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.

“What if I told you the Bears could come out of the 2015 NFL Draft with four starters taken in the first three rounds? You’d be intrigued, right? Well, that’s exactly what the Bears have a chance to do if they play their cards right Thursday night.”

With a top 10 pick, the Bears need to think one of two ways: Either get a great player or get a few good players. The problem with the Bears having the seventh pick in this year’s draft is that there doesn’t seem to be seven great players, which means their best option will likely be to trade back.

Here are the standards for a top 10 pick:

• Will either start or play on significant snaps (third downs) as a rookie, unless he’s a QB.
• Someone who plays a crucial position. He either helps your QB or makes the other team’s QB’s life hell.
• A great athlete. The best players are almost always great athletes.
• Had at least a moderately productive collegiate career.
• Has to be a key part of their identity for the next five-to-10 years.

How many of this year’s consensus top picks fit that criteria? The most common names are Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Amari Cooper, Kevin White, Leonard Williams, Vic Beasley and Brandon Scherff. Seven guys and the Bears have the seventh pick. Easy, right?

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Last year I wrote a column showcasing the players in the draft who jumped off the screen on college football Saturdays. In that column I highlighted Chris Borland, De’Anthony Thomas, Demarcus Lawrence, Martavis Bryant & Zach Mettenberger. Not bad. Let’s see how this year goes.

Tyler Lockett, WR, Kansas State

• Does not have huge size at around 5’9″ but plays far bigger than that. With Jake Waters playing that big, bumbling quarterback role Bill Snyder loves, Lockett has 187 catches over the last two season for nearly 2,800 yards and 22 touchdowns.
• Lockett is lightning quick in pads. If the Bears are all-in on Alshon Jeffery being their number one receiver moving forward, Lockett could be the ideal complement running out of the slot.
• His critics think he is too slightly built to be a full-time kick returner in the NFL. I don’t buy it.

Nick O’Leary, TE, Florida State

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It was a long time ago that Lovie Smith was introduced as the Bears head coach and stated his first goal was to beat the Packers. Over a decade later, John Fox and Ryan Pace are walking into a similar situation and, if they’re going to catch the Packers, they have to do exactly what Smith did by building their defense.

The common reaction from Bears fans when the NFL schedule was released was that the team was going to start 0-1 and ruin Thanksgiving by losing to the Packers. Such early negativity is a little ridiculous but there’s reason for it. If the Bears are going to change the course of their franchise and undo much of what Phil Emery and Marc Trestman did, it starts with the defense.

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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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The Bears are like every other team in the league in that they need to stockpile as many pass-rushers as possible, but they don’t need to use the seventh pick in the draft to do it.

We’ve heard about the Bears need for pass-rush, but that need and the available talent in the draft may be overstated.

Pass rush has always been the most important way to disrupt a great quarterback, but the Bears weren’t exactly terrible in that department last year. The Bears had 39 sacks last year, one fewer than the Super Bowl Champs and two more than Seattle, the team that shut down Aaron Rodgers twice.

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Here is something I don’t want to hear. Or read. Or listen to. Or find in my fortune cookie.

Bears should lose games for a better draft pick.

Research project for those espousing this ideology.

Prove that the number 8 selection in the NFL Draft has more success historically than the number 18 selection. Prove that number 5 selection has more success historically than the number 25 selection. Unless you are in the market for generational talents, specifically at the quarterback and pass rush positions, draft position has little to do with an organization’s success in the draft. You know what does matter? Talent evaluation.

Do you think Chance Warmack and DJ Fluker and Jonathan Cooper would still be taken before Kyle Long? Do you think Trent Richardson would be taken before Doug Martin? Do you think Matt Kalil would go a round earlier than Cordy Glenn? Would Dee Milliner or Morris Claiborne get drafted? Go look at the horror show that is the top of 2013 draft. Go look at the 13-17th selections in the 2014 draft.

And isn’t it odd how certain franchises retain their positions at the top of the sport? New England, Green Bay, Baltimore, New Orleans…etc. continue to be in contention for postseason berths every year while none of them ever select in the top ten come April. How is that possible? Oh, that’s right. They choose the right players when they are on the clock.

I know why fans act the way they do. Fans invest emotionally in a team they believe can make the postseason or win a championship. That emotional investment means feeling pain should the team lose. Nobody wants to feel pain. Pain kinda stinks. Once a fan can check out, or at least say they’ve checked out, they can divest emotionally from the occurrences over the three hours of their favorite team’s game. “Lose for draft picks” is another way of saying “if I expect or hell, even WANT, my team to lose I will not feel sad about them losing”. These fans are what doctors commonly refer to as full of shit.

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