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Thursday, March 28

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Bears Tue Apr 28 2009

Footballic Ramblings: Draft Review

While most of the city was busy appreciating the uhh, mercurial weather this weekend the Bears braintrust was buried deep within their secret lair miles beneath Halas Hall, throwing darts at boards; consulting seethers; busting out the voodoo priest they keep around for fun; all in the name of trying to figure out what players would best fit with the Bears system.
Thanks to the Cutler trade the management need not worry about those pesky first and second round draft selections*, and instead they prepared and studied the Zodiac charts for the 68th overall pick who turned out to be third rounder, Jarron Gilbert out of San Jose State. Gilbert, who checks in at a freakish 6'5", 290 lbs., and a 4.87!! 40 dash. Also, there's this little gem of youtubeage, granted, NFL paychecks aren't handed out for jumping out of swimming pool, but, cool! His dad is a former player with the Saints so the lineage is there and the athletic talent is definitely there for this former WAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Potential For Rookie Eruption: 6.9
Dude could really provide a huge amount of stability along the D-line and cause some major disruption* in opponent's backfields if he stays healthy, learns the Bears systems and gets better at keeping opposing offensive lines from beating him to the block.

Next the Bears braintrust went shopping for the "new hotness" at wide receiver, I mean, afterall, they did acquire Jay Cutler so why not give him some targets to pass to, aside from just Greg Olsen... drumroll please.... Juaquin Iglesias walk on down, you're a new Chicago Bear. I like this pick a lot, seriously smart move on the Bears part by taking a lower round pick and nabbing a receiving talent like Iglesias. He's 6'1" with plenty of bulk and speed to burn --something the Bears receiver corps has sorely been lacking the past few seasons.

Potential For Rookie Eruption: 7.4
Iglesias has a very high potential for going off his rookie year thanks to the lack of reliable receivers at the offense's disposal. Plus, Cutler is going to be getting pass-happy whether the coaches want it or not. So yeah, he's got the most potential for blowing up.

After shoring up the Bears offense, the management came back to their senses and reloaded the defensive line with yet another freak, Henry Melton from the Longhorn State. Melton doesn't have quite the size or "freakosity" of Gilbert, but should fit in nicely and, after some NFL seasoning, be a stalwart of the Bears defense for years to come.
With their next three picks the Bears went with speed, speed and speed in the form of blur (but undersized) cornerback, DJ Moore, wideout Johnny Knox (4.3 40, just sayin') and Marcus Freeman out of Ohio State. The Bears' three "Mr. Irrelevant" picks were the humorously named Al Afalava out of Oregon State, Lance Louis and Derek Kinder, GapersBlock is rather certain that these gents will have standout rookie seasons as well, y'know, riding the pine and holding clipboards...

* Aside: I think this was an extremely savvy move on the part of Bears management, trade unknown & expensive commodities (1st and 2nd rd. drafts) for field-tested and proven commodity (Cutler) = smart, smart, smart!

*1 being a Ryan Leaf-type dud and 10 being a sick and insane amalgamate of Adrian Peterson and Michael Vick's rookie seasons.

*Like how Mt Saint Helens was a minor geological hiccup (wink, wink).

 
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