Bears Blitz

Published by Bob Warja on April 29, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears‘ second-round pick was supposed to be the 62nd overall in the draft. But after watching DT Marvin Austin go off the board, taken by the Giants with the 52nd pick, GM Jerry Angelo acted quickly.

He did something he seldom does, trading up with Washington to obtain the 53rd pick, DT Stephen Paea out of Oregon State.

Chicago gave up its fourth-round pick to the Redskins to move up to take Paea.

Meanwhile, it’s very surprising that if the Bears were going to move up, that they didn’t do so to obtain Austin, who they were said to covet highly.

Perhaps after watching the defensive tackles thin out so quickly, and with even offensive C/G Stefan Wisniewski, whom the Bears also liked, off the board, they felt compelled to do something. 

After all, the fourth pick they surrendered was the pick they were offering to Baltimore in the botched attempt to move up in round one.

The Bears had expressed interest in Wisniewski, who could have played guard until Olin Kreutz retired or was released.

Wisniewski was taken by the Raiders with the 48th pick.

The draft was very deep in defensive lineman but that only resulted in a lot of teams taking them earlier than ever, but they did very well with Paea.

Paea is country strong—a former rugby player in New Zealand, he is as tough as it gets. This guy plays non-stop and his stamina does not wear down during games. He can knock offensive guards off balance with one arm.

The only concern is his health. Paea tore the lateral meniscus in right knee during first practice at the Senior Bowl and they performed surgery to clean out loose cartilage.

But assuming he is healthy, he replaces Tommie Harris as a three-technique tackle, meaning the Bears have fulfilled their two most pressing needs so far in this draft.

His on and off the field intangibles are off the charts. A leader who is well liked by coaches and teammates.

Paea is a weight room warrior. He broke the combine record for reps on 225-pounds on bench press with 49. This translates to the field as he flashes explosive upper-body strength and shoots gaps well.

I can’t believe I’m writing this about a Jerry Angelo-led draft, but I love the Bears first two picks.

Round 2 Grade: B+

Now, by the time the Bears picked in the third round, 92 players had been selected, leaving a fairly thin draft board to choose from.

The Bears took Christopher Conte, a safety from California. This becomes the first Bears pick that I am not excited about.

It’s not so much Conte, as it is need. They needed a wideout or a corner, not a safety. But Angelo has a habit of drafting defensive backs, as this is the 20th DB he has taken in 10 years.

Conte was a reserve safety his first three years at Cal, only moving to safety his senior season, so perhaps he could play there for Chicago.

And, in fairness, three corners were taken with the 88th, 89th and 90th picks consecutively, so perhaps there wasn’t a true corner on the board they liked better than Conte.

But I would have preferred Curtis Brown out of Texas, a true corner taken by the Steelers just two picks after Chicago.

Zach Zaidman tweets that “Bears DB coach Jon Hoke is good friends with Cal defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast,” and I’m sure that played into the Bears decision.

Meanwhile, the Bears continue to insist they are set at wideout, and I continue to disagree.

Indiana’s Tandon Doss must have scared off suitors with his injuries, which caused him to skip combine workouts. But if healthy, Doss would be a 6’2″ wideout that could have helped the Bears.

Austin Pettis of Boise State was another health concern who would have added size for the Bears receiver corps.

As for Conte, he is physical and does have good size, but his man-to-man cover skills are lacking. Conte was ranked as the 15th best safety yet the Bears left 12 of them ranked higher than Conte on the board.

It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Round 3 Grade: D 

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