2007 Bears Draft

About a week ago I wrote up what I wanted from the Bears on draft day(s). Here's how things turned out...

TRADE LANCE BRIGGS: ... the rules are a mess and he's not going to contribute and I'm much more interested in winning a Super Bowl, thank you. I'd take Washington's No. 6 pick and Rocky McIntosh for Briggs and our No. 31, but I'd also take Denver's No. 21 pick, straight up, and just go from there.

OK, so Briggs stayed with us. And maybe we'll crack through this situation and get Briggs signed for a Super Bowl run in 2007. Whatever. This is just one of those situations where management needs to handle things with vision and integrity to prevent a contract issue from becoming a locker room problem. Something -- and I'm not sure what that something was -- made me more optimistic this weekend on the prospects of getting Briggs signed to a long-term deal.

DRAFT OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: If we stick around in the 30s, remember these names: Blaylock, Grubbs, Sears and Staley. Any one of those would make me happy at 31 or 37.

As it turned out, Grubbs and Staley were all gone by 31 and Sears went at 35. Blaylock would have been a solid pickup at 37 (he went 39), but the Bears apparently liked their chances better in the move-down with San Diego. I agree.

Blaylock was probably the least promising prospect in that second tier of four or five offensive linemen the experts kept talking about. Instead we wound up with Josh Beekman in the 4th round, and there's every reason to be as optimistic about Beekman as there was about Blaylock. Neither was a lock to be a starter, but Beekman has the traits you want in an NFL lineman. I'm optimistic.

We also picked up Arron Brant, a right tackle out of Iowa State, with our final pick. Nobody seems to know anything about him right now, but he's big and bald and that's got to count for something.

Bottom line: This team still needs some big-time young tackles, but they weren't there at 31. Kudos to the Bears for not reaching for one.

WAIT ON THE OLBS: This isn't a great top-end linebacker class, and drafting one with the first or second pick might be a reach. Waiting to draft a developmental project (like Briggs) in the 3rd or 4th round would make more sense.

Boy, did this one work out (on paper, anyway). I did experience a moment of excitement early in the second round when it looked like Paul Posluzny might drop to us, but once he was gone I relaxed again and hoped that we'd wind up with Quincy Black in the third or fourth round. Tampa nabbed him early in the 3rd, but c'est la vie. I'd rather have our second-round pick -- DE Daniel Bazuin, about whom I have a really good feeling -- than Black.

Winding up with Michael Okwo in the 3rd round is exactly the kind of personnel situation I'd been hoping for. If Briggs comes back, Okwo gives us an underrated guy who was productive in college and comes with the right intangibles. Here's the thing about linebackers, guards and safeties: athleticism and size are nice to have, but instincts and intelligence are often a lot more important.

If Briggs sits out training camp, Okwo will get a chance to compete for the starting weakside position. Not bad for the late third round.

AVOID THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Everybody seems to think that the Bears need to draft another wide receiver high. Stop the madness. Berrian, Bradley, Davis and Moose are not the problem. Throwing another player into that mix doesn't advance us as a team... unless that player is Calvin Johnson. Which it won't be.

This draft had Johnson and about a million wide receivers I've never heard of. There's a chance that one of them is the next Marques Colston, but I wouldn't bet on it. Good job of not doing the wrong thing, Jerry.

DON'T PANIC ON TIGHT ENDS: The only TE with a margin first round grade is Olsen of Miami, and he's going to go too high anyway. Look for receiving tight ends with good athletic abilities late.

I didn't seriously think that Olsen was going to drop to the end of the round, and I don't think most of the experts did, either. But once Carolina decided to draft for need with OLB Jon Beason at 25, the way was paved for Olsen to fall into our waiting arms. Here's another thing that played out in our favor: Joe Horn leaving New Orleans meant that the Saints needed a WR to fill that spot at 27.

With the Saints out of the way, the next three teams were all teams with tight end studs, and one of them (New England) traded away the 28th pick to a team that just drafted a TE at No. 6 in 2006.

I think we'll get quite a bit out of this pick -- provided we can get him signed.

DRAFT A SCAT BACK: Benson is a full-service back with a strong suit in strength, not open-field speed. Peterson is a bowling ball. Complete the set with a smaller back who can break the long run and get lost in traffic.

Garrett Wolfe was the guy I had in mind when I wrote those words, but I didn't want to jinx it. When I look at him I don't see a guy who is too small, or Leon Washington, or even Warrick Dunn. I see visions of Dennis Gentry, one of the most underrated members of the dynasty Bears from the 1980s.

Wolfe will be a productive and extremely popular player in Chicago for the next five years. He may not own an elite 40 time, (neither did Devin Hester for that matter) but he's magic in the open field and can dart around between the tackles if used properly.

WHAT ABOUT THE DRAFT AS A WHOLE? Olsen was a gift, and the only guy I would have preferred above him in that late-round group (Staley) went at 28. Bazuin wasn't a need pick at all (he actually creates a traffic jam at DE), but I've got a great feeling about him as a player. Wolfe, Okwo and Beekman all look like contributors.

The second day is harder to judge, but I like the sound of a safety whose last name is Payne. Corey Graham looks like a project and I don't expect much there. That last guy -- Brant -- is just an unknown.

I grade the whole thing a B, and the only reason I've got it down from an A is that the Briggs situation remains unresolved. Settle that and I'll be one happy fan.