The Bears 2025 Draft Thread

[Jiddy]

I'm assuming you're talking about Will Campbell. He ran a 4.98. Believe it or not there were four others who ran an even faster time, with Georgia's Jared Wilson leading them all by clocking in at an insane 4.84. Wilson also tied for second in the 10 yard split with a 1.72 time. Most coaching staffs tend to lean a bit more on the splits mainly because how many times does an offensive lineman need to run 40 yards during a game.

Wilson is a center. I think I'd prefer they just go sign this Dalman guy.

One because experience is nice at the center position. (Yes, Coleman Shelton was out-talented and it showed a lot last season, but at least he had some intangibles that carried him to perform respectably at times. Just apply those intangibles to an actually talented player and Voila.)

And two because we don't know if we'll necessarily be able to draft Wilson, so just take the bird in the hand and pay the proven FA that is available. Also Dalman is still a good age at 26 to sign longer-term.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Not sure if anyone else caught the combines the past 4 days and in particular yesterday's segment devoted strictly to the OL. I have to say for the most part I was super impressed with the athleticism of these big lunkers. Five of them ran a sub-5 40 and 18 of them ran the 10 yard splits in under 1.8 seconds. Most of them performed quite well in the various footwork drills. Some definitely improved their draft status. Not sure anyone did more to solidify his profile than Oregon's Josh Connerly. He probably had the best all around performance for the day. Others that improved their profiles:

Mizzou's Armand Membou
Minnesota's Aireontae Ersery
NDSU's Grey Zabel
Arizona's Jonah Savaiinaea
Ohio State's Donovan Jackson

The big names did nothing to hurt their stock. Will Campbell will probably remain the top OL pick in the draft. Kelvin Banks, Jr will also be either the 1st or 2nd taken off the board. Tyler Booker showed why he's the top pure guard of the bunch. The only key name who remains somewhat a mystery is Josh Simmons. And that's only because he was still unable to test, and he may not be able to perform the full gamut even by his pro day, at least that's what they reported during the broadcast. But it was also reported that Simmons believes he'll be 100% ready to go by the time summer camps begin.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Wilson is a center. I think I'd prefer they just go sign this Dalman guy.

Same here. I only mentioned him due to his run times. There's no center in the draft who's worth an early round pick. A few like Wilson may have improved their ranking a bit, but I don't see a pure center being drafted in the first 3 rounds. I continue to root for us signing Dalman, he's been on the top of my wish list for some time now. If he sticks with the Falcons or signs with some other team, then Josh Myers would make for a nice alternate.