What Would a Consensus Big Board Chicago Bears Draft Have Looked Like?

Author’s note: This is not meant to be a criticism of the Bears draft, devotees of the Consensus Big Board, or really anything at all. This is a thought exercise I wanted to see played out so I took a few hours to look at it. Many of you are over the draft. I get it. If that’s you, just click on something different to read.

Pick 25: Dillon Thieneman, Safety, Oregon, #17 on the Big Board

At pick 25, your top-rated player is Jermod McCoy, CB out of Tennessee. Unfortunately for McCoy, you see a red note from your medical team warning you against taking this player. Too risky with the knee. Instead, you take Dillon Thieneman, who is ranked 17th on the Consensus Big Board. Sweet! Coach Johnson indicated that Safety was a particularly important need. Check!

(Note: McCoy lasted until the first pick of the fourth round due to injury concerns.)

Pick 57: Anthony Hill Jr., LB, Texas, #49 on the Big Board

This one was tough. The next guy on the sheet at #25 is Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, a safety out of Toledo, but you just drafted Thieneman. Moving down the list is #41 Emmanuel Pregnon, a massive guard prospect out of Oregon. Guard was pretty far down Coach Johnson’s list. The next guy after that is Anthony Hill Jr., who fits a described need higher on Coach Johnson’s wish list. You turn in the card for Hill Jr.

(Note: Hill was ultimately picked by the Titans at pick 60. McNeil-Warren wound up being picked right after this at 58 and Pregnon went pick 88, one before the Bears next pick.)

Pick 69: Zachariah Branch, WR, Georgia, #64 on the Big Board

It says here on Coach Johnson’s sheet that he’s looking for a speedy wideout and while all of these guys seem fast, Branch is the fastest of the next three available wideouts. Chris Bell had the highest Big Board ranking but there’s a medical note on him and Branch was faster than Chris Brazzell II. It’s going to cost you a few points, but it should make Coach Johnson happy he got his speed WR here.

(Note: Branch got selected the first out of the three mentioned WRs at #79 to the Falcons, but behind three lower ranked receivers in Antonio Williams, Malachi Fields, and Caleb Douglas. Brazzell went 83 to the Panthers and Bell went 94 to the Dolphins. There were additional WRs in this range that went but were lower on the Big Board like Ja’Kobi Lane at 80 to Baltimore, Ted Hurst at 84 to Tampa Bay, and Zavion Thomas to the Bears at 89. A crazy run of Wide Receivers.)

Pick 89: Keith Abney II, CB, Arizona State, #61 on the Big Board

The highest rated player on the Big Board at this point is Keionte Scott, who your notes project at safety. Next is Keith Abney II, a cornerback prospect with “inside/outside” versatility. Bonus – he’s a four-time national champion rollerblader! Some of you with a sharp eye will note that Abney was rated higher on the Big Board than Branch by three slots, but prioritizing the group of WR’s in the last round included Branch. It worked out.

(Note: Abney went in the fifth round to the Lions, Scott went to the Bucs at pick 116 in the fourth.)

Pick 124: Joshua Josephs, EDGE, Tennessee, #77 on the Big Board

Well, well, well, a defensive lineman! Josephs wasn’t the highest rated on the board as Kyle Louis, a LB from Pitt was higher rated but you already grabbed a linebacker. Josephs, if nothing else, quiets the Twitter crowd for five minutes.

(Note: Josephs went off the board at pick 147 to Washington. Kyle Loius was drafted near the end of the 4th round to the Dolphins at pick 137.)

Pick 166: Brian Parker II, OC, Duke, #111 on the Big Board

The highest rated prospect on the board is Garrett Nussmeier, the quarterback out of LSU but there’s really no room on the roster for him. Jalon Kilgore, safety out of South Carolina is next but again, you’ve already got Thieneman. Deion Burks, a Wide Receiver out of Oklahoma is there but you’ve already snagged Branch. Next highest on the big board is Parker, who will fill the center of the future role for the Bears. Coach Johnson said “smart” next to center and, Duke, I guess?

(Note: Parker ultimately went to the Bengals in the 6th round at pick 189. Nussmeier went to the Chiefs way down at pick 249 with a compensatory 7th rounder. Kilgore went on the very next pick at 167 to the Bills and Burks went to the Colts way down with the 254th pick.)

Pick 213: Michael Trigg, TE, Baylor, #118 on the Big Board

Hey, the room traded up here! Something must be really important for them to do that. We know Coach Johnson wants to run more 13 personnel this year so let’s throw him the next highest rated player on the board to end the draft.

(Note: Trigg went undrafted and signed with the Dallas Cowboys.)

Result

We followed some pretty simple rules in this thought exercise and I tried to keep personal judgment out of it as much as possible. The result is…rather interesting because the class is essentially the same positions but obviously different players selected in a different order. Note that of the Bears original class after Thieneman, it’s impossible to know if they would have been taken by another team before the Bears were back on the clock for their pick. For our purposes, I just eliminated them from the board.

The actual vs. Big Board draft class turns out looking like this:

Pick 25: Dillon Thieneman vs. Dillon Thieneman

Pick 57: Logan Jones vs. Anthony Hill Jr.

Pick 69: Sam Roush vs. Zachariah Branch

Pick 89: Zavion Thomas vs. Keith Abney II

Pick 124: Malik Muhammad vs. Joshua Josephs

Pick 166: Keyshaun Elliott vs. Brian Parker II

Pick 213: Jordan van den Berg vs. Michael Trigg

Conclusion

I don’t know if the players from the Big Board draft fit what the Bears are trying to build from a team culture or fit standpoint. There’s obviously a lot more perceived value from the Big Board draft picks, but I personally loved the logan Jones pick in the real draft and feel confident he’ll be the center for a long time in Ben Johnson’s offense. That’s a clear difference between the Bears-specific board loving and seeing a role for a guy like Jones for their team and the scouting community ranking all players for a generic NFL team.

Roush was taken during a run on tight ends, something that a Big Board can’t really anticipate, and by the time the Big Board draft gave us one, it was a player that signed as a UDFA in real life. Then of course, I’ve already seen the actual picks in Navy and Orange over the Rookie Mini Camp and all those guys looked like future Pro Bowlers so now I’m in on the actual draft picks more than anything hypothetical…

Let me know what you think in the comments – you taking the Bears draft or the Big Board draft?