Bears GM Phil Emery’s Biggest Mistake Came AFTER He Selected Shea McClellin

With the 19th selection in the 2012 draft, the Chicago Bears selected a smallish guy from a town from a smaller program.  He could be the next Dan Bauzin or could be the next Brian Urlacher.  (OK, I’m reaching).  Let’s face it Bears fans, we just don’t know about Shea McClellin, but I’m willing to give Phil Emery the benefit of the doubt.

Emery was brought to the Bears in large part because he is a scout’s scout.  This is supposed to be his forte.  Before the mob assembles and descends on Halas Hall, let’s see McClellin, oh, I don’t know, take a snap.  Better yet, let’s see Whitney Mercilus, et al and see what they bring to the party.  We all grade the draft and micro-analyze every picks because that’s what we do.  That’s what sites like this one are all about.  With all of that said, I did have a big problem with the events of the first round.  Phil Emery made a big mistake on Thursday night.  Hit the jump to see the source of my ire.

The first round moved lightening quick on Thursday night.  The Bears were on the clock by about 8:51 PM, according to Layer Meyer’s first round live blog.  The pick was made about 5 minutes later, with the next post at 8:56 PM.  “Shea who?” I thought.  I busily scurried to my computer to do some digging on the Boise State product and start writing up my post announcing the pick, with one eye still on the draft, which didn’t conclude until a full hour later.

While I stayed tuned in to the draft, Phil Emery thought it was appropriate to take a victory lap and chat up his first 1st round pick with the Chicago media.  According to Meyer’s blog, Emery was on with the media by about 9:22 PM a full 30+ minutes before the last pick was submitted.  Shouldn’t Emery have been locked into the draft?  What if another player like Riley Reiff, Cordy Glenn or David DeCastro continued to slip?  Wouldn’t it make sense for the Bears to put a package together to move back into the 1st round like the Vikings or Bucs did to take a player they covet?

Emery was touted as having great attention to detail and maybe I’m splitting hairs, but procedurally, this seems like a blunder to me.  It’s quite possible the Bears had no intention of trying to move up again after landing McClellin but they should have the brain trust at the wheel.  At the very least, hold off the presser until the first round is officially over.