My final verdict on Danny Shelton

BearsFan51 said:

I'd be happy with plenty of players most of which I've covered on here. Ray, Beasley, Dupree, Cooper, White, Scherff, Waynes, and Williams.

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I agree with all those except Ray. If Beasley, Williams and both receivers are gone, Waynes or Scherff would be a great pick.

didshereallysaythat said:

I agree with all those except Ray. If Beasley, Williams and both receivers are gone, Waynes or Scherff would be a great pick.

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Ray is very similar to Shelton to me.

Great tape and production, but does not check the physical boxes. Both could very easily be good players, but neither at 7 excites me.

Damn, didn't want Shelton, now do, just to see the BF51 rage posts.

I like Shelton, and if Fangio can fix his pad level issues then we would have a star on the DL. We have all looked over every player at the top of this draft enough times to have our favorites, so it is no surprise that the board is divided over this guy. However, I think one major point is being forgotten, which would change how we view Shelton's value to this team: Shelton would immediately provide us an avenue through which our more versatile defensive lineman, Jeremiah Ratliff, to be an effective weapon on our line.

One of Fangio's most effective lineups in san fran was a 3-4 under, 1-gap alignment. His NT doesnt line up at the 0tech in that alignment, he shifts to the 1. His DEs are in the 3tech on the left, and 5tech on the right. Finally, he has an OLB playing outside the LT in a wide-9. Shelton would be gap-shooting from the 1, Ratliff would shift to 3tech, and in my mind Ferguson would be the no-frills 5-tech. Fox also likes to throw in 4-3 looks at times, and Shelton would stay on the field for those plays as well (he is fairly scheme-versatile)

That is only one formation, and I expect Shelton would get more playing time than Ratliff as the season wears on and he adjusts to the NFL. Shelton is very coachable, and a great prospect. Is he the best DL in the draft? No, Leonard Williams is, but he will be off the board. There are other defensive prospects that I'd choose over Shelton, Fowler and Beasley - but they should both be picked up as well. But I still view Shelton as a top-10 draft pick, and he would be an immediate contributor to this defense.

Regardless of who we take, I expect Fangio and Fox know how to get the most out of the player. Shelton may be a 2-down player in the beginning for us, but I am confident that he would grow into a monster in the middle for us. We could really use a monster in the middle.

WindyCity said:

I think it is more likely that the Bears take Arik Armstead who is not nearly as accomplished as Shelton, but has better scheme fit, physical upside and probably more long term potential.

I do not think Brandon Scherff is going to be a special OT in the NFL, better chance at OG.

It is the same way with Shelton at NT.

Both will be good long term players.

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If Phil Emery was still the GM then I could see that happening. But there are far too many better players with solid upside available that I would take ahead of Armstead. Armstead is a very big very good athlete who you hope turns into a good player.

BearsFan51 said:

If Phil Emery was still the GM then I could see that happening. But there are far too many better players with solid upside available that I would take ahead of Armstead. Armstead is a very big very good athlete who you hope turns into a good player.

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I agree. Armstead would get a reluctant nervous clap from me.

But with this coaching staff it would not shock me to see them take a swing on a guy with big upside. Whether it is the right call will be seen over the next few years.

Fangio working with Armstead raw skills interests me, I just don't think it 7th overall interests me.

Biff - who's the better prospect for the Bears D: Shelton or Marcus Hardison?

Am warming to Armstead.....There is no way that Jarvis Jenkins is starting at DE for us....we need a DE that Fangio can work with....Beastly.......

Imho if cooper or white aren't there id take scherff I think this kids gonna be good and stack him at rt and our right side suddenly becomes elite

im not a fan of Shelton either

WindyCity said:

I agree. Armstead would get a reluctant nervous clap from me.

But with this coaching staff it would not shock me to see them take a swing on a guy with big upside. Whether it is the right call will be seen over the next few years.

Fangio working with Armstead raw skills interests me, I just don't think it 7th overall interests me.

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Which player's raw skills would you be more excited about Fangio working with, Armstead or Dupree?

RacerX said:

Biff - who's the better prospect for the Bears D: Shelton or Marcus Hardison?

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Shelton obviously. Hardison has only one year of production. He's the classic where did guy come from prospect. Hell it took me nearly half the season if not more to realize and accept he was playing so well and doing it consistently. I could see him in the third round but that's tricky too because you don't know what guy could mysteriously fall because teams will start to focus on need and glamour positions rather than grabbing that good player. Teams tend to panic if there is a run at a certain position and if that happens a good player could fall. That would be a guy like Tomlinson or McKinney or Perryman etc.

JoJoBoxer said:

Which player's raw skills would you be more excited about Fangio working with, Armstead or Dupree?

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Dupree and that's a no-brainer for me. Armstead is a nice prospect but I can't envision taking him before round two.

BearsFan51 said:

Dupree and that's a no-brainer for me. Armstead is a nice prospect but I can't envision taking him before round two.

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I agree. Dupree scares me a lot, but I would be super excited about what he could do with some solid technique work under Fangio. What I saw was very raw technique and not a very good eye for locating the ball, but an amazing bit of clay that, if molded correctly, could be the best defensive talent in the 2015 draft.

The OP is spot on for me. I'm not going to argue if his stats were accurate or not, but the assessment of Shelton is the same as mine. I saw Kikaha filtering the QB into Shelton for those sacks. Someone said Kikaha wasn't athletic enough to have 19 sacks without Shelton, but I think it's the opposite. And athleticim doesn't mean much. Michael Sam was SEC DPOTY and is almost completely unathletic. There's just not a lot of history of long term success of guys with that body type. I think Shelton will be a solid player, not necessarily just a 2-down but I see a guy who best case gives u 6 solid years before his body breaks down. That's not a top 7 pick. That's barely a top 20 pick.

Shelton's name keeps getting associated with the Bears but I am hoping Pace's statement that he believes in taking the BPA that high in the draft means he does not pick Shelton at seven. Now a trade down and a Shelton pick is a real possibility.

BearsFan51 said:

Dupree and that's a no-brainer for me. Armstead is a nice prospect but I can't envision taking him before round two.

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Yeah, Dupree for me too. Of course, I have him as the like 6th best player in this draft. That being said, if the Bears do trade down to the 12-15 range, I think ARmstead is fully in play at that point, at least for me personally. At 7, I pretty much want Beasley, Cooper, Williams or a slight reach for Dupree (though he could go 8 to Atlanta at this point). At 12-15, if Dupree is gone, I'm looking at Gregory, if Gregory is gone too, then I'd probably go Armstead....even over guys like Shelton, Parker and maybe Peters. And I'm a big fan of the latter two. Armstead's last 2 games really stick out in my head. Strong games when everyone is watching shows me a potential big time player. And I'd love Fangio to get his hands on him. Funny, I would probably be against Armstead if we had any DC other than Fangio or similar.

rawdawg said:

Yeah, Dupree for me too. Of course, I have him as the like 6th best player in this draft. That being said, if the Bears do trade down to the 12-15 range, I think ARmstead is fully in play at that point, at least for me personally. At 7, I pretty much want Beasley, Cooper, Williams or a slight reach for Dupree (though he could go 8 to Atlanta at this point). At 12-15, if Dupree is gone, I'm looking at Gregory, if Gregory is gone too, then I'd probably go Armstead....even over guys like Shelton, Parker and maybe Peters. And I'm a big fan of the latter two. Armstead's last 2 games really stick out in my head. Strong games when everyone is watching shows me a potential big time player. And I'd love Fangio to get his hands on him. Funny, I would probably be against Armstead if we had any DC other than Fangio or similar.

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2015 NFL Mock Draft: Patriots select Bud Dupree at #32. Both Dupree and Armstead are late first round picks. They do not even come into play at seven or 12-15.

JIMMY MAC FAN said:

2015 NFL Mock Draft: Patriots select Bud Dupree at #32. Both Dupree and Armstead are late first round picks. They do not even come into play at seven or 12-15.

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Lol because a mock says so? Stop it.

rawdawg said:

Yeah, Dupree for me too. Of course, I have him as the like 6th best player in this draft. That being said, if the Bears do trade down to the 12-15 range, I think ARmstead is fully in play at that point, at least for me personally. At 7, I pretty much want Beasley, Cooper, Williams or a slight reach for Dupree (though he could go 8 to Atlanta at this point)

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Just curious: How come Dupree is a "slight reach " at #7, if you have him rated as the 6th best player in the draft?

As for Shelton, I'd not even consider him in the top 10. If I were to consider a NT in the top 10, he'd almost have to be a once in a lifetime-type NT. I don't see that in Shelton. He has good size, good strength and great production (even though I suspect the production was helped by the players around him. If we were to pick after the top 15, I might consider him.

Fangio's defenses has been highly efficient using guys at NT, that the 49ers didn't have to use high picks or big contracts to get. Why all of a sudden reach for a NT, then?

TheDane said:

Just curious: How come Dupree is a "slight reach " at #7, if you have him rated as the 6th best player in the draft?

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Because I don't work for a team that makes a legit draft board. So it's a slight reach according to most draft sites/"experts".