I'm Still Excited About The 2018 Chicago Bears

Sunday night's game against the Green Bay Packers was not ideal for the Chicago Bears. It was ideal for the first 35 minutes of the game as they cruised to a 20-0 lead and everything was wonderful in this crazy world that we live in. Then, things went to shit, and um, well, shit, everybody knows what happened, and the Bears are now 0-1. That outcome wasn't ideal, but I'm still pretty excited about the Chicago Bears this year.

First off, there is Khalil Mack who more than lived up to the hype surrounding his arrival in a trade last week. Even in limited time, he was a menace on the field, getting sacks and interceptions and touchdowns too. His meaningful damage came in the first half, but even a tired Mack caused disruption with pressures in the second half. As he gets up to game speed, he's only going to be more terrifying, which is incredibly exciting.

Speaking of the defense, Akiem Hicks was pretty damn dominant as well early on in the game. He was causing havoc by crushing the pocket, and he is creating a pick your poison situation where you can focus on blocking Hicks or you can focus on blocking Mack, but it's going to be really tough to block both.

On the less positive side, Leonard Floyd showed nothing in this game. The athleticism is evident, but I still haven't seen enough in his pass rushing techniques to get excited. He'll get some sacks on speed rushes, but until he can translate that speed into a respectable bull rush move, I don't know how dangerous he is going to be.

But the Bears should definitely play Roquan Smith more. Nick Kwiatkoski is a capable backup, but he simply doesn't have the athleticism to play linebacker as teams will continually expose him. Roquan is a monster who has every physical trait you could possibly want in a modern day linebacker. Give me more Roquan.

Oh, and the most obvious thing to point out on the defense. If Kyle Fuller catches that ball that hit him in the chest, the Bears are not only 1-0, but I can guarantee that people would be talking about the Bears as the favorite in the division. I'm not necessarily saying that people should be saying that, but people love making broad proclamations after one week.

On the offensive side, you're not going to believe this, but I won't start with Mitch Trubisky. Let's instead take a step back and truly enjoy the greatness of Jordan Howard. For some reason, it seemed that everybody wanted to toss him aside to get more Tarik Cohen in the offense. But Howard serves a huge role for this team. He is the bellcow back, and there is no reason that he shouldn't seen the majority of snaps. He did everything he could to win the game for the Bears on their second-to-last drive, and had they trusted him more, he probably could have iced the game away.

Okay, now let's talk about Mitch Trubisky. He showed good athleticism, movement in the pocket, and threw some excellent balls, but in the second half, he tightened up and refused to take chances. I saw him fire balls down the field in college, so I'm hoping this is just an adjustment period to not having a ton of experience and being in a brand new offense. With Allen Robinson being a player who has shown that he can be a top receiver in the NFL, and with all the rave reviews about Anthony Miller, let's hope Trubisky uses those assets to open up the offense in week two.

Right now, the Bears are 0-1, but winning in Green Bay is never easy, and although it seems like one that got away, the important thing is to see how they bounce back, because 15-1 still ain't too bad of a season. Go Bears.

What To Expect From The 2018 Iowa Hawkeyes

College football is finally back, and oh, how I have missed you, my sweet mistress. I mean, what a pleasure it is to be a B1G fan as we have coaches helping other coaches beat women, and that doesn't even register on the "this is really bad" scale since another coach not only helped players get away with assaulting women; he also set up workouts that killed a player. Sorry, SEC, but you ain't got shit on the B1G.

Fuck, college football is some truly awful shit.

But, since we didn't create a workout that made guys piss blood this offseason, the Iowa Hawkeyes are in the clear, so let's look at the football side of things. Can the Iowa Hawkeyes be good? Yes. Could they be very good? It's possible. Will they shock the world and win a National Title? Only time will tell...but no, they will not.

But Iowa is still interesting.

Quarterback
Nate Stanley exceeded all expectations in his first year as a starter last season. It feels odd saying this, but outside of tight end, this may be the position to feel best about going into the season on offense. Stanley had ups and downs, but with experience, he can hopefully minimize the lows while still helping Iowa put up 50+ on the blue bloods of the B1G. There are a lot of people predicting big things for him this year, and it certainly wouldn't be shocking if he was the best quarterback in the conference. That's going to depend a lot on the people around him.

Wide Receivers
Nick Easley seems to have the best chance as long as he can convert a few of those drops into catches with Brandon Smith as the second receiver, who has shown he has some size and athleticism, but not much else. Ihmir Smith-Marsette is a legitimately fast player who plays for Iowa, so that's exciting, but it's not clear that the coaching staff has much faith in him. Right now, it's probably unlikely that this team is going to have a great passing attack that is led by its wide receivers.

Tight Ends
But even if the receivers fail to take a step forward, Stanley will have reliable options in tight ends Noah Fant and TJ Hockenson. Got some good news and bad news when it comes to Fant. The good news is that he is one of the best tight ends in the nation and is a damn game changer at the position. The bad news is that if he comes anywhere near repeating last year's performance, his ass is gone to the NFL. There are worse things to deal with than players being so awesome that they leave early for the NFL, especially at a position like tight end where Iowa just keeps sending dudes to the pros. TJ Hockenson is going to be so involved that Iowa has two tight end spots on the depth chart, so he should not only be an important contributor this year, but the obvious heir apparent if Fant leaves after the season.

Running Back
At running back, there is no proven commodity, but they have a three-headed monster that should do well. Ivory Kelly-Martin is listed as the starter, with Toren Young and Mekhi Sargent backing him up. I could see any of the three guys emerging as the top back, but I don't think anybody completely takes over the role to be a true #1 at the position. Young and IKM looked good in limited action last year, and Sargent has been getting great reviews after transferring, but this is more a position group that should be fine. They probably won't be great, and they probably won't be bad; they'll hopefully be good enough.

Offensive Line
The running game will likely be dependent on the performance of the guys up front. The offensive line is led by two sophomore tackles who both started all of last year (although they are both suspsended for the first game) in Alaric Jackson and Tristan Wirfs. I wouldn't say that they were great last year, but considering that it was two freshman that at least held their own, hopes are pretty high for the outside of the offensive line. The interior of the line is a bit of a question mark, but there have been positive reports on Keegan Render at center as being able to play his way into a potential draft pick after this season. This isn't going to be a legendary Iowa offensive line, but as long as the interior can hold up, they should provide more good than bad.

Defensive Line
The defense has the most exciting and most terrifying position groups on the team. The defensive line is stacked. Parker Hesse and Anthony Nelson have extensive experience on the outside with production to match. Matt Nelson and Cedric Lattimore started last year and should only improve from last season. With those four, Iowa should be in great shape up front...

...but let's be real here. This is all about AJ Epenesa. Epenesa rotated in at defensive end last year, and his talent jumps off the screen when you're watching Iowa. His explosiveness is incredible, and he is a mismatch for all but the most elite offensive tackles. He is still raw as he did put himself out of position on occasion so he has some things to refine, but the raw materials are incredibly exciting and all Iowa fans are basically head over heels in love with him already. I'm as guilty of this as anyone, and I make no apologies for it.

Linebackers
On the other end of the spectrum, we have linebacker. Linebacker is not going to be good; it's not that the players don't have talent, but they have about as close to zero experience as is possible in a linebacking corps. They have never started before, and Iowa rarely cycles in linebackers, so their big experience is special teams. Amani Jones is the middle linebacker which makes him the most important guy of the three. He has been getting the most positive reviews, but that may have just been that they were only really confident that he would be one of the starters. Number two is Nick Niemann, who should not be confused with Nick Nemeth as I do not believe he has plans to tag with Drew McIntyre anytime soon. The good news with Niemann is that his brother, Ben, played linebacker for Iowa, and he is supposed to be the better athlete. Ben was solid, so solid+athleticism=pretty darn good? I hope that's the case at least. Getting the last spot is Kristian Welch who nobody knows anything about, but he was good enough to beat out the other guys, at least to start the season. Go Kristian Welch!

Secondary
Secondary could actually be good, but there is no depth, and for the first time in a while, there is no clear shutdown corner as Iowa was spoiled with Desmond King and Josh Jackson these past few years. Instead we have Matt Hankins and Michael Ojemudia. Hankins appeared to edge ahead of Ojemudia at the end of last year, so he's likely what you would consider the number one corner, but both guys have gotten a decent amount of playing time and have the potential to be solid. There is also the possibility that they come out of nowhere like Josh Jackson did last year and become an absolute game changer at the position, but the odds are against that. At safety, Iowa has two returning starters in Jake Gervase and Amani Hooker. The latter showed a lot of potential and could take a big step forward this year. The former got better as the year went on, but I'd be surprised if Iowa got much more than adequacy from him.

Special Teams
Iowa also has many kickers and punters.

Prediction
After doing a look at all of the different position groups, there are a lot of factors to weigh. I think this is a year where Iowa can only slip into a bowl game. That bowl game will be the College Football Playoff Semifinal, where Iowa will win. Don't you see? I lied at the beginning, because Iowa is definitely winning the National Title this year. Bama ain't got shit on the Hawkeyes. 15-0!

Is This Mitch Trubisky's Breakout Year?

As the world's number one Mitch Trubisky supporter as evidenced here, here, here, here, and here, I felt it was about time to weigh in on what to expect from the future hall-of-famer as he embarks on his second professional season. It is a weird feeling for Bears fans, because for the first time since Sexy Rexy was throwing it deep every chance he got, there is actually a buzz about this team, and this may be the first time ever where that buzz is seriously centered around the offense.

With an unbiased opinion, it's hard to say that Trubisky was an overwhelming success in his rookie year. Still, there were some mitigating factors working against him as John Fox and Dowell Loggains coached what was likely the most boring offense in the NFL. It makes sense as the dowel is easily the most boring piece when building IKEA furniture. Trubisky was consistently throwing behind schedule which made his job as a rookie nearly impossible. It didn't help that the Bears best receiver last year was...um, Kendall Wright. And that's bad enough, but Kendall Wright was #1 by a WIDE margin. He had nearly twice as many yards as number two on the list, Josh Bellamy, and Wright still ended up with only 614 receiving yards. This was not a recipe for success.

Although as all of us true football guys know, stats are for losers, I did find an interesting article on Football Outsiders this week that went over quarterback success on a variety of routes. Here is where Mitch Trubisky ranks out of 35 qualifying quarterbacks on each route:

Curl - 35th
Out - 25th
Dig - 8th
Slant - 18th
Drag - 8th
Fly - 29th
Screen - 20th
Post - 9th
Comeback - 33rd
Broken Play - 22nd
Fade - 17th
Seam - 23rd

Now the first thing you will realize is that last year was not a rousing success. His highest finish is eighth best, and he was dead last at the curl route as well as very low in some other spots. The most interesting thing I noticed is that Trubisky had the most success on routes breaking into the middle of the field and struggled when throwing to the outside.

A huge positive to Trubisky having success in the middle of the field is that it confirms something that I suspected when watching him, and that he is able to see the field well. There are a whole lot more bodies around for those in-breaking routes, and Trubisky is able to diagnose and get yards over the middle of the field. He was the literal worst with curl routes, but I think it's fair to assume that part of the blame goes to his receiving targets.

Speaking of awful receivers, I can't totally ignore that he struggled to the routes that broke to the outside. I would say that this is a little concerning as these are generally tougher physical throws to make accurately, but this may be another case of his receivers not giving him a whole lot to work with. It may also be the lack of chemistry built with those receivers, especially since Mike Glennon was getting first team reps during the offseason and even for the first month of the season. It's something to keep an eye on, but it's a little early to be worried about it.

The biggest positive out of all of this is that there is hope on the horizon when it comes to the Bears coaching staff. With new head coach Matt Nagy and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, this offense will not only be interesting but is actually getting people excited. This is the reason for all of the buzz around the Bears this season, because if they still had the same coaching staff, Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Trey Burton, and the epic return of Kevin White wouldn't matter (and maybe that last one still won't matter). With the added weapons and offensive minds that will play to Trubisky's strengths, this offense has everything it needs to put up points.

Now it's time for Trubisky to deliver.

Kylie Fitts Is the Chicago Bears Lottery Ticket

In the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears took a high-risk, high-reward prospect in Utah edge rusher, Kylie Fitts. Considering it was the sixth round, it was a great time to take a chance on a guy, because it certainly won't be the end of the world if the guy even makes the roster. The reason he is risky is that he has some serious durability issues. Due to this, he never was really able to find his groove on a football field. He's raw, but the dude is an athlete, and I would 100% classify this guy as a physical freak.

Do you like speed? Do you like strength? Do you like ridiculous quickness on top of that? Yeah, Kylie Fitts has got it all going physically. Still, because of injuries, his best year was in 2015 when he had 41 tackles with seven sacks. That is a really good year for a sophomore, but because of injuries, he never improved on it. So I went to the 2017 tape and checked out his game against West Virginia to see if he had the ability to turn his athleticism into actual football skills.

You can definitely see his strength on tape as he is able to move linemen that get in his way, but he didn't really show the moves to take advantage of a guy back-pedaling on him.

As for highlights? Well, there really wasn't anything of note. You could see the athleticism as he moved well and showed explosiveness on certain occasions, but it never turned into anything in regards to production.

Conclusion
Kylie Fitts has the greatest chance of any Bears draft pick to never see the field in Chicago. That being said, with his athletic traits, his potential is through the roof. There are already reports that he was tearing it up at minicamp, and this doesn't surprise me at all. If he can just stay healthy, he's probably athletic enough to at least become a situational pass rusher. If he can take advantage of health and refine his technique, he could be one of the great steals of this draft. In the sixth round, you really couldn't ask for any more than that.

Can Bilal Nichols Equal a Dime for the Chicago Bears?

The Chicago Bears were a team last year that was bad on offense and not very good on defense, but they weren't very bad either. The team invested heavily in the offense during free agency and continued that with two of their first three picks. After that, the focus was clearly defense. They had already added two linebackers in the first four rounds, so in round five, they added some beef by drafting Delaware Defensive Tackle, Bilal Nichols.

Since there isn't a whole lot of tape of Delaware, I went to the tale of the tape to see how Bilal Nichols performed at the combine. When I looked up the numbers, one thing was clear: Nichols tore it up.

Maybe the most important thing is that Broad Jump number as that shows the explosiveness that he possesses as an athlete. Nichols is not a big player for defensive tackle, but with that explosion, he could be very valuable rushing the passer from the interior.

Luckily, and incredibly surprising, Bilal Nichols has game tape on YouTube. Not only that, it's against a legitimate opponent with his performance against Virginia Tech.

Although Nichols is a good athlete, he doesn't really have any pass rushing moves. It was mostly just push and hope for the best. Occasionally, he would just fall back and spy the quarterback. Part of this may have been that he was playing out of position as a nose tackle the majority of the time which is not a role I see him fulfilling at the next level.

Although he wasn't lighting it up with highlight reel plays, the positive was that he seemed to show good hustle throughout the game and seems to have a good motor on him. On this play, that motor paid off.

It's not exactly some great highlight as the center does enough on 99% of plays, but good on Nichols for continuing to work and finding his way to the quarterback.

Conclusion
Nichols is a good athlete with a good motor and not much for moves. Since he went to a smaller school, it may be likely that he didn't get the best coaching so maybe the Bears can tap into that potential. Also, the Bears will almost definitely shy away from lining him up as a nose guard which should give him more of an opportunity to be a playmaker. Right now, I don't see him as anything more than defensive line depth, but he could carve out a larger role down the line.

Joel Iyiegbuniwe - Chicago Bears Select a Linebacker More Into Telling Than Spelling

The Bears first three picks were all fairly well known players and made scouting them rather easy. After that, the Bears went slightly more obscure in their choices. I'm not a snobby guy who thinks that brand names are always better, so that is why I am excited to tackle the second half of the Bears draft, starting with Western Kentucky Linebacker, Joel Iyiegbuniwe. Unfortunately, I'll be tackling it without video, so let's get weird with this one.

Athletically, Iyiegbuniwe is fairly average.
He had a very good 40-yard dash, but outside of that, he was middle of the pack in just about every category that was measured at the combine, unless you're one of those people who really loves linebacker hand size, in which case, there are two categories that he shined in at the combine.

Iyiegbuniwe was a tackling machine during his Junior season as he racked up 117 tackles, and although he only had two sacks, he did put up 11.5 tackles for loss. He was a Conference USA first-team defensive selection at linebacker.

The Bears did put up a one minute highlight video of Iyiegbuniwe, and their video department either left some to be desired or this guy really doesn't have many impressive plays. I'm going to bet on the former as NFL Network did name him the Bears sneaky good draft pick.

Conclusion
So what to make of Joel Iyiegbuniwe? He's a good but not great athlete who made a lot of tackles for Western Kentucky last year. He was able to make some plays in the backfield but does not have any bonafides as a pass rusher. After drafting Roquan Smith, the Bears need more help on the outside than they do at inside linebacker, although Iyiegbuniwe is likely to start off as a backup at either position. If he's a special teams contributor and plays competent at linebacker in limited time, it will be considered a success. If he can bloom into an average starter down the line, then that would be fantastic. I know it isn't sexy, but getting competent depth is a huge upgrade for a Bears defense that has been the shits for years. Most importantly, I can now spell Iyiegbuniwe without looking it up. 

Anthony Miller - Bringin' Down Home Memphis Cookin' to The Windy City

After selecting James Daniels in the second round, it appeared the Bears were done for day two as they did not have a third round pick. But the Bears saw a guy falling that they liked, and they made a move to go get him. Trading their first of two fourth-round picks as well as a 2019 second-round pic, they were able to help give Mitch Trubisky another dangerous weapon by taking Anthony Miller, wide receiver out of Memphis with the 51st pick in the draft. My initial thought when I heard they took Anthony Miller was a slight bit of disappointment, but that was based more off of a huge crush I had on Oklahoma State wide receiver, James Washington, who reminded me of Steve Smith. But to be totally honest, I didn't know shit about Anthony Miller. So let's find out about him together by taking a look at his game against UCLA.

Before even showing any plays, the thing that really stood out to me is how much Memphis must have loved Anthony Miller, because they lined him up all over the field to find ways to get the ball in his hand. He'd be out wide, in the slot, in motion for a jet sweep, even lined up as a fullback, it was clear that Memphis valued getting him the ball.
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The next thing to talk about is the dude can catch which is probably the most essential feature in becoming a successful wide receiver. Still, he made some very impressive catches in this game.

Here, he goes full extension to make the diving catch. He does a great job of tracking the football, as he originally breaks in on his route, but has to fade to the outside to give him a chance at the football. He takes the only angle that gives him a chance to make a play.

on top of having great hands, he also knows how to create separation.

Here, he does a quick stutter move to the inside before breaking his route outside the corner, which gives him enough separation to track the ball and catch it for an easy touchdown.

Memphis clearly loved Miller. In the fourth quarter when they needed a first down to avoid giving it back to a Josh Rosen-led team that had already put up 45 points, there was only one guy that they would consider going to.

This is a great example of Memphis putting Miller in different positions in order to utilize his abilities. His versatility will be one of his most valuable assets. Another valuable asset is the way he adjusts to a ball thrown behind him with a defender coming to clean his clock. He manages to make the catch and avoid the big hit; it was a win-win for Miller.

He's also good after the catch.

This is something that you would expect to see on somebody's high school highlight tape. He bobbles the ball, slips, nearly falls down, but then bounces out of two tackles, turns the corner on a defender and speeds right by him before happily high-stepping out of bounds. This is a great play, and yes, UCLA's defense was super awful.

Finally, let's see him combine a great catch with a great run after the catch.

Catching that ball behind him is very impressive, and again, he is able to keep his balance and allow himself to create after the catch. He breaks a tackle, jukes another guy, and then uses his speed to turn the corner down the sideline. He is very good at football stuff.

Conclusion
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned my disappointment with the Bears not taking James Washington. After watching the tape on Miller, a lot of what I loved about James Washington I can see in Anthony Miller. He tracks the ball well and can make plays after the catch. I also think he complements Allen Robinson very well in the passing attack. With Matt Nagy being very creative with how he gets players the ball, Miller could be used in a variety of formations and cause a lot of damage. I am starting to get very excited about the Bears 2018 season, and that terrifies me. I'm not going to jinx it yet, there's still quite a few draft picks to look at.

James Daniels - The Bears Finally Drafted an Iowa Hawkeye for Me

The Chicago Bears made me a very happy man when they selected a man who shares my alma mater, the University of Iowa, when they took James Daniels, an offensive lineman for the Hawkeyes. I say offensive lineman, because although he exclusively played center in college, there are already rumors of a move to guard for Daniels. Since offensive linemen don't get love from the tape community, let's watch the tape for Akrum Wadley and keep an eye on Daniels. If you can't figure out which one he is, he's the guy snapping the ball, so that should help.

James Daniels is not your typical Iowa offensive lineman who makes up for a lack of physical ability with great technique. He has incredible athleticism for an offensive lineman and proved it at the combine when he set the bar in both the 3-cone drill and the 20 yard shuttle.

But he's still an Iowa offensive lineman which means he has been well trained on the tricks of the trade in offensive line play. Although he isn't a big guy (by offensive line standards), he has very good technique and knows how to use leverage to his advantage.

Here, Daniels gets under the defensive tackle and can basically move him wherever he wants at that point. He just keeps driving him out of the way, even when his running back is 15 yards down field.

Daniels also shows excellent technique in pass blocking as well.

Here he is pass blocking but still shows enough aggression to push his defender on the far side of the right tackle. After that, the defender runs into a double team and his best option is to flop to the ground to avoid the abuse.

On this play, the Ohio State defender gets the better of Daniels off the snap, but this may be Daniels's most impressive play.

Even with the defender getting underneath him and pushing him back, Daniels is able to use his hips to anchor himself and stop the momentum.

Here, Daniels responsibility is to help the guard with the defensive tackle, but his awareness is what shines on this play.

While helping his guard out, he notices an Ohio State linebacker coming on a delayed blitz so he breaks off and stops the guy's momentum to give the quarterback a pocket to throw the ball.

Here is some more excellent pass blocking from Daniels

You just have to feel bad for the Ohio State defender. All of his buddies are charging up field and trying to get to the quarterback. Meanwhile, he's just stuck at the line of scrimmage, trying to dip, dive, and dodge his way past Daniels, but it's no use.

Conclusion
Overall, there's a ton to like here. I would prefer for him to stay at center due to his weight, but I'm not doubting that he can hang in there against most defensive tackles. Also, he is going to be a monster when he pulls because of the way he can move in space. There is also the fact that he is only 20 years old so putting on some extra poundage isn't that hard to imagine. There were a lot of people who had Daniels as their top center in the draft and behind only Quenton Nelson for interior offensive linemen. Considering the Bears were able to nab him as the third center off the board is great value. Even without my totally biased Iowa glasses on, this is a great pick that should help solidify the interior of the Bears offensive line.

Roquan Smith - The Bulldog That Turned Into a Monster (of the Midway)

With the eighth overall selection of the NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears selected Roquan Smith, a linebacker from the Georgia Bulldogs. Leading up to the draft, I was very excited about the potential of Smith, and even though all Bears fans developed a massive crush on Quenton Nelson, things didn't fall that way, and I am incredibly happy with the selection the Bears were able to make. So what did the Bears get in Roquan? Let's take a look by checking out his games against Mississippi State and Auburn.

Although Roquan Smith is a "small" linebacker at 238 pounds, he does a good job of being crafty when taking on bigger offensive blockers.

Here, Mississippi State's center goes for a half chop block, half spear, but Smith does a good job of bouncing back off the block while staying on his feet where he is able to still make the tackle on the screen play.

Although Smith is an off-the-ball linebacker, he can blitz when necessary.

So, pretty obvious that his murder of the MSU quarterback is the big thing on this play, but there is more to it than that. He starts moving to his right on the ball fake, and the split second that the running back runs without the ball, he goes into a dead sprint mode where he unfortunately ends a life. RIP, Nick Fitzgerald.

Another example of him reading the field is this play in zone coverage on a third and seven.

Here he sets up the quarterback by giving the receiver room and already having his angle perfected before the pass is thrown to make the tackle before the first down marker. The hit and wrap up is also textbook.

He's also good when he is forced into man coverage.

He is able to follow the receiver while looking back towards the quarterback and times his jump well to easily swat the ball away.

This final play shows that he is not only good at diagnosing plays, but he also has an incredible ability to change directions.
He takes off towards the quarterback at the start of the play but recognizes the running back leaking out into the flat and is able to put a foot in the grass and change direction to shut down any outlet throw from the quarterback.

Conclusion
Before the draft, I wrote about how good Josey Jewell was at all aspects of being a linebacker. The only question with Jewell was his athleticism. Well, Roquan Smith is Josey Jewell if Jewell was a freak athlete. The only question mark is size, and at 238 pounds, I don't think it's a bit of a reach to call it an issue. Will he get blown up by offensive linemen on occasion? Of course, but that happens to all linebackers. Smith has All-Pro potential at middle linebacker, and the city of Chicago is going to freaking love him. It was a great start to the Bears draft and will hopefully kick off a new era in Chicago Bears football.

The Top 5 USA Freestyle Wrestlers at 57 KG

I went to the UWW Freestyle World Cup in Iowa City, and it was awesome. The United States won the title and showed that they are going to be one of the best nations in the world at wrestling for the foreseeable future. Now unfortunately, due to a bunch of bullshit politics, Iran and Russia were not able to attend the event. Iran is solid but probably not any better than the Azerbaijan team that the United States beat in the finals. Russia is a different beast, and right now, them and the USA stand above the rest of the world in freestyle wrestling. But after watching the best that the United States has to offer, I wanted to break down all of the weight classes to see who would be representing the United States later this year at the World Championships. Let's start at 57 KG (approximately 126 pounds) where the United States won a Silver Medal at last year's World Championships.

5. Daton Fix
Fix is the guy I know the least about, mostly since he has only had unattached matches for Oklahoma State as he took a redshirt this season. Still, the guy won the Junior World Title last year, so the bonafides are definitely there. Stepping up from the Junior to the Senior level is still incredibly difficult, and although I think he can have a good showing, I don't think he's quite ready to take on some of the older competition.

4. Tony Ramos
This is where some of my stupidity shines through as I'm going to play psychologist. But doesn't Tony Ramos seem happy? I think that's a great thing, but that dude always seemed pissed off back in the day, and that was part of his edge. Now that he's a happy adult, how driven is he? We really haven't seen anything from him since Gilman beat him at the US Open last year. This is another guy who could definitely rise up and take the top spot, as working with Coleman Scott should add some new tricks to his repertoire, but I could just as easily see him getting upset early and really never being a top guy for the USA ever again.

3. Nathan Tomasello
Tomasello had a disappointing senior season, but really, he did exactly what you would have expected outside of running into a buzzsaw from Iowa. Tomasello was big enough to wrestle at 133 the previous season, and I think the weight cut may have worn on him. Just having to peak a few times a year will likely help him at the lower weight, and I do think he is going to be a tough out for anyone in the tournament. But I still have him falling just short of making the finals.

2. Thomas Gilman
How Gilman is only number two may shock some people. Not only was Gilman the representative for the United States last year, he won the damn Silver Medal at the World Championships. Do I think the USA should definitely be taking gold this year? Not at all, but I do think that just about everything worked out for Gilman last year. He managed to pull off every close match, and I just don't think that is a repeatable skill. Now, that being said, as a medal winner last year, he's already guaranteed a spot in the finals, so he only has to win two close matches instead of five. But, if I'm being totally honest, I would have put him fourth on this list if he wasn't guaranteed a finals spot. I doubted him last year, and he made me look stupid. I certainly won't be disappointed if he does that again.

1. Spencer Lee
I know Lee is coming off of his true freshman season, and he has never competed at the senior level, and it's insane to pick someone with no track record of success at that level. BUT, did you see Lee at the NCAA Championships? I know folkstyle and freestyle are different beasts, but Lee turned EVERYBODY. If he gets a takedown, he could end the match in an instant at the freestyle level. So the question becomes how good is Lee on his feet. He looked pretty damn unstoppable at the NCAA Tournament once he got that knee brace off. It's too early to say he's going to be a lightweight version of Kyle Snyder, but after what we saw from him, is it really a crazy prediction? I was about 50/50 on him winning an NCAA Championship, and the only way I can ever see giving him odds that low is if he's facing off against 57 KG's number one ranked wrestler, Japan's Yuki Takahashi, at the World Championships. I wouldn't be surprised if that match was for a gold medal, and I certainly wouldn't bet against him.

Josh Jackson - 2018 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Josh Jackson was an absolute revelation this year. He went from being a guy who some fans weren't sure was good enough to start for the team to being named the best defensive back in the entire Big Ten. It was an incredible year so it made sense for him to leave school early to go to the NFL. And although Jackson had plenty of highlights, I wanted to take a deeper look at things by studying his tape against Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Purdue.

I am about to give a whole lot of positives regarding Josh Jackson. But, to start, I will point out the one negative that kept popping up in his coverage, and that was the cushion that he gave receivers off of the line of scrimmage.

Right here, Jackson really gives himself no chance of success. He's only lined up about five yards off the line of scrimmage, but he immediately jumps back at the snap, and then he loses ground by getting picked by the referee in the middle. On a third-and-five play, he needs to be more aggressive on the receiver, as this is an easy conversion for Penn State for the first down.

The only other possible negative would be his speed which is definitely a question mark, but in teh games I watched, it wasn't really an issue. Also, as we'll talk about later on, if Jackson can even stay remotely close, he's going to make it hard on any receiver to make a play.

Josh Jackson is a very smart player. Here, he carries the receiver running deep far enough for the safety come comfortably over the top, but recognizes the underneath route.

The second that the quarterback sets his feet to go for that underneath route, Jackson stops and attacks the football for the interception.

Josh Jackson did an excellent job of undercutting routes this past season.

Instead of trying to play over the top and hoping to break up a pass, Jackson lets the receiver get beyond him while using his hands to jam him up enough to stay close. He then cuts right under the receiver's route to get his hands on the ball and rip it away from what turns out to be a helpless receiver for the interception.

He can also undercut out routes as well.

I would say that it doesn't get any easier than that, but he actually had another pick-six that was easier than that in the Wisconsin game where he basically caught a pop up and just had to jog into the end zone from there.

Advice for quarterbacks: Do not throw a fade on Josh Jackson.


No, I'm serious. DO NOT THROW A FADE TOWARDS JOSH JACKSON.


If you're going to throw to your wide receiver, make sure he has a couple steps on Jackson, as then there will be no way for him to do anything about it...

OH CRAP. Just don't throw towards Josh Jackson. Your life will be much easier if you just avoid a bad situation.

Summary
When you watch Josh Jackson's junior season, it's impossible to not come away impressed. He dominated his competition, and the only time he didn't make a big play was when quarterbacks were too scared to throw it to his side of the field. Still, there are question marks. I would have liked to see him be more aggressive in coverage at times, and I also think there is the giant concern of him not really covering anybody of importance in the Big Ten. I mean, he was simply never given the opportunity, so it is a question mark on whether he has the athletic ability to keep up with top receivers in the NFL. He also has a very short track record of success as this was not the guy Hawkeye fans saw during his first two seasons as he could barely hold onto playing time before last season. But man, those ball skills are legit, and it gives you something to dream on. Still, I think the lack of athleticism keeps him from being an elite corner. I do think he becomes a very good second cornerback, but I can't buy him covering number one guys until I actually have a chance to see it. There's still a lot of value in that, and I think a team that takes him in the second round or later will be incredibly pleased with their decision.

Iowa Scouting Reports:
Josey Jewell - Linebacker

Josey Jewell - 2018 NFL Draft Scouting Report

With the NFL Draft fast approaching, it's time to start breaking down the top players from the Iowa Hawkeyes. I wanted to start with Josey Jewell, as even though he is not considered the best prospect, he was the guy who had the best career as a player for Iowa. Josey Jewell was a linebacker who was all over the field and likely top-10 draft pick, Josh Allen (who is quite tall), said that Jewell was the best player he played against while in college. That's some hefty praise, and as an Iowa fan, I certainly don't want to disagree, but I can't blindly agree either, so I watched his games against Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Ohio State.

The thing that you are going to hear over and over about Jewell is that he is a guy who is always in the right place at the right time, and that gives him an opportunity to take advantage of favorable circumstances

It's not like this is an incredible play, but it's a sign of a larger situation that he always finds himself around the football.

Need more proof? Here he is being in the proper place in the zone to get an easy interception from Trace McSorley.

I had to include this second one for the mocking of McSorley at the end, because Jewell had built up enough cache with Kirk to actually show personality. You have to be one hell of a player to reach that level.

Of course, not all was great against Penn State as Saquon Barkley made him pay for it later in the game.

That's more of a case of how good Saquon Barkley is as opposed to any deficit in Jewell's game. But it does show that no matter how fundamentally sound and sure of a tackler you are, if you run into an athlete on the caliber of Barkley, you're going to look bad on occasion.

Jewell is not only great at diagnosing plays quickly, but he finds a way to weasel his way through to make plays. Here, he does an excellent job to destroy any chances of this screen pass succeeding.

This is not a case of two blockers not being able to stop Jewell; this is two offensive linemen who can't do any more than each get a single hand on him. He stutters just enough to fool both of them, split the seam and make the play. This is something that I saw multiple times in games with Jewell. He just knows how to find the crease and get between blockers to make a play.

The guy has the fundamentals down.

Tackling Saquon Barkley is never easy, but to keep up with him on a pass route and wrap him up in the open field shows that even though Jewell isn't a premier athlete, he knows how to get the most out of his athletic attributes.

This is a ridiculous play where Jewell has a good hit put on him but manages to stay on his feet and still make the play.

That level of body control is truly incredible. Barkley cuts Jewell with his block, but Jewell is able to catch himself with his hands, pop back up, stick his right arm out and somehow stop McSorley's progress enough to stop him from getting the first down with the help of some of his friends.

Jewell isn't even the most impressive player on this play as AJ Epenesa absolutely blows up Saquon Barkley on the play fake.
But Jewell sticks with the ball and doesn't let the quarterback anywhere near the line of scrimmage. Jewell may not impress on rushing a quarterback, but if that quarterback decides to rush, Josey will be there to make him pay.

Although Josey Jewell is not the most physically gifted player, he is more than able to make up for that with an incredible ability to diagnose plays quickly and put himself in a position to succeed. Do I see him becoming a Pro Bowler? No. But I think you can get yourself a starting caliber player who will come out and play well for you each and every week. He's not going to wow you with flashes of brilliance, but he's going to be in the right place at the right time, and it's tough to see a guy like that not succeeding at the next level. 

Grading Each Iowa Wrestler's Performance at the NCAA Tournament

The NCAA  Tournament concluded this wrestling season which is one of my most manic-depressive moments of the year. It is such a high to have about 20 hours of wrestling to watch over three days and then have nothing for eight months. But at least we ended on a high note as the Hawkeyes performed incredibly well at the tournament, and although a few guys didn't quite live up to expectations, there was really only one dud of a performance. Let's grade each wrestler, from worst to best performance this past weekend.

10. Paul Glynn - 133 - Incomplete
Paul Glynn did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament so not a lot to say about his performance.

9. Joey Gunther - 174 - D
Gunther had two matches in the NCAA Tournament, and he went 0-2. That's...less than ideal. His first match was against 13 seed, Jacobe Smith. That's a fairly good draw as an unseeded guy, but Gunther did not take advantage and ended up giving up a major decision. Smith did end up becoming an All-American with an eighth place finish, so it is slightly more acceptable. He then lost a closer match to Josef Johnson, but Gunther again got no offense going. He showed up, but that was about it.

8. Brandon Sorensen - 149 - B-
Sorensen finishes this low despite having the third best finish of any Iowa wrestler where he took fifth place at 149. Still, anything short of making the NCAA Finals was going to be a disappointment for Sorensen, and unfortunately for him, those dreams ended early. After a nice 11-6 win over Jared Prince from Navy, Sorensen took on Ronald Perry from Lock Haven. Perry stalled throughout the match but nailed his one shot for a takedown late in the third and Sorensen wasn't able to answer. Although losing to the 15 seed is a tough pill to swallow, Perry did make it all the way to the NCAA Finals. After that, Sorensen caught fire and took a major decision over DeLuca from Rutgers, a decision over Deakin from Northwestern, and major decisions from both Hayes (Ohio State) and Lewallen (Oklahoma State). On Saturday morning, he took on Matt Kolodzik from Princeton and again failed to get to his offense and lost a close decision. That sent him to the fifth place match where he shut out Grant Leeth of Missouri 4-0. Overall, it wasn't a bad performance, but it just left you wanting more, as I'm sure Sorensen himself expected more of himself. Still, he goes out a 4-time All-American at Iowa, which is one hell of an accomplishment, and he will definitely be missed.

7. Vince Turk - 141 - B
Turk came into the tournament unseeded and had the extra disadvantage of having a pigtail match before he even made it into the bracket of 32. He ended up getting a major decision in his first match. His second match pitted him against 16th seeded Cole Weaver, a guy Turk had lost to at the Midlands this season. It looked like more of the same as Weaver was ahead late in the match, but with less than ten seconds left Turk, not only got the takedown but took him to his back for a two-count and won 4-3 in a match that had me jumping up and down and terrifying my dog. Unfortunately, that set up a match with #1 seed, Bryce Meredith. Although Turk got close on a couple shots, Meredith's defense was too much and Turk fell 5-2. He would then win a 3-2 decision over Limmex before losing a 3-2 decision to Chad Red of Nebraska. That was disheartening as Turk beat Red two weeks earlier at the Big Ten Tournament, but Red was wrestling very well at the tournament and ended up taking seventh place and becoming an All-American. Overall, the progress Turk made from the beginning of the year until the end was truly amazing, and his relentless offense with absolutely no defense was always fun to watch.

6. Mitch Bowman - 184 - B+
Bowman had a similar tournament to Turk. He was able to take out the 15th seeded wrestler at 184 in Missouri's Canten Marriott with a pretty damn impressive 10-2 major decision. Unfortunately, he was on the wrong side of a major decision when he faced second-seeded Myles Martin. But Bowman bounced back with a 4-3 win over Eastern Michigan before running into seventh seeded Taylor Venz. Venz proved too much for Bowman and too much for most, as Venz ended up taking fourth place at 184. Bowman came in unranked and lost to the guys who took second and fourth place. He got bonus points over a ranked guy, you really can't ask much more from the guy than that.

5. Cash Wilcke - 197 - B+
I'm going to sound like a broken record at this point. Good first match, got matched up against the guy who would go on to make the Finals and lost. Then, he went on a tear on the backside of the bracket, getting a pin and then winning in overtime to again make it into the Round of 12, the blood round, for the second consecutive year. That is where he got matched up against top-seeded Kollin Moore; Wilcke again came short of his quest to become an All-American.

I would just like to point out that Iowa only had one loss to a wrestler that did not become an All-American, and that was Gunther's loss to Josef Johnson. In fact, here are the placements of all of their losses.

UR, 8, 8, 7, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1

That is INSANE. Over half of Iowa's losses at the tournament happened to guys that finished in the top three at their weight.

4. Alex Marinelli - 165 - A-
Four through two were the toughest guys to rank as you could basically place them anywhere. Marinelli came out and wrestled better than he has all year, and this is a guy who was undefeated going into the Big Ten Tournament. He just came out determined and pushed his will on people. He started with two straight pins before running into the 4-seed, Chad Walsh of Rider. It was a battle from start to finish, but Marinelli gritted out a 7-6 win. He then took on two-time National Champion, Isaiah Martinez, and Marinelli did not have enough for IMAR. That started an unfortunate run of three straight losses which dropped him to sixth place. One was to Evan Wick, who was wrestling out of his mind and ended up in third, and the other was to David McFadden, in a match that was close but ended in a flash pin that seemed a little questionable to me. But let's not overlook the fact that Marinelli went in and attacked for every minute he was out there. It was fun to watch and he is definitely a national title contender for the 2019 season.

3. Sam Stoll - Heavyweight - A-
Stoll started off hot with a pin in his first match. After that, it looked like he would move on past Youssef Hermida of Maryland as he had the lead late in the match before giving up a six-point move and losing 7-2. That sent him to the consolation bracket where he didn't panic; he just started crushing dudes. He held Andrew Dunn of Virginia Tech scoreless in a 7-0 win. He followed that up with a pin over Purdue's Shawn Streck. That put him in the blood round against Nathan Butler of Stanford where he dominated in a 15-3 major decision. After that, he had Penn State's Nick Nevills who had beaten Stoll twice earlier this season. It went to overtime where Stoll got a big takedown to Nevills back for a four-point move and a 5-1 victory. After that, he took on Jacob Kasper. Stoll looked good early but got caught in a headlock and pinned. That sent him to the fifth place match where he ended his season in the best way possible, with a pin over Hofstra's Michael Hughes in the first period. Stoll got the slight edge for that victory over Nevills as that was probably the best non-Spencer Lee win of Iowa's tournament.

2. Michael Kemerer - 157 - A
Kemerer came out and showed why he was considered one of the top two guys at this weight class the entire year with pins in each of his first two matches. Of course, due to seeding stupidity, he was matched up against Jason Nolf in the quarterfinals, which was at least one, if not two rounds before that match should have taken place. Nolf did end up getting the decision as Kemerer couldn't find a way to generate offense against the Penn State stud. He went to the consolation side of the bracket and immediately drew second-seeded Joey Lavallee of Missouri. He won a convincing 5-2 decision. Then he took on the fourth-ranked Josh Shields and did the same thing to him, this time winning 6-2. Then he took on fifth ranked Alec Pantaleo, and he beat him 6-1. It was Kemerer doing exactly what you would expect on his way to the third place match. Unfortunately, Kemerer suffered a shoulder injury in the third place match and had to injury default. I'm not going to fault him for that. He lost to Jason Nolf, who everybody loses to. Outside of that, he showed why he is a top guy at this weight class, and he did it while clearly not being at 100%. Getting past Nolf is going to be tough, but I certainly wouldn't count Kemerer out.

1. Spencer Lee - 125 - A++
I have to give Spencer Lee a made up grade, because what he did was so unfathomably dominant that an A+ simply wouldn't do the trick. In my most ideal scenario for Lee, I would have had him dominating his first two opponents, pulling a major decision against Piccininni, getting a one-point win over Tomasello, and doing the same in the finals against Suriano. That was the best case scenario in my mind. That would have been an amazing tournament. Instead, he went out and did this:

1st Round: 18-0 Technical Fall in 1:41 over Alonzo Allen of Chattanooga
2nd Round: 18-0 Technical Fall in 3:59 over Luke Welch of Purdue
Quarterfinals: Fall in 3:58 over Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State
Semifinals: Fall in 6:02 over Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State
Finals: 5-1 Decision over Nick Suriano of Rutgers

When it was all said and done, he outscored his opponents 60-4 and scored 27 team points by himself. If Spencer Lee was a team, he would have tied for 20th place on his own.

Before the tournament started, I was super high on Spencer Lee. I thought he had a very good chance of becoming the greatest wrestler of the Tom Brands era. Now? He's got a shot to be the greatest wrestler to ever wear an Iowa singlet. That's not hyperbole; he's that damn good. 

Baker Mayfield - 2018 NFL Draft Scouting Report

You know what the most fun thing about Oklahoma quarterback, Baker Mayfield, is? No matter who you talk to, every single person seems to have a strong opinion of Mayfield. Somehow, nobody is on the fence about this guy. Either he's a gamer who knows what it takes to win in the biggest games, or he is the next Johnny Manziel, who is going to give more headaches for his own team than the opposing one. I'm much closer to the former than the latter, as I think the worst thing he really did was grab his dick at a team that had been playing dirty trying to stop him. There are worse things. Still, I wasn't sure what to think of Mayfield as a quarterback, so I took a deep dive and checked out his games against Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Kansas State.

The first thing that I really liked is his ability to scan the field and work through progressions.

On this play, you can see his first option is off to the right side, he then looks all the way to the left before coming back to the middle of the field to find an open receiver 15 yards down the field on third down. He also does a good job of stepping up in an open area of the pocket so the rush coming around both edges never gets near him.

Pocket awareness was something that he was able to consistently show as he has a much tighter pocket on this play.

This play isn't going to wow anyone in the stat sheet, but it's one of my favorite plays from Mayfield. He takes the snap halfway into his own endzone. Ohio State is only sending four, but they send a stunt on the offense's left side. Mayfield recognizes that he has some space to move up, skitters his way up, sets his feet and delivers a throw that gets the offense out of trouble. There are so many quarterbacks that panic and throw the ball away or try to run the ball to keep it out of the endzone. This play is an excellent indication of Mayfield's awareness and composure.

That brings me to the next positive point with Mayfield, and that is his patience.

There are so many times where quarterbacks just throw the ball away in this situation just to play for another down and not take a loss. Instead of just standing still, he moves out of the pocket to give him some space, directs traffic and gets a positive play.

Now I must also point out that sometimes this can be a curse, as he does have a tendency to always look to make a play instead of throwing the ball away to avoid a loss. He took a lot of coverage sacks as he was always trying to make something happen, but it was often taking sacks instead of interceptions as he didn't force a ton of balls. I will say that he greatly benefited from having such an excellent offensive line as pressure usually took a while to get to him.

Another thing is that Oklahoma moved him outside of the pocket a lot. It's a smart strategy, but it does make me question how well he will handle being primarily in a pocket and possibly not having as dominant of an offensive line.

Another thing that may make people nervous is that he is full of frenetic energy, almost jittery when he is behind the line of scrimmage.

It looks a bit spastic, but this may also be what helps him with his footwork as he never gets stuck in one spot, and he can quickly set his feet and fire the ball as he looks for open receivers.

And Mayfield is a good athlete. He's not going to set the world on fire with his running ability, but he can utilize it to make plays.

That stiff arm isn't going to be in any instructional videos, but it got the damn thing done.

I've seen people question the arm strength, but I do not see it as an issue. It's not elite, but it's not a detriment to his success either. The good news about the arm is that he is by far the most accurate quarterback I have seen so far this year.

That's a thing of beauty. And just for fun, here's another great throw.

Summary
As you can probably tell from the evidence above, I really like Baker Mayfield. The only major prospect that I haven't checked out yet is Sam Darnold, but Darnold is going to have to be pretty damn amazing to knock Mayfield from my top spot. I would take him over both of the Joshes without hesitation.

Is height an issue? It is, but we have seen guys around his height succeed, and he shares a lot of qualities with guys like Drew Brees and Russell Wilson. My biggest concern is whether he can handle tighter concepts outside of a spread offense. But here's the thing: He shouldn't really have to. The best offenses are the ones that gear their schemes to the quarterback as he is the most important player on the team. If there are offenses designed to turn Jared Goff from the worst quarterback in the league to one of the best, Case Keenum reclamation, and Nick Foles winning a Super Bowl, I'm pretty sure it won't be mission impossible to design an offense where Baker Mayfield succeeds in the NFL.

Are there character concerns? I mean, sure, there is enough reason to be concerned, but I don't think any of this shit actually matters. He made a bad decision when intoxicated, grabbed his dick, and tried to plant a flag in astroturf. The last one is the most concerning as that just ain't gonna work, man. The other things just aren't a big deal. If I was a fan of a team that needed a quarterback (it is so weird to be a Bears fan and not be in this boat), I wouldn't hesitate putting Mayfield in charge of my franchise.

2018 Scouting Reports
Josh Rosen - Quarterback - UCLA
Josh Allen - Quarterback - Wyoming
Mason Rudolph - Quarterback - Oklahoma State
Lamar Jackson - Quarterback - Louisville

The Best 5 Free Agents for the Chicago Bears

The NFL offseason is beginning soon, so I wanted to take this time to point out who the Chicago Bears should target during free agency. The Bears are going to have a little over $41 million to spend this offseason which should give them the opportunity to make a splash to help improve the team for 2018. Here are five guys I would like to see the Bears target in the next couple weeks.

5. Matt Barkley
First off, let's go with a simple addition that will hopefully never have to be used. The Bears are probably releasing Mike Glennon this offseason and since they will need a backup quarterback, why not bring back Matt Barkley? He wasn't great, but he was plenty good enough to be a backup, and he'll come cheap. Also, since I'm pretty sure John David Booty and Matt Leinart are retired, this is my only USC quarterback crush in the NFL, so I would like to be able to cheer for him...while he cheers on the sidelines.

4. Adrian Clayborn
My first Iowa homer pick. The Chicago Bears have some decent options on the defensive line but nobody that stands out. Clayborn isn't going to set the world on fire, but he did have 9.5 sacks this past season and his versatility could greatly benefit the Bears as he can fill multiple roles.

3. Anthony Hitchens
My second Iowa homer pick, but this one might be even more justified. The Bears current linebacking corps is...uninspiring. They're fine, but nobody stands out. I know Hitchens isn't well known, but the guy is very good. He has the skills to play in any scheme, and it should be a rather inexpensive way to get a reliable linebacker to upgrade the defense.

2. Darqueze Dennard
If you are a longtime reader of the blog, you know that I am mildly obsessed with Darqueze's brother, Alfonzo. I screamed his praises before the draft, after the draft, and I even proposed him for the XFL Draft. This probably won't surprise you, but Darqueze has many of the same characteristics that made me fall in love with Alfonzo. Dennard was seen as a disappointment before this year, but he had a very good season, and I think it's a sign that he's turning the corner (no pun intended). It often takes cornerbacks a few years to find their way in the NFL, and with his limited track record, I think he could still provide good value and excellent play in the Bears secondary.

1. Sammy Watkins
I should probably also mention that I love Sammy Watkins. I went to the Orange Bowl between Clemson and Ohio State in 2014, and I will never forget what Sammy Watkins did in that game as it was the most dominating performance I have ever seen from a single player in a football game. He DESTROYED Ohio State, and it was GLORIOUS. Watkins has struggled with injuries as a pro, but he did stay healthy this past season. He has also never really had a great quarterback getting him the ball, but he's always been able to make plays. Also, he's still only 25 years old. I don't think he's going to break the bank, but I do think that he can be a legitimate number one receiver, and I would love to see Trubisky connecting with Watkins for the next 5-10 years.

Lamar Jackson - 2018 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Lamar Jackson is a Heisman Trophy winner who was pretty damn successful as a college quarterback at Louisville. This has not stopped people from completely dismissing him as a quarterback prospect in the NFL. It's not for a normal reason, as everyone seems to agree that he has a great arm. Most also agree that his accuracy leaves a little to be desired, but so does Josh Allen, and yet nobody is mentioning him as a guy who could use a position change. So you know what that means? It's because he's black. Yep, we're still doing this bullshit. But I'm not quite ready to move Jackson to wide receiver just because his skin is more cinnamon than sugar. Instead, I decided to take a look at his games against North Carolina, Florida State, North Carolina State, and Purdue.

Although everybody brings up how fast Lamar Jackson is, it undersells what his athletic ability to only look at him as a runner. He uses his speed and footwork to create space to make plays with his arm just as much as he does it with his feet.

This play is a success at the snap, and the defense has no way to stop it, as even without the wide receiver on the outside coming in to help with a pick, Jackson is able to get outside the pocket for an easy pitch and catch to his receiver.

Here, North Carolina State sends a perfect blitz up the middle and Lamar Jackson is screwed...

or maybe not. This looks like NC State called their play in Tecmo Bowl, and Lamar Jackson turned into QB Eagles to make a ridiculous play for a first down. Seriously, this play looks nearly identical.

If you send a great blitz up the middle, you better be damn sure that your defensive ends can contain, because Jackson will put on the burners and make you pay if he gets some open field.

One issue that showed up repeatedly was his inability to keep his eyes down the field when he gets pressured.

When he gets that pressure, his head goes down, and he's looking to make a play with his feet. When you have legs like Jackson, it's understandable, but if he can stretch out plays and keep looking for receivers, it would open up some big play opportunities.

The following was one of my favorite plays from Jackson, because he actually did evade pressure, put his eyes back up field, and make a hell of a throw across the middle of the field.

That is the ideal way that he would be able to use his athleticism in the NFL. His offensive line breaks down, but instead of going for a full flee, he sees that there is still a pocket if he can maneuver. He does so which gives him enough space to fire the ball down the middle of the field for a first down.

More often, even the threat of pressure with a closing pocket would be enough to get Jackson out of rhythm.

He has good protection on this play but fails to reset his feet, and he throws the ball well behind his receiver crossing over the middle.

Something that I noticed but couldn't confirm was how much better he was at throwing the ball over the middle of the field than he was toward the sidelines. I looked for passing charts for the season but couldn't find anything, so I can only say this anecdotally, but he seemed to be much more effective when he didn't need to worry as much about footwork than he was when he had to adjust and throw towards the sidelines.

Here is a nice touchdown pass where he sets it up by looking to his left to freeze the linebacker over the middle before pivoting and firing it to the open receiver in the endzone.

But this is not a strength of his game. He rarely scanned the field, but I think that is mostly by design. He did show this ability on occasions but never with much consistency. He often gets dead set on a certain receiver and just waits for that guy to get open with the second option being bailing out with his feet.

But let's not forget about what those legs can do.

I should have warned you that the clip was NSFW, because blowing up a crease like that can only be described as pornographic.

Summary
There is a lot to like about Lamar Jackson. He has some incredible physical gifts that have led him to great success. There is also a lot of room for improvement. He doesn't have much experience in working through reads, panics with pressure, and his inconsistent footwork leads to inconsistent results. Still, those physical traits are pretty damn incredible. Honestly, his struggles are pretty close to what you see in Josh Allen. Now, if you want to dream about what a quarterback can become, I would way rather take a chance to dream on Lamar Jackson's potential than I would Josh Allen.

With his physical traits, there is no way to find a quarterback with a higher ceiling in this class, but he also has major deficiencies that give him a relatively low floor. Most people are saying that he won't be a first round pick, and I do understand that. But I feel like coaching staffs have done a much better job of fitting schemes to their player, and because of that, I really can't imagine him getting out of the first round. You may say I'm a dreamer, but when it comes to NFL front offices, I can just about guarantee that I'm not the only one.

2018 Scouting Reports
Josh Rosen - Quarterback - UCLA
Josh Allen - Quarterback - Wyoming
Mason Rudolph - Quarterback - Oklahoma State

Josh Allen - 2018 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Last week, I started off the 2018 scouting reports with Josh Rosen of UCLA, so this week I figured I would keep the Josh Train going and head north to Wyoming to look at Josh Allen. I will admit that going into this that I already had a bias against Allen. It seems like people are coming up with excuses on why his on-field play should not matter as much as the tools, because the guy looks like an ideal quarterback.

But one of my skills is having an open mind. I assumed that Mitch Trubisky sucked, and then I watched him play, my jaw hit the floor, and I begged and pleaded for the Bears to take him. Apparently I begged too much as they traded a whole lot to have that opportunity when they could have just stayed at three. So the question becomes, will Josh Allen's play change my mind? To find out, I took a look at his 2018 games against Colorado State, Utah State, Central Michigan, and Iowa.

The first thing that jumps off the screen is that the rumors of his arm strength are very real. The guy has a cannon.

I'm not sure if I have ever seen more of a rocket pass in my life. That thing is an absolute rope. Honestly, if you want to advocate for Josh Allen, just show somebody the first quarter of the Central Michigan game. It's incredible and shows all of his good qualities while hiding his weaknesses.

He also does have the ability to put some touch on the ball, as he shows with this throw.

I'm not sure if the pump fake did anything, but it looked cool. But this was one of his most impressive throws as accuracy and touch are some of the big question marks with Allen.

When he has a clean pocket, he has the ability to move through progressions.

But when the pocket isn't as clean, he gets uncomfortable quickly, and his first instinct is to bail.

Since he bailed and threw off his back foot, he couldn't put any mustard on the ball and gave Josh Jackson his first interception of what would be an incredible year for the Iowa cornerback.

Speaking of embarrassing interceptions, here is an intercepted screen pass.

Again, he throws off his back foot and throws it three yards short of his intended target. I thought that would be the worst one, but it's not even close compared to this last one.

Because he was, yet again, throwing off his back foot, he couldn't manage to throw the ball out of bounds and managed to throw an interception while throwing the ball away. That's beyond embarrassing.

These issues weren't just caused by an inability to deal with pressure. Even in a clean pocket here, he just fails to set his feet and sails the throw on the deep pass.

And this is why he struggles with inaccuracy. I do think he deserves a little leeway when it comes to completion percentage because the surrounding talent at Wyoming was not the most impressive in the nation, but shitty mechanics lead to shitty results.

Athletically, he's not special, but the thing that stands out most about him running is he takes so many unnecessary hits. I couldn't believe how many times he was running along the sideline and dropped his shoulder instead of just running out of bounds. If he was a running back, I'd love the toughness, but he's a quarterback, and the most important ability is availability. They had a lot more designed runs than seemed necessary or beneficial.

I will say he does a hell of a job staying up on first contact in the pocket, as he was able to spin out of a lot of sacks. It mostly just gave him enough time to get rid of the ball, but as a football expert, I know that not losing yards is better than losing yards.

Summary
So, in the end, what do you have? You have a beautiful frame for a quarterback, with a rocket arm, solid athleticism, but considering the shit footwork, he has no idea how to use it. There will be many front offices that agree with that assessment but think that as long as they can clean up the footwork, they'll have a hell of a quarterback. But if it was so easy to clean up that footwork, why didn't a coach already do it? Add on to that the fact that he has a complete inability to deal with the slightest bit of pressure, you are praying for a miracle when drafting Josh Allen. Josh Allen is a blueprint for what a quarterback should look like, but he is also the blueprint of a quarterback who fails to impress at the professional level. Some team is going to watch that first quarter of Wyoming's bowl game and that tunnel vision will help them ignore every red flag along the way. If I was a fan of a team that needs a quarterback, I would be sick to my stomach come draft day. As a Bears fan, I don't have much to smile about; at least I can smile about that.

2018 Scouting Reports
Josh Rosen - Quarterback - UCLA