XFALpha Podcast Notes - AFC South Draft

New episode where we conclude our draft breakdown with the AFC South, talk a little Saved by the Bell and conclude Jonah's top 50 states. My notes and download links are below.

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AFC South

Houston Texans

Round 2 (40): DI Ross Blacklock, TCU - Smaller defensive tackle who showed no burst at the combine and didn’t produce much in college. I have trouble getting excited for something like this. 

Round 3 (90): EDGE Jonathan Greenard, Florida - There’s stories out there that they thought that they had a trade with Detroit worked out where the Lions would get Greenard, but then the trade didn’t go through, so they were stuck with Greenard. Bill O’Brien rules. 

Round 4 (126): OT Charlie Heck, UNC

Round 4 (141): CB John Reid, Penn State

Round 5 (171): WR Isaiah Coulter, Rhode Island

Undrafted - Auzoyah Alufohai - West Georgia defensive tackle that came from Nigeria before moving to Malaysia before moving to the States, getting put in the wrong grade, having to play catch up his whole time in high school and not being eligible for sports until his senior year. He’s raw, but hey, it’s something interesting.

Indianapolis Colts

Round 2 (34): WR Michael Pittman Jr., USC - Big receiver with NFL bloodlines. Possibly some Vincent Jackson to his game.

Round 2 (41): RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin - Taylor is a beast. He averaged 2000 yards rushing over three years in college. That’s beyond incredible. When he runs, people don’t want to tackle him. He doesn’t look like he should be fast, but when he gets to the open field, the man is gone. He proved that by testing out very well at the combine. I think his receiving skills are a little questionable, but for purely running the ball, I don’t think you can do better than Taylor.

Round 3 (85): S Julian Blackmon, Utah

Round 4 (122): QB Jacob Eason, Washington - Big arm, but not that accurate and can’t handle pressure. That shouldn’t harm him in the NFL.

Round 5 (149): IOL Danny Pinter, Ball State

Round 6 (193): DI Robert Windsor, Penn State

Round 6 (211): CB Isaiah Rodgers, UMass

Round 6 (212): WR Dezmon Patmon, Washington State

Round 6 (213): LB Jordan Glasgow, Michigan

Undrafted - Rodrigo Blankenship - Georgia’s kicker who won the Lou Groza award. He is very accurate without a huge leg. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

Round 1 (9): CB CJ Henderson, Florida - I never really bought into Henderson, good physical tools but a tendency to give up some big plays with 5 plays over 40 yards this past season. 

Round 1 (20): EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU - He blew up this past season with 6.5 sacks. Wait a minute, that’s not too good. Tough for me to get excited about this one even with good physical tools.

Round 2 (42): WR Laviska Shenault, Colorado - Love, love, love. Can do it all. Outside receiving, slot receiving, running back. He’s so dangerous with the ball in his hands, he has excellent technique catching it. If he’s healthy, this is a guaranteed stud. 

Round 3 (73): DI Davon Hamilton, Ohio State

Round 4 (116): OT Ben Bartch, St. John’s - Stud at the D3 level who showed he was legit at the Senior Bowl. 

Round 4 (137): CB Josiah Scott, Michigan State

Round 4 (140): LB Shaq Quarterman, Miami (Fla.)

Round 5 (157): S Daniel Thomas, Auburn

Round 5 (165): WR Collin Johnson, Texas

Round 6 (189): QB Jake Luton, Oregon State - He’s very tall. 

Round 6 (206): TE Tyler Davis, Georgia Tech

Round 7 (223): CB Chris Claybrooks, Memphis

Undrafted - J.R. Reed - Three year starter at safety for Georgia so you could do worse as an undrafted free agent.

Tennessee Titans

Round 1 (29): T Isaiah Wilson, Georgia - Georgia’s second best tackle who is huge at 6’6” 350 pounds and fairly explosive as well, but more of a run blocker than a pass protector.

Round 2 (61): CB Kristian Fulton, LSU - Really fell down draft boards because he was teammates with Derek Stingley Jr. so he was clearly only the second best corner on his team, but he also may have been the second best corner in this draft.

Round 3 (93): RB Darrynton Evans, App State - Derrick Henry provides the power, Evans provides the speed.

Round 5 (174): Edge Larrell Murchison, NC State

Round 7 (224): QB Cole McDonald, Hawaii - Good athlete who can sling the ball, but is getting Jameis Winston comparisons for his questionable decision making. Sign me up.

Round 7 (243): CB Chris Jackson, Marshall

Undrafted - Nick Westbrook - Wide receiver out of Indiana who was good his sophomore season and then stopped producing as Indiana’s quarterback situation got laughably bad. 

XFALpha Breaks Down the NFC East Draft

Another week and another division goes by as we go deep on the NFC East Draft. Also, we go over our top-10 two-sport athletes of all-time, and I make two controversial cases, although I stand by both of them. Finally, we end the episode with Jonah's 26-30th best states, and his list continues to be garbage, but at least I got to talk about a state that is near and dear to my heart.

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Reach out to us at the following places:

Email: xfalphapod@gmail.com 

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LeBron saying he would have liked to play for the Cowboys.

Two-sport athlete 

Must have gone pro or pro equivalent (Olympics, world championships, etc.). Just college doesn’t count - sorry, Jim Brown.

Two sports must be distinct

Michael Phelps doing freestyle and backstroke doesn’t count. And neither does Henry Cejudo winning a gold medal in wrestling and two UFC belts. Finally, sprinting does not count as a second sport.

More important to excel in two sports than just dominate in one and dabble in another so Walter Payton’s single Trans-Am race does not put him on this list for two-sport greatness.

Finally, and maybe most disappointingly, pro wrestling does not count as a second sport

1. Deion Sanders - Maybe the greatest cornerback ever. Also, his baseball career was pretty damn impressive for a part-timer. In basically half a season worth of at bats, he led the league in triples with 14. He also nearly slugged .500 that season so it’s not like he was a total slap hitter.
2. Stephen Neal - World Champion Heavyweight Wrestler in 1999 and nine years as an above average guard. Also had a 27 yard kickoff return.
3. Herschel Walker - Three-sport athlete with MMA and olympic-level bobsled in 1992. He was so good for the Cowboys that the Vikings decided to build a dynasty for Dallas in order to get him.
4. Bo Jackson - Baseball and football - not enough of a track record - Never had 1000 yards and his highest touchdown total was 5. He retired when he was 28, Barry Sanders was 30. People always wonder what Bo could have done if healthy, but it was more what Bo could have done had he had a normal path to the NFL and not held out so he didn’t have to play for the Bucs. Good baseball player but struggled with average due to high strikeouts.
5. Brian Jordan - three years with the Falcons and a really good baseball player with a fifteen year career. 
6. Carlton Haselrig - All-pro offesnive lineman, 3-time NCAA Champion and competed internationally but his only real success was at the junior level so he switched to football instead of trying to topple Bruce Baumgartner.
7. Ed Too Tall Jones - Hall of Fame defensive lineman and 6-0 as a boxer.but only fought one legit opponent who may have knocked him out had he not gotten ammonia after being knocked to the mat. Beat up five cans.
8. Danny Ainge - Three-year baseball career along with 15 years in basketball.
9. Marquise Goodwin - Olympic long jumper / NFL Wide Receiver. 
10. Tom Candiotti - Hall of Fame bowler (celebrity wing) and knuckleball pitcher

Jim Thorpe - anybody could play pro football back then, and his Olympics win, although impressive was against 28 nations, and like a quarter of the athletes were from Sweden. 

Babe Didrikson Zaharias - Again, lack of competition, also I’m not going to call golf a sport.

NFC East

Dallas - Damnit, it’s great

1st Round - CeeDee Lamb - Lamb gets a ton of DeAndre Hopkins comparisons, which I think is a tad lofty, but most had him as the best receiver in the class, and they not only were able to get him but prevent a division rival that badly needed receiving help from getting him. He averaged over 20 yards per catch and had 14 touchdowns so there’s a lot to like there.

2nd Round - Trevon Diggs - I like him, Jonah loves him. Big and fast at cornerback and good enough to play for Alabama.

3rd Round - Neville Gallimore - Big name defensive tackle from Oklahoma who didn’t really produce much and isn’t that great of an athlete. I don’t see him making a big impact. 

4th Round - Tyler Biadasz - Offensive lineman from Wisconsin, usually a pretty good decision.

5th Round - Bradlee Anai - 13 sacks for Utah last season, and even if he’s not a great athlete, I’ll take a chance in the fifth round. 

Undrafted - Azur Kamara - Kansas edge rusher - Good speed and explosiveness, can’t change directions, not related to Alvin. 

New York Giants - A whole lot of meh.

Round 1 (4): T Andrew Thomas, Georgia - Even though Thomas had fell to fourth on most people’s boards for offensive tackles, there wasn’t much separating any of them. Had Wirfs and Becton not gotten so much love, Thomas would have gotten a lot of credit for his numbers at hte combine which were very good, but not blow your mind amazing. You would have loved to see them trade back and pick up some draft capital, but that trade may not have been there. 

Round 2 (36): S Xavier McKinney, Alabama - Considred the best safety in the class, out of Alabama, which has done fairly well producing guys in the secondary. 

Round 3 (99): T Matt Peart, Connecticut

Round 4 (110): CB Darnay Holmes, UCLA

Round 5 (150): IOL Shane Lemieux, Oregon

Round 6 (183): LB Cam Brown, Penn State

Round 7 (218): Edge Carter Coughlin, Minnesota

Round 7 (238): LB TJ Brunson, South Carolina

Round 7 (247): CB Chris Williamson, Minnesota

Round 7 (255): LB Tae Crowder, Georgia

Undrafted - Case Cookus - A quarterback out of Northern Arizona. 

Philadelphia Eagles - Hurts so good?

Round 1 (21): WR Jalen Reagor, TCU - Reagor is an explosive athlete that played with poor quarterbacks at TCU so there could be some big time upside with this pick. 

Round 2 (53): QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma - Explosive athlete at quarterback, but he’s never been a great passer. Still, he scares defenses enough with his legs that things can open up with his arm. I never like win-now teams spending big time draft capital on backup quarterbacks, but this may work as he could provide different looks for defenses to worry about. 

Round 3 (103): LB Davion Taylor, Colorado

Round 4 (127): CB K’Von Wallace, Clemson - Safety for Clemson that can play in the slot immediately and with the addition of Darius Slay earlier in the offseason, the Eagles turned in an extreme weakness in the secondary into a strength. Could play in the slot or replace Malcolm Jenkins. 

Round 4 (145): OT Jack Driscoll, Auburn

Round 5 (168): WR John Hightower, Boise State

Round 6 (196): LB Shaun Bradley, Temple

Round 6 (200): WR Quez Watkins, Southern Mississippi

Round 6 (210): OT Prince Tega Wanogho, Auburn - Very cool name, not sure how good he is. 

Round 7 (233): Edge Casey Toohill, Stanford

Undrafted - Khalil Tate - How was this man not invited to the combine? How was this man not drafted? Khalil Tate was so amazing as a freshman for Arizona. Things got worse and worse, but when a guy shows that much at any point, you take the risk. He still made some incredible plays, and if he finds the right situation, he could provide a team a very fun offensive weapon. I’m more excited for him that Jalen Hurts. 

Washington Redskins - they got Chase young and not a whole lot else.

Round 1 (2): EDGE Chase Young, Ohio State - Chase Young is stupid good. He is a damn game changer.

Round 3 (66): RB Antonio Gibson, Memphis - He’s big and fast but not sure if he’ll actually be a good running back. 

Round 4 (108): OT Saahdiq Charles, LSU - Athletic lineman out of LSU. 

Round 4 (142): WR Antonio Gandy-Golden, Liberty - He’s an explosive athlete, but he can’t change directions so more of a big possession receiver as opposed to a big time game breaker even if he can do back flips. 

Round 5 (156): IOL Keith Ismael, San Diego State

Round 5 (162): LB Khaleke Hudson, Michigan

Round 7 (216): S Kamren Curl, Arkansas

Round 7 (229): Edge James Smith-Williams, NC State

Undrafted - Thaddeus Moss - Randy Moss’s kid - but he ain’t Randy Moss. 

Lachavious Simmons Scouting Report

Lachavious Simmons was the Bears last pick in the draft, picked immediately after fellow offensive lineman, Arlington Hambright, and the debate immediately started. Which offensive lineman has the better name? I think Lachavious Simmons, but I do have to give the edge to Hambright, and I think that's how the Bears decided on who to draft first with their back-to-back picks.

I'll be honest, I didn't catch a ton of Tennessee State this season, so I wasn't sure what Simmons brought to the table. A Bears scout made the laziest comparison ever when he said he could be like fellow Tennessee State graduate, Richard Dent. I guess that means that his play will lead to a lot of sacks? I decided that I needed to do my own scouting and took a look at the tape.

Simmons moves very well and totally overwhelms defenders.

Here, he makes a strong move off the snap to get to the nose tackle and uses his angle to plant the defender into the ground.

He definitely has some pop in his blocking.

Not only does he give a good help block on the nose tackle, but he still has enough to get off that block and give a good pop to the linebacker without the benefit of building up any steam.

On the downside, I will never not laugh when I see a highlight video where the guy gets beaten badly.

He cannot play tackle as he simply does not have the physical tools to handle legitimate edge rushers. He gets blown by here and just barely gives him enough of a shove to keep him from getting to the quarterback. This is not a pancake, this is desperation, so he should probably stick to the interior if he wants to carve out a role in the NFL.

Overall, he's a seventh round pick out of a small school so there's a lot of rawness to his game. He definitely shows some intriguing physical tools, and if he can develop quickly in training camp he could make the roster and hopefully turn into a passable starter down the road. Offensive line depth is never a bad thing to have, so here's to hoping Lachavious can make an impact for the Bears.

Previous Chicago Bears 2020 Draft Profiles
2nd Round - Cole Kmet - Tight End - Notre Dame
Undrafted - Ahmad Wagner - Tight End / Power Forward - Kentucky / Iowa
2nd Round - Jaylon Johnson - Cornerback - Utah
5th Round - Trevis Gipson - Edge Rusher - Tulsa
5th Round - Kindle Vildor - Cornerback - Georgia Southern
5th Round - Darnell Mooney - Wide Receiver - Tulane
7th Round - Arlington Hambright - Offensive Guard - Colorado

Arlington Hambright Scouting Report

Arlington Hambright. Now that's a damn name. A tackle out of Colorado who the Bears drafted with their first of two seventh round picks. Hambright played all over during his college career, starting at Garden City Junior College where they improved from 3-8 in his freshman season to an 11-0 National Championship in his sophomore year. He then went to Oklahoma State, but got hurt halfway through the year. They were 5-1 with him, and 2-5 without him. Finally, he went to Colorado where he led them to a...complete season in the PAC-12. Maybe he needed a second year for the Buffaloes to truly work his magic.

He was not invited to the combine, so I'm not totally sure about the physical attributes. As for the game tape, I had the choice of watching 12 minutes of Colorado taking on Oregon or a 81 second highlight video. Yep, I chose the latter.

I will say I'm always a fan of guys who played tackle in college who were definitely better suited to be a guard. It usually means they were a very good athlete, and I think that it can translate to being very good with a switch to the interior where the smaller frame will not be as big of an issue.

With that switch to guard in mind, I really like how he moved and was able to get to the second level.

This is a great play as he gives a shove to 51 on the defnesive line to help out his guard before making it to the next level and blowing the defender away.

He also showed good hand use in pass blocking, but it was a grand total of one play, so I probably shouldn't make any final conclusions off of that.

Oh, and in case you didn't watch the highlight video, the last 28 seconds of the 81 second video is just an ad for the Bears website. They did my man dirty on that one.

Overall, I like the idea of adding offensive line depth late in the draft and taking a chance on why a guy might be undervalued. He only played one full season of major college football, and he was playing out of position at tackle when his frame is built more for guard. This is a smart chance to take, and let's be real, his name is Arlington Hambright, he could have been a one-legged kicker, and I still would have said this was a great pick.

Previous Chicago Bears 2020 Draft Profiles
2nd Round - Cole Kmet - Tight End - Notre Dame
Undrafted - Ahmad Wagner - Tight End / Power Forward - Kentucky / Iowa
2nd Round - Jaylon Johnson - Cornerback - Utah
5th Round - Trevis Gipson - Edge Rusher - Tulsa
5th Round - Kindle Vildor - Cornerback - Georgia Southern
5th Round - Darnell Mooney - Wide Receiver - Tulane
7th Round - Arlington Hambright - Offensive Guard - Colorado

Can Kindle Vildor Read a Quarterback's Eyes?

Kindle Vildor was the Bears second of three fifth round draft picks. A 5'10" corner out of Georgia Southern, you may be shocked to learn that I knew very little about him before his selection. Still, he has a very intriguing athletic profile.

Only 5'10" but very long arms and big hands. He ran 4.44 40-yard dash and showed incredible strength and explosiveness with his bench press and vertical and broad jumps. Those are all very positive, but it also appears as if he does not have any ability to change directions as shown by his 3-cone and short shuttle.

Statistically, nothing stands out as he managed nine interceptions over his three years as a starter. Not bad, but nothing special. So it was time to check out his game against LSU to get a better idea of him as a prospect.

On the negative side, he gets beat fairly easily on this touchdown catch.

From his reaction, he may have thought he had help over the middle of the field, but it may have just been that his team was going down 42-3, and it wasn't yet halftime.

Um, and that was really about it. That's actually good news. LSU just didn't try to attack him. He did get a pass interference call against him when he got a tad overzealous near the end zone, but that wasn't too worrisome. When it came down to LSU attacking, they looked at other places rather than going at Vildor which is about as good of a compliment as a guy can get.

Overall, I think there are some interesting athletic traits that he showed at the combine, but for a shorter corner, his lack of agility in changing directions will likely be a major hindrance to his success and is probably the big reason that he was available in the fifth round.

Previous Chicago Bears 2020 Draft Profiles
2nd Round - Cole Kmet - Tight End - Notre Dame
Undrafted - Ahmad Wagner - Tight End / Power Forward - Kentucky / Iowa
2nd Round - Jaylon Johnson - Cornerback - Utah
5th Round - Trevis Gipson - Edge Rusher - Tulsa
5th Round - Kindle Vildor - Cornerback - Georgia Southern

Could Trevis Gipson Be The Pass Rusher The Bears Need?

After not having a first round pick the Bears had two second round picks before a long break until they had a fifth round pick. But the Bears just couldn't quite wait so they traded a 2021 fourth round pick in order to get a fifth round pick this year in order to select Tulsa's Trevis Gipson. Even though the Bears have Khalil Mack and signed Robert Quinn this offseason, you can always use more pass rushers, so I took a look at Gipson to see what he could provide for the team.

Gipson is a long athlete that may have been misused at Tulsa as a 3-4 defensive end where he is probably best standing and rushing the passer, and that potential for an explosion in production is what made him so alluring to the Bears. He still had eight sacks and fifteen tackles for loss, so it's not like he was unproductive during his senior season.

Since there is no game to break down for Gipson, let's just look at this video that I'm sure shows the good and bad of Gipson produced by YouTube user, GipsonBros.

On the highlight reel, there is a lot of hustle sacks. But one thing that was really good to see is how he was able to rush from the inside.

The nice thing about this is that it allows the Bears a ton of versatility in their pass rush. They can consistently give different looks with a variety of athletes rushing the quarterback from different spots along the line, and I am sure this was a big reason why the Bears were so excited to acquire him.

Overall, I like the pick. I don't expect Gipson to be a starter, but he should add immediate value as a situational pass rusher. There is potential for him to evolve into more if the switch to a more natural position unlocks more skills. Even if he doesn't show anything more than what he showed in college, it's still good value for the fifth round.

Previous Chicago Bears 2020 Draft Profiles
2nd Round - Cole Kmet - Tight End - Notre Dame
Undrafted - Ahmad Wagner - Tight End / Power Forward - Kentucky / Iowa
2nd Round - Jaylon Johnson - Cornerback - Utah
5th Round - Trevis Gipson - Edge Rusher - Tulsa

Can Jaylon Johnson Shut Down NFL Opponents?

Jaylon Johnson was the Chicago Bears second of two second-round picks at #50 overall. A shutdown corner for Utah, he played through a torn labrum for all of last season which definitely gives credit to his toughness although it does add an injury concern. He had four interceptions his sophomore year, but that dropped to two this past season which is probably partly due to the labrum and partly due to teams targeting other areas of the field to avoid Johnson. I took a look at his game against Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship to see how he did against the sixth pick in the NFL Draft, Justin Herbert.

Before we get into the film, I took a look at how he tested a the combine, and he definitely didn't boost his stock at the combine, as he is extremely average athletically.

Nothing stands out. About the best you can hope for is the torn labrum made it difficult to train for the combine like he may have wanted. I wouldn't say any of this is a red flag, but there is a whole lot of yellow flags with unimpressive athletic numbers.

Here, he is in off-coverage but reads the play and closes quickly to break up the play.

Even with the torn labrum, physicality was not an issue for him from what I saw.

He has great physicality in coverage as he makes receivers work for separation.

Something that I couldn't see with my eyes directly but was evident is he covers towards the boundary very well. There were multiple times where Herbert was looking to go down the sideline to his receiver but had to check down as he clearly saw nothing going on towards Johnson's side of the field.

Johnson is a guy who belongs in a zone scheme as I do think the lack of athleticism will hurt him if he is forced to play straight-man coverage the majority of the time. This pick has me slightly more excited than Kmet, but I wasn't totally wowed. I totally understand that he might be able to shine more with two working shoulders, but that's no guarantee. What I do like is this is a guy who has a skill-set that will allow him to become an immediate competent starter. I don't see Pro Bowl potential, but I don't see much dropoff from Prince Amukamara which makes this a huge win for the Bears.

Previous Chicago Bears 2020 Draft Profiles
2nd Round - Cole Kmet - Tight End - Notre Dame
Undrafted - Ahmad Wagner - Tight End / Power Forward - Kentucky / Iowa
2nd Round - Jaylon Johnson - Cornerback - Utah

Cole Kmet Could Be The Chicago Bears Kyle Rudolph

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned the Bears have a fear of missing out? Cole Kmet is yet another talking point with this issue. For three out of four offseason of the current regime, the Bears simply couldn't wait to fill a need so they signed someone in free agency. They followed this up by immediately taking someone at that position with their very first pick. In 2017, the Bears just had to have Mike Glennon...before trading up to draft Mitchell Trubisky. Last year, they just had to have Mike Davis to shore up their running game...before trading up to draft David Montgomery. And this year, they just had to have Jimmy Graham, but at least they didn't trade up to draft Notre Dame tight end, Cole Kmet. This is not a knock on Kmet. It's just another knock on the Bears approach to free agency that has yielded Allen Robinson...and well, at least we got Allen Robinson.

Now about Kmet, he was the consensus top tight end in this draft class, and I was probably 80% sure the Bears were drafting him when he was still there with their 43rd pick. Despite the addition of Graham, along with eight others on the roster, tight end remained a need for the team. Considering he was also from Notre Dame, which the Bears absolutely LOVE, it was a no-brainer. I wanted to take a deeper dive into his game by looking at his performance against Georgia to see if he could handle SEC SPEED.

Before we get into the film, let's look at his combine. Looking at his athleticism, there is a lot to like with Kmet.

The Bears love big tight ends, and at 6'6" and 262 pounds, Kmet fits the bill. He also shows great explosiveness in both his broad and vertical jumps with a very good 40 time of 4.7 seconds. I know that the 3-cone and short shuttle may be a concern, but those concerns may be overblown as here is a second round tight end that overcame similar issues.

If Kmet ends up as the next Rob Gronkowski, I think most Bears fans would be okay with that.

As for the on-field play, his size shows up immediately as he is not easy to bring down.

Even after bouncing after the corner's tackle attempt, it takes multiple Georgia defenders to bring him down.

Despite his impressive size, he whiffed on a lot of blocks in the game I saw. He seemed hesitant on a lot of plays and would shuffle his feet instead of finding a defender to put a hit on.

He does have good hands, but you also have to question his selfish behavior.

He clearly steals this touchdown from the wide receiver behind him that this ball was intended for. Does he have an issue with short people? I don't know, but I would at least mark it down as a character concern. Still, this is an impressive catch and shows his strong hands and the ability to adjust to throws that are not ideal, a skill he'll have plenty of chances to utilize in Chicago.

One last issue I had was his lack of effort on plays. He'd just kind of go through the motions instead of really hustling and trying to make a play. It was especially evident when his quarterback scrambled to find time, but he'd just keep dragging along the field instead of making cuts back to his quaterback to try to give him an outlet.

Cole Kmet is not an desirable pick; he's a viable pick. He is a second round pick that can provide second round value. He is a high floor, low ceiling player. He's not an elite athlete like George Kittle or Travis Kelce, but he's an old school tight end who can take up space, use his body in the red zone, and give your quarterback a viable target. So the Bears have something between Scott Chandler (floor) and fellow Notre Dame alum, Kyle Rudolph (ceiling). That's not a game changer, but if he reaches that ceiling, Bears fans will still be ecstatic.

Ahmad Wagner - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Ahmad Wagner is a wide receiver out of Kentucky that has managed to get a little NFL Draft buzz despite not putting up big numbers in college. The first reason that he didn’t put up big numbers is that he did not make it to Kentucky until 2018. The other reason is that he didn’t play football in college until transferring to Kentucky as he was originally a basketball brute for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He didn’t play in 2018, and in 2019, he didn’t exactly set the world on fire as he had just 15 catches. It’s not like he geared up as the season went on as over the last eight games of the season, he managed three catches for six yards. But once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye, so let’s take a look at everything I can find on Ahmad Wagner.

You want a big time touchdown catch against a top level defense like Florida? Well, here you go.

With the tight coverage, he does make a bit of a bobble, but he continues with his concentration and manages to secure the ball as he hits the ground for the touchdown.

And that’s it for his football highlights. Here he is on the basketball court though.

There’s a big time drive and dunk that shows off some impressive athleticism.

I would have loved to see Wagner get a combine invite, or at least have a pro day, because at 6’5” 240 lbs, I think his athleticism could have impressed a lot of teams. Kentucky used him at wide receiver, but he’s likely a tight end that often lines up away from the tackle. Considering the only highlight he has is him bobbling a ball before catching it, he’s probably an undrafted free agent, but if that’s the case, I’d love to see the Bears bring him in as their 11th tight end to see if he can at least offer something different than the other ten guys hanging around.

Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State
11. KJ Hamler - Penn State
12. Amik Roberson - Louisiana Tech
13. Laviska Shenault - Colorado
14. Trevon Diggs - Alabama
15. Antoine Winfield Jr. - Minnesota

Antoine Winfield Jr. - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

I remember how sad I was when I heard that Antoine Wifnield Jr. had signed with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. I mean, it made sense, but Antoine Winfield was such an awesome player on the field that it only made sense that his son would also be a terror in the secondary. And it turned out that he more than lived up to the hype. When he was on the field, chaos ensued, the only issue was staying on the field as he did struggle with injuries during his career as a Golden Gopher. But he was healthy last season and productive as hell. I took a look at his game against Penn State to see what kind of player he might become in the NFL and whether he would make sense to solidify the Bears secondary in the second round.

Before we get into the game tape, let’s take a look at the measurements.

Oh man, you know I am just salivating when looking at that height. A perfectly average 5’9” is really what all ladies crave. On top of that, he ran an excellent 40 yard dash at 4.45 and has a strong broad jump which is a good indicator of explosiveness. He didn’t do any change of direction drills, but looking at his play, this is not an area of concern for me.

With him pulling down seven interceptions this past season, his ball skills should not be put in question, but he does some really great things here.

Usually, this is a matchup that a quarterback is going to love. Just having a wide receiver on a safety is a positive, but having a 5’9” safety makes it even more salivating. Winfield makes him pay. It’s an underthrown ball, and Winfield adjusts before the wide receiver, so when the receiver tries to slow up for the ball, Winfield gives him just a bit of a nudge in order to give himself more space to leap in front and make the play.

Although he is great at reading plays in the secondary, his run reads could use some improvement.

On this play, it’s almost like he’s trying to get blocked by the guard as he runs right next to the linebacker so the guard is able to take care of two guys without having to do a whole lot of work. On the positive side, Winfield continues to hustle and does make the tackle 40 yards downfield.

This pass is really bad, but it’s still a nice job by Winfield.

The key here is that Winfield starts moving to his left the second that the Penn State quarterback opens his hips up in that direction. Because there is no hesitation, he’s able to take advantage of the bad pass and create a turnover.

Winfield has a good understanding of leverage and the importance of it when facing off against larger receivers (which is almost always).

Here, he is guarding a 6’5” tight end in the slot, but he stays right on the tight end’s inside hip and gives him no room to even attempt to make the catch even if it was a better thrown ball.

Overall, I really liked what I saw from Winfield. He’s a guy who can clearly see the field and knows how to make plays by anticipating throws. He’s a good prospect who I would be good with the Bears taking, but I just never saw anything jaw dropping. Adding in the injury concerns, I’m only good with Winfield but not enamored with him. Hopefully he is able to stay healthy, because he definitely has the potential to be an impact safety in the pros.

Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State
11. KJ Hamler - Penn State
12. Amik Roberson - Louisiana Tech
13. Laviska Shenault - Colorado
14. Trevon Diggs - Alabama
15. Antoine Winfield Jr. - Minnesota

Trevon Diggs - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Trevon Diggs seems too good to be true. He was a starting cornerback at Alabama with great size, athleticism, and proven genetics as you may have heard of his older brother, Stefon. Yet, somehow, he is getting very little buzz as a first round draft prospect. It seems like most experts are not buying in so I wanted to check him out to see if there was a fatal flaw or if this could be a steal to help the Bears solidify their secondary. I decided to be tough on him and watch his game against LSU to see how he would do against multiple first round picks.

He didn’t do any drills at the combine but measured in at 6’1” and 205 pounds with very good length. With that size, he will be able to hang with any receiver.

Here, Diggs is paired up against Ja’Marr Chase, and Chase is really, really good. This makes Diggs looks really, really bad.

That is such a tough route and throw for a cornerback to adjust on, and Burrow and Chase made that touchdown look way too easy. Diggs completely lost track of Chase as he tried to adjust to the ball, and then it’s just an easy walk in the end zone.

One thing Diggs showed repeatedly is remaining physical with receivers.

He is on the tight end, Thaddeus Moss, and he is hand fighting with him the whole way. Moss breaks towards the sideline, and Burrow throws it about as perfect as it can be, but Diggs leaves absolutely no space for a completion, and although it was originally called a catch, it was overturned as Moss was forced to step out of bounds before completing the catch. That physicality showed up in his tackling as well as he did a good job of attacking the hip and wrapping the legs no matter if it was receiver, tight end, or running back.

There aren’t a ton of highlights from this game, but he hung with Ja’Marr Chase, who, if he was eligible would be the first receiver taken in this upcoming draft. Alabama trusted him to cover Chase on an island for a lot of this game and he got beat at times, but it wasn’t a slaughter by any means. It’s tough to judge a corner on a single game, especially against an elite receiver, but overall, I would feel good about the Bears taking a chance on Diggs. If Saban trusts him to cover an elite pass catcher by himself, that’s a pretty good indication of a man’s talent level. I’m not in love, but I dig Trevon.

Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State
11. KJ Hamler - Penn State
12. Amik Roberson - Louisiana Tech
13. Laviska Shenault - Colorado
14. Trevon Diggs - Alabama

Laviska Shenault - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Laviska Shenault is a guy who entered the season with a lot of hype as possibly the top receiver who would be in the 2020 draft. Unfortunately, he struggled with some nagging injuries and his production diminished from his 2018 season. But until a poor combine performance, most people still had him as a late first-round pick. Now, he seems firmly implanted in day two, so I wanted to take a look at him to see if he would make sense for the Chicago Bears. I took a look at his game against Oregon to get a better idea of how he stacked up as a receiver.

Here is how that combine performance stacked up.

The only speed drill he did was the 40 where he managed a very pedestrian 4.58. After the combine, he did get surgery to repair a core muscle issue that he was having. That likely altered his training quite a bit. I still don’t think Shenault is a speed demon, but as you can see from that size, he has the build to power through defenders.

On this first play, Shenault shows good awareness by finding a hole in the zone and settling in for an easy throw for his quarterback.

He has space, but he still attacks the ball with his hands, catching it away from his body, and then he turns up field and puts his shoulder down to plow into the defenders and pick up an extra four yards after contact.

Power is the name of Shenault's game as he shows insane physicality for a receiver.

Again, he attacks the ball in traffic to make the catch, and despite getting hit while facing backwards, he still manages a churn and turn where he churns his legs and turns his body to pickup three yards despite having zero leverage at the contact point.

Sometimes you don’t need to make the catch to make a big play.

Here, he gains deep leverage on the cornerback, and the quarterback badly underthrows the football. Still, Shenault is able to adjust his body and speed to put himself in position to make the catch, and the defender interferes out of desperation and Shenault draws the flag.

This is one of those plays where I’m bummed that I couldn’t see a replay, because this Shenault created some incredible distance between himself and a defender.

This was in man coverage, and Shenault must have shook his defender bad, because he had five yards of space, and then follows it up by nearly breaking the defender’s ankles after the catch. That’s good shit.

Again, Shenault gains major distance from his defender.

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If the quarterback throws something decent, this is a touchdown. Shenault had at least two yards of separation and possibly more as he had already started slowing down by the time the camera got on him. Instead, the quarterback throws it as poorly as possible as it is just underthrown enough for the defender to time his defense perfectly. Had it been more underthrown, he at least could have gotten pass interference.

As for the downsides, Shenault was fairly inconsistent in his blocking. His physicality is a strength so I think that’s something he can develop fairly easily. He also had a drop on a screen pass, but it wasn’t technique, he just tried to turn up field before securing the ball. Nothing to be concerned about.

I looked up the stats for the Oregon game and wasn’t sure what I could really tell as he only had four catches for 70 yards. But he also had two pass interference calls drawn which makes him responsible for 100 yards, and with NFL rules, it would have been closer to 140. If he had a decent quarterback, we’re looking at 180 and a touchdown. This was against the ninth best scoring defense in the nation. It’s pretty clear that I think Shenault is a stud, and if he’s available for the Bears in the second round, they should be doing backflips. Even though I have some issues with Nagy as a head coach, he is somebody who thinks outside the box and finds different ways to get playmakers the ball which is the ideal system for somebody with Shenault’s skill-set. I not only think he'd be the best possible pick for the Bears but might prove to be the best receiver in this class.

Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State
11. KJ Hamler - Penn State
12. Amik Roberson - Louisiana Tech
13. Laviska Shenault - Colorado