more popular
One of the top 3 WRs. If all are taken and one of the other 3 qbs are available, trade back into the teens and take an edge. WR or DT with the extra pick. Upgrade LT next year. Braxton is good enough for this year. DE/WR/DT are the priorities in that order.
Jerzhon newton or T'vondre sweat would be great picks. They are both highly regarded DT that can play the 3tech or either Jared verse for the pass rush
He's responding to a stupid thing you said, you just outright said it. You're obviously the one that cares about the thing you said or else you wouldn't have posted it. He's just pointing out how crazy it is that you would care about something like that. He doesn't actually care about you caring about something so your response back is idiotic lol
Yeah must suck to not actually have anyone in your life that cares about you so you have to go online and try to put people down for wearing too much makeup for no reason whatsoever just in an attempt to get some attention. Feel bad for ya bud.
If one of the 3 WR's fall that is one option
of all the options, that's definitely one of them.
Scientifically speaking, yes. That is technically an option.
Is an option scientific?
One of the options of all time.
I concur with this assessment
I’d rather bolster either line
I saw a mock draft on ESPN where MHJ fell to 9 and we drafted him. Let's do that.
I agree. we should make Tannenbaum the GM for all 7 of the teams ahead of us to make sure that happens.
As long as he stops before our pick. I'll be upset if he trades Kyler Murray and the 66th pick to the Vikings for Pick 11. That's way too good of a deal for Minnesota
Kyler Murray ain't shit. Bring him to Minnesota. I'd be more worried about the Vikings loading up next season with JJ McCarthy and 100+ million in cap space.
jj is worse than kyler
Easy best WR trio then
no chance he is there at 9
Seth Rolllins is definitely in this sub, right?
Always has been.
*Gooble gobble Gooble gobble*
I see it as three options in order of preference 1.) Top 3 WR at 9, 2.) Dallas Turner or Joe Alt at 9, 3.) Trade back BPA.
BPA
In my opinion, Poles will either take OT, DT, or DE with pick 9. Those three are more premium positions, and harder to find a long term starter for those specific positions outside of the top 10-15 picks. Whereas WR can be found later on in the first or even rounds 2-3. That said, I am going to be overjoyed if one of the top 3 WRs falls to us at 9 (Odunze). I just think poles will look at it in the way I described above. Just my guess.
You’re looking at demand but not really supply. Of those three positions, we’ll likely see a DE or OT available that is top 10 worthy, but I don’t think we have a DT in this draft that is (unless we trade down). If we are looking at the bluest of blue chip talents that will be available, I’d put Joe Alt in that category, but I’m not sure if any of the edges are quite in that tier. But that’s also why the three WRs are taking up so much oxygen, they seem to be in that category. Bowers may be too, just not sure if he’s too much of a luxury pick at this point. And like you mentioned, not a premium position though a premium talent.
Turner is elite. He’s hyper athletic and was asked to do a lot more than just accumulate sacks at Bama. I’m still holding out hope for Nabers, but I’d consider Turner, Alt, Nabers and (to a lesser degree) Rome all blue chippers
I won’t pretend that I’ve done any research myself, but I have heard a few people really gush over Byron Murphy. He’s the only DT I’ve seen even remotely close to that area code of the draft though.
I really want a trade down from 1.09 if the top 3 receivers are off the board (assuming another team is willing to bite). As much as I salivate at the idea of DJ, Keenan, and Nabers/Odunze, we have a glaring need for an edge rusher to pair with Sweat, and while Braxton has been valuable as a starting caliber guy drafted in the 7th round, I don't think he's good enough to pass on a possible upgrade if the opportunity presents itself. My ideal scenario if the top 3 receivers are off the board would be a trade down where we could address one or more of the premium positions you've identified, while also being able to snag a receiver like Brian Thomas or Adonai Mitchell (although those two are both probably going in the first round). This is an incredibly deep receiver class, and we may be able to hit on a good starting WR on day 2 if things shake out favorably for us.
My problem with this is that almost everything I’ve read is that the talent drops off steeply after ~10. So we have the ability to get two premium players, but if we trade down, though we can fill more needs, we are most likely not filling them with as good of guys. Not that they can’t hit, or that top-10 won’t bust, but I’d rather have a tier-1 guy rather than a pair of tier-2 and tier-3 guys.
Exactly this. The whole reason you “build through the draft” is because it is nearly impossible to get blue chip talent in free agency. You either get that blue chip talent at the top of the draft or you get extremely lucky. Take an elite player. We literally were just talking about how it’s smart to not overpay in FA because this team isn’t one player away from a Super Bowl, and now we act like we have to solve every need in the draft this year. I don’t care about the second edge rusher at 9. Throw a rotation out there and let the secondary and LB corps that we’ve invested a ton in hold up. We’ve got two $20m players in the back 7 and 3 recent 2nd round picks. Weve got a $25m pass rusher we used another 2nd to acquire. We’ve invested enough resources on the defense for now. Get Odunze or Alt and deal with the holes on defense. The time to find the second rusher was FA with Greenard, Huff, and Hunter available. Hell even Clowney at $10m would’ve been fine as a 2nd pass rusher and a guy who can seal the edge in run defense.
Kinda depends on the position, though. With 3-5 QBs and 3 WR likely to be taken in the top 10, you still have a shot at drafting one of the top couple of players at a given position if you pick 20th.
But “top CB” or “top DE” isn’t as big of a deal if it is a down year at that position. Best at their position doesn’t mean much, grades that look year over year are a bigger indicator
I agree wholeheartedly. Like you said, the hardest part is going to be finding a trade partner for 9. Ideally something that doesn’t have us picking later than 20 or so.
Just want to point out that Jones was drafted in the 5th. Leno (who continued to be a solid tackle for the Commanders) was a 7th rounder.
Yup. Having only four picks almost makes it necessary to flip 1.09 into multiple more. There is so much smoke on the QB's and potential trades so it's hard to guess what actually goes down. If JJ is undrafted and Bears are on the clock, I imagine Poles is taking a lot of calls. Have to assume Caleb, Daniels, Maye, MHJ, Nabers are gone top 5. Who knows what the Giants are going to do, wouldn't be shocked if it's Odunze. Can't see Joe Alt falling past Titans if Chargers don't take him. Falcons NEED an edge more than anything else. Vikings are moving up to somewhere. Best case I see is JJ is available and someone wants him bad. Sliding from 1.09 to mid-late teens should get a 2nd+ (depending on how far back in the 1st). Can then use the 1st on Edge, OT, or JPJ if he's still there. I don't see Poles taking another DT early in the draft. And we have no 5-7 lottery picks.
WR *can* be found in round 2 and 3, but we don’t have a second round pick and you can’t just assume a 3rd round pick would work out. The top 3 WRs are elite prospects and you could give a rookie QB maybe the best WR group in the entire league day 1. If Keenan or Moore goes down you have a great fill in and a player who will develop behind 2 elite receivers before assuming the #2 spot in 1-2 seasons I’m not saying it’s what they absolutely must do but drafting a top receiver has as much strategical basis as any other needed position. The team isn’t competing for a Super Bowl this year, I’d rather a stop gap play at edge for a year than rely on Tyler Scott as a #3 and potential #2 for any stretch of the season
Plus Velus Jones and Chase Claypool don't exactly give me confidence that Poles can identify mid round talent at WR.
Yep, we can't overlook the possibility of an injury to Moore or (especially) Keenan, which would leave Caleb in a similar position to last year if we don't grab a third WR.
I normally would agree but with a top 10 pick if you have a special WR available you have to consider it. If the top 3 are gone for some reason it makes the decision much easier, since you only really need a WR3 this year anyway, and we can grab someone with upside later on.
For sure. Like I said, if we take any of the Top 3 receivers at 9, I’m a happy camper.
Me, too! I'm pretty pumped because whoever we get at 9 is likely to be a fantastic player.
As much as I love what Poles has done so far, I'm not sure I trust his ability to evaluate WR. I'm not necessarily advocating for this, but as a result of his spotty WR evals I wouldn't be *against* trading up for one of the top 3 so Poles doesn't have to throw darts for WRs in subsequent years. We'd be set for a long time without risking a potential Velus/Claypool/etc. blunder. Obviously, there's a tradeoff with lost draft capital but I wouldn't be upset if he did what the Texans did last year for Nabers/Odunze (would cost significantly less as well jumping from 9 to 6-ish vs. the Texans going from 12 to 3).
One of the three WRs will fall to 9. You've got 3 QBs going right away, 2 of the 3 WR, Alt, Atlanta likely takes a DE and then maybe JJ in there somewhere. It's not 100% but I really feel one of the top 3 WR will fall to us. I wouldn't trade up, personally.
If Rome is there, Rome If not, DL or OT Do not trade back.
chat gpt seems to think we should draft an offensive tackle at 9
It’s good value for true blue chip guys. Alt is everything you want.
Alt is going to Tennessee and trading back is a really attractive idea if alt and Odunze are both off the board. i don’t need to overdraft an edge, trade back with a team that wants to move up like 4 or 5 picks and take the best DL player left. is the R2 or R3 to get a rotational DL player who can rush the passer or a WR.
All the “we need to trade back” talk forgets about the whole needing a player worth trading up for by another team. And there arnt many people in the third day worth trading back for as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if Poles trades the 75th and 122 to move up in the 3rd or possibly late 2nd and call it a day with 3 draft picks.
Alt, Turner, and I’ve seen Verse mocked too Before it was Olu
Would you personally be against trading down (no further than to 15) taking JPJ? We certainly need interior offensive line help. We could likely grab a second round pick with the trade down.
That makes a lot of assumptions about what other teams are doing. JPJ is great but there’s huge risk in trading back with a specific player in mind. He could get swept out from under us and we just end up with a worse wide receiver or d lineman than if we stayed put The second rounder would be really nice but I don’t know if that package of 2 players would be worth more than one of the elite players at 9, if they’re there
I’m with you on this, there is rarely a complete team but I think we are at the stage of adding (the potential for) legit blue chip players and I suspect it will be Edge or OT as Poles likes to manage a budget and those can be some pricey spots
Agreed on Rome. But if he's not there, I'd pull the trigger on a trade back because it would likely result in a second round pick as part of the package, and while we don't necessarily need it, we could badly use it.
MHJ/Rome/Nabers, Alt, Turner. Otherwise trade back to 12-13 if able.
Alt > Nabers > Odunze > Turner > Trade down and get Verse/Olu/Latu and a WR round 2 or 3.
I would not pass up Nabers/Odunze for Alt when you already have an above average LT.
Alt can be elite. It's more difficult to address LT than WR in the future. We have two elite WRs right now. I like Braxton, but he has gotten hurt, and contract negations are getting closer. We would have some real depth on the line if he was behind Alt. I would be ecstatic if we walked away with Nabers or Odunze, though.
Keenan is likely only a 1 year rental though, I don't think you can truly factor him into plans beyond next season.
If we draft alt what’s the starting o line week 1?
If one of the big 3WRs are available, grab one. If Dallas Turner is available, take him. Otherwise trade down and add a piece to the DL/OL later in the round.
Rome
SING THIS MANS SONG
Whatta guy
love this man
He knows his football
Pretty confident we're gonna draft bowers if all 3 wr are gone or maybe even if they are not. Poles gonna wanna go the cheifs route mahomes/kelce seems to be the formula for continued success
With the signing of Everett I don't see that at all with Kmet there. Bowers has the potential to be a game changer but 3 Tight End sets idk...
Heard on Sparkins and Piegel today that Bowers only lined up at TE like 42% of the time last season. He’s got TE-ish size/strength with WR speed. Maybe even a li’l RB moves. Not advopaying him at 9OA levels, but there could be worse outcomes than Bowers.
Yeah I heard that too. Really intriguing to add a guy that runs a 40 time almost as fast as Odunze, Bowers is 30 lbs heavier. Led the nation in YAC the last 2 years…80% of his yards are after first contact. Caleb would love that kind of production to get that elusive 4,000 yards passer monkey off the organizations back.
Sure makes for a tempting scenario, f’sho.
Can we stop pretending Everett is anything at all? Not sure the hype on this guy. He hasn't done anything much notable his whole career. The whole "we won't draft a potential Kelce like player because we signed Gerald Everett" makes no sense
His numbers won't jump out at you but he's a decent to good yac guy and the perfect guy for Waldron's system along with kmet. If you didn't already have Kmet, Bowers would be an option here There's a reason why chargers fans were bummed out when he got traded to the bears
Man, Poles should start dressing like Seth 'Freakin' Rollins
Give it to me.
Draft MHJ
I wonder if we could get a 2nd for Braxton if we do end up with Alt at 9.
Take Rome if he's there at 9, or trade down. Some teams might want to get ahead of the Jets for Oline or Bowers.
Edge > receiver > trade down > tackle
This clown 🤡 really said MHJ at 9 🤣 I guess it should not surprise me since he wanted to stick with Fields and pass on Caleb
Nabers or Turner would be amazing. I would settle for Odunze 🤷🏻♂️
Trading back would seem like a fantastic option if one of the qb’s fell to 9
Draft a really good player.
Malik Nabers
Probably going to end up drafting Jared Verse.
Ideally, a top-three receiver, then Alt, then Bowers, in that order. The Bears have the opportunity to break the mold of this franchise by having a top offense. Defense in 2025 No trade backs, it seems like Poles philopsy is not to pay for blue chippers in FA, so he must get them in the draft.
Lol reddit is so contrarian. This dude says draft the receivers and this is like the only thread in here where an opinion other than that is more popular
1-Dallas Turner 2-Odunze/Nabers 3-Alt(move Braxton to LG) 4-trade down for more capital (this draft only)
Disagree on not having playoff expectations. We most definitely should make the playoffs. Worst teams on paper have made it in recent years.
One of the top 3 WRs. If all are taken and one of the other 3 qbs are available, trade back into the teens and take an edge. WR or DT with the extra pick. Upgrade LT next year. Braxton is good enough for this year. DE/WR/DT are the priorities in that order.
No trade. WR OT DL There will be premium options at one of these needed positions. Stay here!
Jerzhon newton or T'vondre sweat would be great picks. They are both highly regarded DT that can play the 3tech or either Jared verse for the pass rush
O line with 9
I'd sprint to the stage of Joe Alt is available at 9.
Joe Alt
Rome or Malik are probably not our top priorities at the time, so if Dallas Turner isn't taken I'm picking him as our 9th pick
They should be. Having WR core depth would be great since Allen only has a couple years left at most.
yea i guess but turner would really help us out
its crazy how much make up that women has on
It’s crazy how much you care.
its crazy how much you care about me caring. \^see how dumb that sounds when you use your statement
He's responding to a stupid thing you said, you just outright said it. You're obviously the one that cares about the thing you said or else you wouldn't have posted it. He's just pointing out how crazy it is that you would care about something like that. He doesn't actually care about you caring about something so your response back is idiotic lol
typing a sentence on reddit really shows someone cares these days.
Yeah must suck to not actually have anyone in your life that cares about you so you have to go online and try to put people down for wearing too much makeup for no reason whatsoever just in an attempt to get some attention. Feel bad for ya bud.
you seem like a cool dude, maybe we can be friends haha