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Thoughts on the Roquan Smith Selection From Around the League

| April 27th, 2018

Selecting Roquan Smith with the eighth pick of the first round was an absolute no-brainer for Ryan Pace. Taking my favorite player in the draft? Icing on the cake.

What did others have to say about the pick? It’s being universally praised. Two things I have heard from a source inside the Bears.

(1) The team was genuinely surprised Roquan became available. There was an assumption by Pace & Co. that Smith wasn’t going to make it by Indianapolis and the team had begun zeroing in on playmaking DB Minkah Fitzpatrick.

(2) Last three first round picks? Georgia. North Carolina. Georgia. The Bears lean heavily on their southeastern scouts and we should all take note.


From the illustrious Adam Jahns:

“I know Vic and his staff will maximize this player, and that’s what’s exciting about it,” Pace said after the first round concluded. “Vic’s been around a lot of good linebacker play, and this just adds to the great linebacker play the Bears have had as well.”

Pace called Fangio’s input “very important” on Smith.

“This is obviously one of Vic’s top players, [and] one of Matt’s top players, my top player,” Pace said. “We might have 10, 12, 15 grades on a guy, and it’s so comforting for me when I can look at that bandwidth of grades and they’re all right next to each other.

“That’s definitely how Roquan was, so it makes the pick really easy when we’re all unified like that.”

Smith fits Fangio’s mold for inside linebackers. At 6-1, 236 pounds, he’s built similarly to former 49ers star Patrick Willis (6-1, 240). And that’s just the start.

Smith’s instincts, range, speed and tenacity, and his take-charge demeanor off the field, also fuel comparisons to Willis, who was a tone-setting, five-time All-Pro in the middle of Fangio’s elite 49ers defenses. Pace said the Smith has “outstanding intangibles.”


From my two high-profile league sources:

  • A current league GM: “The perfect Bear middle linebacker.”
  • Former NFC personnel man, freelancing for an AFC team this off-season: “Told you several times over the last few weeks. This is my favorite defensive player in the draft. He’s a sure thing.” (He’s not lying. This individual’s praise is the primary reason Roquan became my favorite player in this draft.)

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Pete Prisco Wrote a Fair Column on Jay Cutler

| August 21st, 2015

prisco

Pete Prisco is not for everybody’s taste but he is for mine. He, unlike many other national football writers, does the work. He studies every game. He evaluates players based upon his eyes not the consensus belief.

I strongly encourage Bears fans to take a few moments and read his entire column on Jay Cutler by CLICKING HERE. Here are some excerpts.

On his status with media & fans…

“I don’t think the people who see him on the sidelines see the real Jay,” said Bob Clayton, his high school coach. “They see the guy who they think doesn’t like playing, a guy who gets mad on the field. It’s just that he’s such a competitor.”

When I asked Cutler about all the negative talk, and his status as the most-persecuted quarterback in the league, he laughed loudly.

“I think I used to (let it bother me),” he said. “Now I am at a point where I really like the coaches I am with. I like the players in the locker room. That’s where my concentration is each and every day, just trying to get better with those guys. That’s all I can worry about.”

On the potential of his being traded…

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