Everything That The Chicago Bears Did This Weekend

Look, I’m not going to be one of those guys who screams from the mountain tops about how we “won the draft!!” That’s not my bag and never has been. Sure, I’m happy with it, but if you trust in your GM then of course you’re more than likely going to be happy with what they did.

I’m also not going to be one of those guys that pretends to know who every single one of these players are. 98% of us haven’t seen them extensively and that’s just the damn truth.

With that said though let’s get to talking about them and try to figure out what Pace/Nagy’s thought process was when they called their name this weekend.

3rd Round – David Montgomery (RB) Iowa State

This one’s pretty easy to understand. The Bears traded Jordan Howard because he didn’t really fit in Nagy’s system, so they chose someone who did with their first pick. I watched a good bit of Iowa State last year and Montgomery was a lot of fun to watch with their WR Hakeem Butler. He’s a patient runner, has sure hands, can break tackles, and everything being reported out of Ames says that he’s an awesome kid who works his ass off.

Here’s what the Bears gave up to take him with the 73rd pick:

Please, nobody worry about Ryan Pace constantly trading draft picks. He’s just going to continue to trade up and up and up until there is no NFL anymore.

Montgomery projects to contribute on Day 1 while sharing the backfield with Tarik Cohen and Mike Davis.

4th Round – Riley Ridley (WR) Georgia

The Bears starting wide receiving trio looks set in stone with Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, and Taylor Gabriel. But, that doesn’t mean the team was going to completely abandon the position as they had to replace the departures of Josh Bellamy and Kevin White (lol).

That’s where Ridley fits in as he joins Javon Wims as the second wide out to be taken out of Georgia in as many years. The scouting report says that he isn’t the fastest guy, but he runs good routes and can battle against corners for the ball.

6th Round – Duke Shelley (CB) Kansas State

Depending on which websites mocks you value the most, there were some sites that had Shelley as a mid-rounder until he went down with an injury. Shelley is 5’9, but his blanket coverage led him to all Big 12 honors during his time at K- State.

Now, I know that may not seem like a big deal giving how bad Big 12 defenses are, but if you look closely you know that historically K State has always been one of the strongest defenses in the conference.

Depth guy who can give Prince, Fuller, and Buster a blow or help out if we get struck with an injury.

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7th Round – Kerrith Whyte Jr. (RB) FAU

Whyte was buried behind FAU legend Devin Singletary so he didn’t really get a chance to shine. He’s blazing fast though and should contribute right away in the return game.

7th Round – Stephen Denmark (CB) Valdosta State

A monster for a cornerback standing at 6’3. The issue is that he’s very raw as he just switched over from being a wide receiver the previous year and played at a D-II school.

But, how often to 7th round picks really pan out?

Exactly…

So, Ryan Pace rolls the dice on an unproven player with great measurables and potentially high upside.

No reason not to like it.

Notable Undrafted Free Agent Signees

Alex Bars & Sam Mustipher (OL) Notre Dame

The Harry Hiestand connection seems like it’s proved alot of worth with this one. Again, depending on where you look some had Bars as a mid rounder as well before he got injured versus Stanford. Great move to grab a flyer on these guys given their comfortably with their old coach.

Emanuel Hall (WR) Mizzou

Maybe the most interesting UDFA coming into this year. Hall can absolutely fly running a 4.3 40 while consistently burning SEC corners on deep routes. The word is that he was another guy that should’ve gotten taken in the mid-rounds, but was passed on because of an injury history.

Wide Receiver has quickly become the most interesting position in training camp with a stacked crew of:

Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, Taylor Gabriel, Cordarrelle Patterson, Javon Wims, Riley Ridley, and Emanuel Hall

A Shit Ton Of Kickers

No, seriously they signed 4 of them. That means we currently have 7 kickers. Love it. Survival of the fittest to right Cody Parkey’s wrong.

Here’s a full list of all UDFA’s