Assigning new grades to the Chicago Bears 2016 NFL Draft
The Chicago Bears selected Deiondre’ Hall with their fourth-round pick in 2016
My guess is that most Chicago Bears fans don’t even recall the name Diondre’ Hall. He only played with the Bears for two seasons before the team shipped him off to Philadelphia. The fact that Ryan Pace saw a seventh-round pick sent in return for Hall helps the overall grade here slightly, but as a player, Hall just couldn’t cut it. He struggled with some injuries his sophomore season. Then, in 2018 he was suspended for one game for violating the NFL substance-abuse policy.
Hall lasted three years in the league. Well, technically he’s still bouncing around but hasn’t played a down since 2018. He has a total of 13 tackles, one interception and three pass defensed in his career. Since 2018, Hall has been released by the Eagles, saw some time with the 2020 Bucs and hasn’t been able to stick to any other rosters. You could say his NFL career is basically over.
NFL Draft Grade: F
The Chicago Bears selected Jordan Howard with their fifth-round pick in 2016
Jordan Howard is further proof that the NFL devalues the running back position. In his rookie season, Howard was second in the NFL with 1,313 rushing yards. He only had six rushing touchdowns, but Howard averaged 5.2 yards per carry. He followed that up with another 1,000+-yard season in 2017 when he rushed for 1,122 yards and nine touchdowns. Unfortunately, Howard was not seen as a scheme fit for Matt Nagy’s offense.
In hindsight, I think we’d all agree, that no one is a scheme fit for Matt Nagy’s offense. It’s just that bad of an offense. Nevertheless, Howard finished with 935 yards rushing and another nine touchdowns in 2018. Ryan Pace traded Howard to the Eagles for a sixth-round pick, but Howard never saw the same success. We can look at his success with the Bears which included making the All-Rookie team and the Pro Bowl in 2016, and give him a well-deserved grade.