The "NO" Bears draft pick at #14 of the day

Ryan Clady, OL- Boise State or
Jeff Otah, OL- Pittsburgh or
Chris Williams, OL- Vanderbilt




This would be a terrible pick, despite what seems to be popular opinion. Here are the reasons why:

1) Yes, we need offensive linemen, but what we need more is a running back. Our current RB situation is at best mired in mediocrity and at worst completely inert. There has only been one instance in recent memory in which a line has been more important than it's running back and that was in late 90s-early 00s Denver.

2) ONE offensive lineman will change absolutely nothing. We already have a Pro Bowl center and two other better-than-average linemen in John Tait and Roberto Garza. Yes, the other two positions are vacant (almost literally), but we need two (more like 3 for when Tait finally retires) and the #14 pick can only get us one.

3) The most conservative projections have us picking at best the #3 lineman on the board, and most have us picking the 4th or 5th best. The 14th pick in the draft should NOT be used on a player who is 4th or 5th best at their position in a draft. With Rashard Mendenhall or Brian Brohm the Bears would be picking the second best player at their positions which is a much better use of their pick and would give them much greater value. To give a better sense of this, in the last 5 drafts the number 14 pick would have garnered the number 2, 2, 2, 2, and 3rd best lineman in the draft. Settling for this would be foolish.

4) The difference between a first round lineman and a second or third round lineman is negligible beyond the first 1 or two lineman. Much of it is all about technique and the Bears can train a lineman to use proper technique, especially with their veteran line.

In summary: PICK MENDENHALL.