I like Ron Rivera.

I root for Ron Rivera.

I greatly respect Ron Rivera as a human being and a leader of men.

But my respect for Ron Rivera as the CEO of a professional football team no longer exists.

Because there is no possible rationale for giving up ANYTHING, let alone MULTIPLE third round draft picks, to acquire Carson Wentz as your starting quarterback. Carson Wentz, whose signature play has become flipping the ball casually to defenders on his own goal line. Carson Wentz, who two franchises, in two years, have been desperate to ship to Anywhere That’ll Take Him, USA.

I give you three tweets from Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports:

Text from a friend: “Lol why do ppl keep trading for Wentz”

I have no clue

— Chris Trapasso (@ChrisTrapasso) March 9, 2022

Carson Wentz was pretty good in ’17. But him going No. 2 overall in ’16 is an integral part in his maintain reputation as a player *some* teams believe is capable of being a high-level QB, despite much evidence suggesting the contrary.

Draft position matters, for many reasons.

— Chris Trapasso (@ChrisTrapasso) March 9, 2022

15-minute cool off period is over for me seeing the Wentz news, and I still can’t believe it

— Chris Trapasso (@ChrisTrapasso) March 9, 2022

There is enough data around this league to prove unequivocally that NFL teams are not run by competent individuals. And NFL personnel departments are nothing more than a collection of football junkies doing educated guesswork. There is no longer reason to show deference to these individuals because moves like this one for Wentz prove they simply don’t know what they are doing. Rivera has been in the league 40 years. His personnel department have 60 years or more of experience. How on earth could they have reached this inept conclusion?

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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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