Note From Jeff: We are going to keep experimenting with the Wednesday space until Andrew feels right. Today is a massive tone change. Hope you like it.

• Oakland rookie receiver Amari Cooper has been awesome this season, which should make Bears fans excited about Kevin White’s potential. Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel does some great pre-draft work  having scouts rank the players. Cooper came in as the top-ranked receiver totaling 12 first-place votes and 88 points, while White received seven first-place votes and 82 points, way ahead of the rest of the field.

• It sure looks like Mel Tucker is coaching the Bears special teams. Players make mistakes that lead to big plays on the field, but when different players keep making the same mistakes, it’s a sign that the coach isn’t doing a good enough job of coaching them. The Bears allowed two 40-yard kick returns in Week 1 and have allowed return touchdowns in consecutive weeks. This comes after last year when the one thing they did better than anyone else was cover kicks, leading the league in average allowed yards per return.

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As with every NFL Draft, DBB will be here provide information on every Bears selection just minutes after each selection is made (at least for the first five picks or so). Here are a few thoughts in the lead-up to tonight’s festivities:

• I predicted Monday the Bears would take Amari Cooper with the seventh pick. Still believe that will be the pick if Cooper is on the board. But when I asked an NFL scout friend of mine if Cooper will be on the board at seven he responded with a swift “hell no”. (He believes Cooper may very well be the best player in this draft.)
• John Fox is a run the ball, stop the run guy. That’s why I believe the Bears covet Danny Shelton more than they’re letting on. Leonard Williams may have more upside in the pass rush department but my friend believes Shelton will be a premiere run stuffer the second he touches the field. (I agree with him.)
• Two names that have come to the forefront of “the mocks” over the last few days: WR Kevin White and CB Trae Waynes.
• From Patrick Finley in the Sun-Times: “Just because the draft is deep at a few positions — namely, wide receiver and edge rusher— doesn’t mean Pace would hesitate to draft a player from that group in the first round.” This is a point that can’t be reiterated strongly enough. “Deep” draft means nothing. Nobody knows how any of these kids are going to perform in the pros. We’ll know how deep this draft is at a particular position in three years. Never pass on a player you perceive to be elite.

See you tonight. Breathe today, draft nerds. Never forget to breathe.

Scott Wright spends every day of his year on the NFL Draft do I turn to him for the information I lack time and interest to gather on my own. On the pod we discuss:

• Scott’s decision to give the Bears Amari Cooper over Vic Beasley in his latest mock draft.
• Some of my favorite players in this draft, including Nick O’Leary, Shaq Thompson, Shane Ray, BJ Finney (who I think I call Kinney) & Phillip Dorsett.
• The Marcus Mariota Thing.
• Mid-round safety prospects.
• Scott’s undervalued prospects.

The Bears have been projected by many to take a wide receiver with the seventh pick of the draft. But does that really make sense?

The answer to that question isn’t as simple as determining the team’s draft strategy or analyzing the talent in the draft. It’s more about how the Bears view the best way to build their roster and, in this case, how they view their current talent.

The “best player available” argument is outdated. Every team says they’re going to take the best player available, but they always have an eye on what their team currently needs. Any player drafted in the top-10 is a player that should be a key building block for your team going forward.

In this draft, there are two wide receivers in the top tier in Kevin White and Amari Cooper. One of them figures to be available when the Bears pick, but whether or not they pull the trigger could depend on how they view their current number one receiver, Alshon Jeffery.

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