Some incredible pre-draft info from the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah today.
Earlier today, NFL Network Analyst Daniel Jeremiah held his annual conference call previewing the upcoming NFL Draft, and he touched on several prospects, while discussing the direction several teams could take.
Before I share what Jeremiah said about the Chicago Bears, I’ll share some of his thoughts on a few players who have been linked and/or mocked to the Bears.
The New England Patriots pick fourth, and he believes that’s when the first offensive tackle would come off the board. Jeremiah said that he has “continually heard that that’s Will Campbell’s spot.”
If Campbell goes at four overall, it’s still possible another offensive tackle falls to the Bears, and it’s possible it’d be their number one tackle.
“Teams are not universal in the slotting of these tackles., Jeremiah said. “In fact, I’ve talked to — in the last 24 hours, I’ve talked to three teams who aren’t in the range to take tackles, so they can give me an honest answer of how they stack these guys. And I had one team that was Will Campbell at the top, I had one team that was Armand Membou at the top, and I had one team that was Kelvin Banks at the top.”
He said that Membou would be plug-and-play at right tackle for the New York Jets at seven overall. However, he said he has both tight ends, Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland, ranked over Membou, with each “worthy of being selected there.”
Those two tight ends have been mocked to the Bears at 10 quite a bit, so Jeremiah having them ranked so high shows how they are viewed around the league.
Like most analysts, he likes this running back class, and he mentions several who could step in day one and make an impact.
As far as the Bears, he gave a lengthy answer after being asked this question.
Q: Knowing how the top 100 of this draft sets up, how do you kind of characterize the opportunity the Bears have next week to mix and match those top 75 picks, four of them, and create a kind of a gift basket that they feel good with? Then, I guess, along with that, which position would you feel most hesitant to wait on for day two?
DANIEL JEREMIAH: That’s a good one. They are in a fantastic position. When you’re picking 10, 39, 41, 72, they get four instant-impact players with the way this draft shakes out. I’m as excited for them. We did a thing the other day on teams that have the most opportunity in this draft, and they would be near the top of the list
In terms of positions that you probably don’t want to wait on, if you are dead set on getting an offensive tackle and you want to get your long-term left tackle, you’re going to want to do that with your first pick. I just don’t love the possibilities of you seeing someone that’s going to be an upgrade over what you have once you get into the second round of this particular draft.
So that would be kind of the thought process there. If it’s close with some of the other players, I could see them leaning in that direction and checking a tackle off the list. There are backs. There are tight ends. There’s a good bit of depth there.
If they want to reinforce a defensive line, get an edge rusher, to me, like a sweet spot for them, pick 39 for an edge rusher. That’s a great area to find that guy.
I think they can premier shop. If you want to take one of the top two tight ends, I think they’re more than worth going up there. Ashton Jeanty falls in your lap, run the card up there. They’re in a great spot where they can kind of—they don’t have to be aggressive with the first pick.
Somebody is going to go to them there that they’re going to love and is going to start for them day one and be an impact. I’m almost more excited to see what happens with their next picks because that’s going to be a fun combination of players they put together.
Again, to kind of reiterate what I was saying about the Titans, these teams with young quarterbacks, yeah, we can look at the defensive side of the ball, and you can find holes, but at the end of next year, if Caleb Williams has taken a massive leap with Ben Johnson, I think Bears fans will be feeling pretty darn good about the direction. That’s why if it’s close, I look to that side of the ball.
You can listen to the conference call on Jeremiah’s podcast here.