Chicago Bears 2015 Draft Grades
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With the 2015 NFL Draft completed and the Bears wrapping up the signing of their undrafted free agents the roster is mostly completed. There may be a few rookies who earn a roster spot via mini-camp tryouts, like RB Senorise Perry did last year, and there may be a few minor pieces added off the scrapheap once roster cuts begin, but the core of the 2015 roster is now in place.
This was Ryan Pace’s first NFL draft as a GM and overall I think he did an excellent job. He claims to have stuck to his draft board and drafted the best player available as opposed to trying to fill the Bears many position needs and that seems to be the case. There were a couple of thin positions that weren’t addressed, but the Bears have so many needs it would have been impossible to fill them all with just six draft picks.
I’ve listed my grades on each draft pick below, but overall I give the draft a solid B+. One complaint I had was selecting a RB in round 4, when there were players available at positions of need that I had graded significantly higher than Langford (T Clemmings, ILB Wilson, OLB Tull, DE Hardison). The other was the pick of OT Fabuluje, who has the potential to be a solid player in a year or two but won’t be a factor this season. I thought players like OT Tyrus Thompson, DE Christian Covington, S Derron Smith, and DE Leterrius Walden would have been better picks in the 6th round both short and long-term. Those are minor gripes, but kept my overall grade from being an A.
2015 NFL Draft Grades:
Round 1 – WR Kevin White, West Virginia
Grade: A
This was one of those rare circumstances where position needs matched up with the best player available. White was a consensus top 10 pick on every draft board I saw and potentially fills a massive void in the Bears starting lineup at #2 WR position.
White has ideal size (6’3 | 215), is probably the fastest player on the team after running a 4.27 40 at his pro day, tracks the ball well, and fights for it aggressively. With Jay Cutler’s tendency to throw jump balls, White could become one his Cutler’s favorite targets early in the season. He needs to improve his route-running ability, but should be able to contribute right away.