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

Darnell Full Mooney Scouting Report

Darnell Mooney probably isn't the best prospect that the Bears acquired in the 2020 NFL Draft, but he might be the most exciting. During his junior season, he ended up with 993 yards on just 48 catches, averaging 20.7 yards per catch. For his career at Tulane, he was still at an incredibly impressive 16.7 yards per catch. That speed is for real as he showed at the combine.

That 4.38 time is very nice and he did very well in the vertical and broad jump as well. He's not a big guy at just 5'10" and 176 pounds, but he does have large hands to help him make catches in traffic. So let's see how that translated to the field by looking at his game against Florida International last season.

I love the footwork at the beginning of this play to immediately make the corner play catch up in his coverage.

The cornerback never has a chance to make any sort of play on the ball after getting turned around at the line of scrimmage. Mooney then makes a good adjustment on the ball and uses good technique to complete the catch.

Adjustments on the ball were not an area where I expected a small speedster to shine, but he does a great job of tracking the ball on this touchdown catch.

He has the defender beat deep, but the ball is underthrown, and he not only adjusts to the ball, but attacks the ball out of the air at the high point to make the catch. Even if the defender had better coverage, it is going to be very tough to stop a receiver who can do that down the field. I'm not saying he's Steve Smith, but the above catch is a very Steve Smith looking play.

He needs to do a bit of refinement on his route running, but he does have some fancy footwork off the line of scrimmage to help him with that. He also was at least a willing blocker, even if it wasn't a strength of his.

For a late fifth round pick, this is tremendous value. He's fast, and he can catch; that already makes him more appealing to me than KJ Hamler who was a second rounder. He can stretch defenses and can at least fill part of the role that Taylor Gabriel has had the last few years. I am very excited to see him in a Bears uniform this season.

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

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

Amik Robertson - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

At this point in the scouting process, I’m ignoring the big-time prospects and looking for those guys that are considered very good as opposed to great prospects. A lot of people ask whether it is better to take the best player available or draft for need, but that dichotomy doesn’t really work. What you have to do is take the most impactful player for your team. Arizona may think Tua Tagavailoa is the best player available when they pick, but he isn’t all that valuable to them when they already have Kyler Murray so it is figuring out a combination of the two. The Bears are actually in a good spot as their needs aren’t that sexy. Safeties aren’t sexy. Interior linemen certainly aren’t sexy. Tight ends aren’t sexy, because somehow they have 10 of them but also zero reliable ones. Wide receiver is sexy, but this class is so loaded with them that there is plenty of talent to be found. Cornerback is the big issue as that is a sexy position, and the top guys are going to be off the board before the Bears have their first pick. So you have to look at a flawed prospect. I’m going to take a look at two flawed cornerback prospects, starting with Amik Robertson.

Amik has two major flaws to start out with. The first is that he played at Louisiana Tech so he didn’t consistently play against top level competition. The second is that he is only 5’8”, and even in a world with some smaller cornerbacks, he stands out above the rest as that height puts him in the 1% of height for cornerback prospects.

But any long-time reader knows that as a perfectly-average 5’9”, I will always go to bat for my short brothers, so I took a look at his game against Texas to see what he could do against high level competition.

It’s not like size is nothing as Robertson does have limitations due to his small stature.

He is going to struggle to get off blocks against bigger receivers, and even if he polishes up his technique, it’s never going to be a strength.

Even though he’s small, Robertson will not go down without a fight.

The Texas receiver is able to get his hand on the ball, but Robertson is right with him and continues to fight with his hands until the very end of the play.

Seriously, this dude is not going to back down.

Robertson annihilates the receiver on the line of scrimmage and doesn’t let him go anywhere, and he nearly gets an interception because the receiver is so out of place for the pass. Oh, and the reason that receiver seems so much larger is because he’s 6’6” and 245 pounds. Apparently, that still isn’t big enough to fight off the line of scrimmage against Robertson.

Robertson excels in his ball skills as he shows on the two plays below.

On the first pass, he does an incredible job of breaking in front of the receiver and diving to just barely get his fingertips on the ball to break it up. On the second pass, he just straight up outjumps the much larger receiver and high points the ball to almost make the interception. Even though he didn’t make the catch, this is a guy who had 14 interceptions in three years so he is someone who knows how to make big plays and has better catching technique than KJ Hamler.

Robertson has me torn. There are so many things that I like in that he has excellent ball skills, he’s feisty, and he makes big plays. At the same time, that size is an issue, even from someone who almost always gives short guys the benefit of the doubt. In coverage, I think he will be good to great in the slot. At the same time, he might be a liability against the run if he’s lining up in the box. Ultimately, I think that where the Bears currently have picks in the second round, it’s a little too rich for my blood for Robertson. He’s been proving people wrong for three years in college, so I will not be surprised if this proclamation makes me look like an idiot in a few years, and as a fellow average-heighted guy, I’ll be rooting for him to do that.

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

KJ Hamler - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

There are certain guys that I really like but hate to see. KJ Hamler is one of those guys. I really liked watching him play as he was always dangerous with the ball in his hands, but I hated seeing him play against Iowa, because he absolutely terrified me. The Bears could use a slot receiver, and this draft is loaded with wide receivers so I wanted to take a look at his game against Michigan to see if he might be a good fit. 

Have you ever wanted to see what I would look like as a defensive back at a major college program? Probably something like this.

The key here is Hamler’s acceleration, because it’s not just that he’s fast, but that he gets to that top speed incredibly quickly and leaves the Michigan defensive back in his dust.

With a speed guy, I always wonder how well he actually catches the football. That, unfortunately, is the issue with Hamler.

On the first view, I wasn’t sure if it was a drop or if one of the two Michigan defenders broke up the pass. By the end of the replay, it’s clear that this one is on Hamler. This was an issue that showed up repeatedly as he bobbled a lot of the catches he did make because he is always looking to corral the ball into his body instead of framing it with his hands. He’s probably played football for 10-15 years at this point, so I don’t see him adjusting this method, and it will drive coaches and fans crazy.

And that’s the big issue. He has great speed and acceleration, but I simply do not trust his hands. You also can’t expect much more than a shove as a blocker, but that isn’t the issue that is going to make or break things for a wide receiver. He can make big plays against any level of competition, but I don’t see how his technique can be trusted to consistently catch the ball, so unless he takes a massive fall down the draft boards, I don’t really see any point for the Bears to select him with one of their second round picks.

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

Willie Gay - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Okay, so we’re to the point in the NFL Draft process that I don’t know who I want to dig deep on. I could go deeper on quarterbacks, I could do more Big Ten players, or I could look at players that might make sense for the Chicago Bears. Willie Gay has been getting a lot of buzz lately, so he may not fall to the Bears in the second round, but middle linebackers are devalued in this league so he just might be an ideal fit. I took a look at his game against Louisville to figure out what all the hype was about. 

Oh, the hype? Yeah, let's just show this thing.

That is about as explosive as any one man can be. The change-of-direction skills were just average, but I thought he looked better than those numbers indicate when he was on the field.

Here, Gay does an excellent job of avoiding the guard to get after the running back.

Well, he would have gotten after the running back, but his teammates beat him to it in the backfield. 

No, seriously, he isn’t going to be blocked by half effort from a guy that outweighs him by 70 pounds.

He not only easily avoids the block, but he puts on those turbo boosters and takes the running back’s soul. Then he flexes on it, and it is a totally earned flex by Gay.

He’s also not going to be taken down by a lousy chop block by a running back.

He easily leaps over the running back and disrupts this play to cause an incompletion.

Here is Gay doing nothing as he appears to be responsible for the running back who stays in to block. Instead, the pass is to the wide receiver 12 yards down the field.

Oh, and despite catching it 12 yards down the field, Gay catches up to him by the time he is 17 yards down the field and knocks the ball loose, because that linebacker shouldn’t have been anywhere near the wide receiver by that point. That’s the type of play that teams will fall in love with, because he not only shows his incredible burst of speed, but he also shows incredible hustle to even attempt to make a play down the field.

The only real weakness I saw on film is occasionally he would either overestimate his own speed or underestimate his opponent’s speed and take a poor angle to the ball. 

As for coverage, there wasn’t a lot on film in this game. He primarily spied Louisville’s mobile quarterback so there wasn’t a lot to go off of in coverage outside of him dropping into occasional zones. Still, with his athletic profile, I would feel confident about his abilities to stick with both running backs and tight ends.
Overall, I'm smitten with Gay. The Bears have a great need at inside linebacker as they are going to have to be as strong as possible on defense to have any shot at carrying the team to the playoffs. I think that Gay is undervalued due to some off-field issues where he was suspended, but from everything I have heard, those are all based on academics which, as long as the Bears don't institute algebra tests to play in games, I think he'll be fine at the pro level. This guy has top notch potential, and I think he'd be a steal if he does fall to pick 40; I just hope the Bears are smart enough to not let this Willie slip away.

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

Michael Ojemudia - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Michael Ojemudia had an interesting career at Iowa. It seemed as if Iowa fans always had a cornerback they liked more than Ojemudia to take the starting job until his senior season where he was clearly the man on the outside. He became a starter his sophomore year and although there were some shifts and shake-ups, by the end of the year, he would always find his way to the top. Finally, in his senior year, he became the guy teams did not want to throw to as he did an excellent job of shutting down his side of the field. I took a look at his games against USC, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

To start off, let’s take a look at Ojemudia’s combine performance to get an idea of his athleticism.

What you see here is good, not great, but for an Iowa player, that is a huge victory as the Iowa Hawkeyes are never known for their athletic prowess. He’s got great size, good speed, and below average agility.

What you’re going to see with Ojemudia is very good instincts. 

On this play, the USC quarterback’s throw behind the receiver makes Ojemudia look a tad later than he actually was as he had an angle on where the ball would have led the receiver as opposed to being behind the receiver. Even if the receiver makes the catch, Ojemudia is right there to stop him from getting a first down.

I think the biggest thing from the USC game is the stat sheet. He was primarily put up against Michael Pittman Jr., who is a likely day two pick who had over 100 catches and 1200 yards on the season including 37 catches, 430 yards and three touchdowns in the three previous games. Against Iowa, he was held to six receptions and 53 yards, zero touchdowns. Even with that meager stat line, 17 of those yards came on a catch over the middle where Ojemudia had passed him off to a teammate in zone coverage.

He is a very willing tackler.

Sure, I’d like to see him wrap up on that one, but sometimes just laying the hammer down is good enough.

Ojemudia’s biggest knock is just giving too much cushion to receivers.

The Michigan passing game is not big on deep threats, so you’d like to see him play that a little bit tighter, but as someone who has watched every snap of the last 20 years of Iowa football, that is how Iowa designs their coverages a lot of times so it’s tough to fault him too much for situations like this.

It was painful for me to watch, and that’s why I am not including any clips of the Wisconsin game where Ojemudia really struggled. He failed to contain the edge on an end around, got beat deep, and was exploited for some first downs when he gave too much cushion. 

With the athletic profile, he is going to be a scheme player. If you put him in man-to-man coverage consistently, he could struggle as he does not have great change-of-direction skills. But in a zone scheme, he’s big, strong and has very good instincts breaking on the ball so he has potential to be a starter. With that skill-set, there is also the potential that he moves to free safety which has been a common move for many former Iowa cornerbacks and has proved fairly successful. 

Still, the lack of agility does show up on the game film, and I think it will be a major hindrance for him in the pros. I think he’s likely to be a day three pick who is going to have to make an impact on special teams early on but could turn into a starter down the line. The floor is high, the ceiling is low, but considering the progress he’s made throughout his college career, I wouldn’t count him out from continuing to improve.

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