Chicago Bears: Who’s on Ryan Pace’s draft list at No. 8?
Tier 4: The backup plans
Harold Landry, Denzel Ward
Ultimately, this might be the position the Chicago Bears are trying to avoid.
While Landry and Ward are good players, I’m not sure that either one of them quite have the upside and fit the Bears want here.
Landry should project well, in theory, as a 3-4 outside linebacker, but when I watch him, I’m just not seeing anything top 10-worthy.
He has nice quickness and is more refined than Davenport, by all accounts. But at 6-foot-2 and somewhat pedestrian length (under 33 inches) for an outside guy, I wonder if there aren’t limits to what he can do in the NFL.
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And as badly as the Bears want/need an edge rusher in this draft, why reach for one at No. 8 if you don’t love him? You might as well just take someone you like better and grab a developmental guy in the next round (don’t wait too long).
With Ward, it’s perhaps a bit more complicated.
He clearly ranks at the top of this year’s cornerback crop, though he might not fit the Bears’ scheme as well as someone like Josh Jackson might.
And he’s shown that he’s more than just a speed guy; he has good technique, plays tough and also ends up around the ball.
But at 5-foot-11 with arms just over 31 inches in length, he simply isn’t a Fangio-style corner. Him running a 4.32-second 40 doesn’t change that.
Still, both Landry and Ward are good football players, and that counts for something.
Next: How to watch the 2018 NFL Draft
Ultimately, I can’t see either of them being the Bears’ pick at No. 8. They would be contingency plans, as might some of the names in the previous groups, if they traded back or the top 10 turned into a complete crapshoot.
And if the Bears swapped with someone like the Miami Dolphins (No. 11), Buffalo Bills (No. 12) or even later, they could still get very good value with these guys.
Another name to watch for if the Bears trade back from No. 8? The other Notre Dame lineman, Mike McGlinchey. He’s not special, but he’ll be a solid starter for years and will probably be better than Bobby Massie like…immediately.