'18 Draft Ranked after Year 1

Not another NFCN team until 15. Rams rank dead last, even with 11 picks in the bottom 5 rounds.

RANK

3

CHICAGO BEARS: A-
Round 1: (8) Roquan Smith, LB, 16 games/14 starts.
Round 2: (39) James Daniels, OG/C, 16 games/10 starts; (51) Anthony Miller, WR, 15 games/4 starts.
Round 4: (115) Joel Iyiegbuniwe, LB, 16 games/0 starts.
Round 5: (145) Bilal Nichols, DT, 14 games/6 starts.
Round 6: (181) Kylie Fitts, DE, 6 games/0 starts.
Round 7: (224) Javon Wims, WR, 4 games/0 starts.
Notable rookie FA signings: Kevin Toliver, DB, 15 games/1 start.

Few clubs reaped a better haul from the first two rounds of the 2018 draft than Chicago. After sweating out a testy and lengthy holdout with Smith over some restrictive contract language, the two sides made up and wreaked havoc on the NFC. Smith completed a nasty linebacking corps featuring Danny Trevathan and edge rushers Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd, leading the team in tackles (121) and making himself an obvious PFWA All-Rookie honoree. Drafted as a center, Daniels filled in at guard for Eric Kush and started from Week 8 on, holding his own against the likes of Sheldon Richardson and Aaron Donald down the stretch. Miller proved a key part of Chicago's revamped receiving corps, leading the team in touchdown receptions (seven) and TD percentage (21.2). A favorite of Mitchell Trubisky's, Miller should be a starter alongside Allen Robinson in 2019. That trio alone makes this class one of the year's best, regardless of the additions that came afterward. Nichols was the only rookie from the last five rounds to stand out in his first season, racking up as many sacks (three) as interior linemates Roy Robertson-Harris and Eddie Goldman, despite playing fewer defensive snaps than either player.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-report-card-ranking-each-teams-class-1-to-32

Repeat:

I am still not sold on Anthony Miller. He has potential but is still a work in progress, IMO. Yeah 7 TDs (and the article doubles-down by saying Miller 'also' led the team in TD percentage, even though Bradley Sowell was at 100%!), but I think its a stretch to call Miller a "favorite" of Trubisky's...I would put him behind Arob, Gabriel, Cohen & Burton in terms of "favorites", then after Miller you are getting into Josh Bellamy territory, so it really isn't saying much.

Trubisky seemed to struggle finding Anthony Miller, and I recall him overthrowing him too.

Antman could just as easily had 9 or 10 TDs.

Rory Sparrow said:

Repeat:

I am still not sold on Anthony Miller. He has potential but is still a work in progress, IMO. Yeah 7 TDs (and the article doubles-down by saying Miller 'also' led the team in TD percentage, even though Bradley Sowell was at 100%!), but I think its a stretch to call Miller a "favorite" of Trubisky's...I would put him behind Arob, Gabriel, Cohen & Burton in terms of "favorites", then after Miller you are getting into Josh Bellamy territory, so it really isn't saying much.

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Part of the reason why some of us don't think some of our WR's played well enough is because of how much Nagy spreads the ball around. I'm all for spreading the ball around but i think Nagy does it too damn much and think if he focused on using just our top 3 in Gabriel, ARob and A.Miller then we would see better stats from all of them. He used T.Gabriel a lot in ways he really wasn't being used anywhere else he played where he was really just used as that long ball WR like D.Jackson has always been used. A.Miller had a lot of trouble with that shoulder all season long as well. Once he hurt it early in the season he really kept hurting it the rest of the year so that injury had a lot to do with his stats as well and Trubisky definitely could of been better which also would of helped.

dabears70 said:

Part of the reason why some of us don't think some of our WR's played well enough is because of how much Nagy spreads the ball around. I'm all for spreading the ball around but i think Nagy does it too damn much and think if he focused on using just our top 3 in Gabriel, ARob and A.Miller then we would see better stats from all of them. He used T.Gabriel a lot in ways he really wasn't being used anywhere else he played where he was really just used as that long ball WR like D.Jackson has always been used. A.Miller had a lot of trouble with that shoulder all season long as well. Once he hurt it early in the season he really kept hurting it the rest of the year so that injury had a lot to do with his stats as well and Trubisky definitely could of been better which also would of helped.

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I thought we debunked the "spreading the ball around too much" excuse as a myth. Our WRs had plenty of targets...at least I thought. Or was it that they weren't getting separation?

Nichols was a damn steal. And Smith was every bit as good as the hype. As far as miller goes if you consider games missed and looking at other wrs in this system playing his spot he didn’t do bad plus most wrs take long time to develop. Daniels was learning a new position not sure if he ever had experience outside of center. Plus he is young af playing against the big boys.

Pretty solid draft I really can’t see a complaint to be made.

I hope to see some contributions from Wims next year. He can play at the NFL level based on what I’ve seen.

Rory Sparrow said:

Repeat:

I am still not sold on Anthony Miller. He has potential but is still a work in progress, IMO. Yeah 7 TDs (and the article doubles-down by saying Miller 'also' led the team in TD percentage, even though Bradley Sowell was at 100%!), but I think its a stretch to call Miller a "favorite" of Trubisky's...I would put him behind Arob, Gabriel, Cohen & Burton in terms of "favorites", then after Miller you are getting into Josh Bellamy territory, so it really isn't saying much.

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I think he'll be good but the Steve Smith compares were over the top. The attitude and change of direction are there but he's SS lite. Smith was faster stronger and more dynamic/athletic. Helps a lot when your that short.

Surprised, not one post about Ballard yet :clap::clap::clap::clap:

halftime said:

Trubisky seemed to struggle finding Anthony Miller, and I recall him overthrowing him too.

Antman could just as easily had 9 or 10 TDs.

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Who didn't Trubisky overthrow?

halftime said:

Trubisky seemed to struggle finding Anthony Miller, and I recall him overthrowing him too.

Antman could just as easily had 9 or 10 TDs.

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Agreed, but it goes both ways. Miller struggled hitting his spot causing over throws as well. The good news is, I saw him open waaay more than I’ve seen any Bears WR in a loooong time. He could blow up next year.

Smith, Daniels, Miller and Nichols is a solid haul. Not so sure that the Bears shouldn't be ranked higher than the Browns.

Teams that have more draft picks, especially day 1-2 picks, should have better drafts. % of picks that make a significant contribution, especially with lower rd. picks, seems like a better way to compare who had the best draft.

Bears did good in that respect as well. And after next season if a guy like Wims performs, it will look even better. Iggy, Fitts, and Tolliver may perform too.

I think Wims and Tolliver can play as well.

If you can get 2 guys who can actually play out of the 7th round/UDFA that is a big plus.

Iggy led the Bears in solo special teams tackles this season.

I am not sure what he is on defense but he can cover kicks.

Just about every single one of those guys contributed and made some kind of impact. I'd like to see more of Wims next year. Who knows if fitts will ever do anything..

HawkBear said:

Smith, Daniels, Miller and Nichols is a solid haul. Not so sure that the Bears shouldn't be ranked higher than the Browns.

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Mayfield looking like the real deal weighs heavily in that. If your draft is better than anyone that drafted behind you, you did very well. That said, it's too early to grade these drafts.

halftime said:

Trubisky seemed to struggle finding Anthony Miller, and I recall him overthrowing him too.

Antman could just as easily had 9 or 10 TDs.

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Did you forget that Miller has drawn the ire of Nagy since training camp for going off script too much on his routes? Miller far too often cares more about getting open than running the route he was supposed to. That is fantastic for a wide receiver when the play breaks down and Trubisky is going off script scrambling but its complete shit when Mitch is throwing where he is expecting Miller to be. Blame goes both ways there chief.