I've been in deep thought and random message board discussion about the Shea McClellin selection for the Bears taking in the positives and the negatives and trying to weigh them all out.  The pundits the experts, the draftniks everyone has an opinion on McClellin, most of it has been pretty positive in terms of his ability and athleticism. 

With the draft over the Bears moved to sign un-drafted free agents to come in and compete for a roster spots during the off-season workouts and training camp.  Eleven players were targeted including two offensive linemen, two safeties, three receivers, two linebackers one defensive tackle and a running back.

Those players are:

PLAYER                               POS                     UNIVERSITY

Alvester Alexander                  RB                      Wyoming
James Brown                           T                       Troy
Ronnie Cameron                     DT                      Old Dominion
Adrien Cole                        LB                      Louisiana Tech
Trevor Coston                      S                       Maine
Terriun Crump                      WR                      Western Illinois
Britton Golden                     WR                      West Texas A&M
A.J. Greene                        T                       Albany
Jeremy Jones                       S                       Wayne State
Chris Summers                      WR                      Liberty
Ronnie Thornton                    B                       Southern Miss

The player of note who has some notable YouTube highlights is DT Ronnie Cameron from Old Dominion.  Cameron flashes some strong one gap DT ability against lower competition, but the burst, hustle and athleticism is evident.  We'll see how he fair with a step up in competition.  Other notable signings are Adrien Cole from La-Tech who seems to fit in the role as a weak-side linebacker or strong side prospect, as well as James Brown the OG from Troy.  Brown was named one of the top undrafted free agents in this recent Yahoo Sports article.  He was given a third round grade by some scouts and seems to fit into the Bears' zone blocking scheme that they run under Tice.   At first glance all four are the ones to keep an eye on during camp and the pre-season games to see if they can battle to remain on the 53-man roster.

A resounding statement was made by new GM Phil Emery during the 2012 NFL draft, he's just as confident in the Bears' offensive line as Lovie Smith is. The Bears did not draft a single offensive lineman during the seven rounds of this weekend's NFL draft, instead choosing to focus primarily on the secondary. Three of the Bears' six picks addressed the secondary, with the team adding another safety in round three for the third straight year. The addition of safety Brandon Hardin also makes eight straight years that the Bears have selected a safety in the NFL draft, one for each of Smith's drafts as head coach.

In the second round the Bears added wide receiver Alshon Jeffery who comes with one major red flag, he has a tendency to put on weight easily. Jeffery played at 230-pounds last year before dropping down to 212 during the lead up to the draft. Additionally Jeffery has been described as playing tall and having excellent body control and hands. The consensus among scouts seems to be that Jeffery fails to get separation and always makes catches with DBs draped on him. A strong quality from a physical standpoint, but not an ideal quality when he'll need to get open.

In the fourth round the Bears went with a H-back which is essentially a TE/FB combination in Evan Rodriguez. Rodriguez is more of a FB prospect measuring at 6-foot-1 242-pounds. He too has some red flags with two arrests one for felony assault that was reduced to trespassing as well as an arrest for disorderly conduct.

With their final two picks in the draft the Bears added two CBs in Isaiah Frey of Nevada and Greg McCoy of TCU. Both will come in and compete for playing time at corner with a chance to make the roster likely as special teams gunners.

Overall the Bears draft is full of red flags, first round selection DE Shea McClellin has had multiple concussions at his career at Boise State, Jeffery has the weight problems, Hardin the safety broke his shoulder and missed the entire 2011 season and Rodriguez has the two arrests. The first four selections of the draft have the Bears taking risks with each player.

With all the information taken into context it seems as though nothing has changed from the Jerry Angelo era. Even if you are confident in the offensive line there was still a need to add a swing offensive tackle who could play either the right side or left side if called upon. Essentially replacing Frank Omiyale whom the Bears rightfully cut was a necessity heading into the draft. The Bears ignored upgrading the O-Line all together much as they did during Angelo's tenure.

The overall feeling seems to be that nothing really changed up at Halas Hall and it's a legitimate question.  Emery was with the Bears as an area scout before he took positions with other organizations.  Emery emerged as a candidate almost immediately and was the front runner from the get go.  He was the front runner largely because of his ties to the Bears organization.   This draft has all the earmarks of the same old same old remaining in place. 

The Bears predictably got their pass rusher in Shea McClellin in the first round on Thursday night.  Finding help at the DE spot opposite Julius Peppers was a priority when the Bears missed out on Jeremy Mincey who remained with the Jaguars.

Day two of the draft offers a bit of intrigue for the Bears who hold the 50th overall selection in the round.  The question is which position will come off the board quicker in this round?  The answer I'll try my best to figure out in this next bit.

Defensive tackle:  The Bears need someone to come into the rotation and contribute right away for the departed Anthony Adams and Amobi Okoye.  Intriguing options remain at the DT spot with Devon Still being the highest on my board.  Still was a dominant force for the Penn State Nittany Lions and flashed both at the point of attack and in penetrating gaps.  He seems like an ideal replacement for Anthony Adams as the one-technique and at 6-foot-5 303-pounds he is a big force in the middle of any 4-3 defense.  He's likely to be one of the first players off the board in round two however.  This means the Bears could be in position to land some other DTs in Kendall Reyes of UConn another solid one-gap penetrating DT, Jerel Worthy of Michigan State, and Brandon Thompson of Clemson.

Wide receiver:  Does the run on receivers start early in round two or does the availability of three pass rushers push those receivers back towards the Bears?  Stephen Hill, Reuben Randall, and Mohammed Sanu are three receivers of intrigue that make a total of seven players the Bears could target at pick 50 that would immediately fit a need.

Tight End:  Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen are arguably the only two TEs in this draft that could make an impact in the NFL.  Fleener was rumored to be a round one pick but is now a day two pick that could come off early, but certainly Allen could be there for the Bears at 50.  These two make the total nine players that are in between the Bears and their selection.

OL:  Jonathan Martin, Bobbie Massie,Peter Konz, Mike Adams and Cordy Glenn two surprisingly fell out of the first round and three of them could be there for the Bears making before the Bears pick at 50.  Bears could find that swing tackle/guard prospect waiting for them making 14 players

LB:  Lavonte David and Zach Brown both fit the profile of a weak-side linebacker of the future for the Bears.  Geno Hayes was only signed to a one year deal and if he doesn't work out one of these two just might fit that profile.  One is known for his athletic prowess the other is a tackling machine, making the total 16 players before the Bears draft.

Other best available players in round two that will push these positions of need towards the Bears DE Andre Branch, Vinny Curry and Courtney Upshaw could come off the board before 50, two almost would seem certain to.

Since the Bears draft at the 18th overall pick in round two you can see the list of players the Bears have to choose from fits needs quite well.  The Bears will most definitely wind up with some of the players at a position of need at #50 and likely won't have to trade up to grab that player.

Phil Emery stated that the Bears were going to avoid players with an injury history.  The Bears however drafted a player with an injury risk that automatically puts up a red flag as having injury concerns.  Shea McClellin the DE from Boise State suffered two concussions while playing for the Broncos.  The first he suffered in 2009 and then a second one he suffered in 2010.  When I asked McClellin about the concussions on twitter I received this response.

"never (sic) had 3, one very mild one and another one in 2010 changed my helmet last year and haven't had a problem since."

There was a report that came out during the evaluation process that McClellin had three concussions, which he disputes with his tweet.  The concern however is multiple concussions in a two year period given the information I found on the MayoClinic.com website for neurology.  Listed under:

Factors that may increase your risk of a concussion include:

Participating in a high risk sport, such as football, hockey, soccer or other contact sport; the risk is further increased if there's a lack of proper safety equipment and supervision.

Most concerning in McClellin's case:  Having had a previous concussion.

McClellin has had at least two concussions as a football player at Boise State and as a result is at a much higher risk for a repeat concussion in the future.

This revelation seems to fly directly in the face of what Emery stated during his pre-draft news conference earlier this week.  Although Emery seemed to give a hint of the player the Bears were targeting at 19 with his quote from the conference.

Emery stated in the article from the Chicago Tribune,  “Guys can get flagged for certain things,” he said. “We’ll go through a process where we might … we call them tilts and flips. We’ll tilt a player on the board, we’ll turn his card going south a little bit if they’re in that risk area. Usually we move those players to the right of the column. The players that are clean are to the left. We’ll flip them all the way over if the risk is too high, if their medical grade puts them in a situation where we feel the risk is too high, meaning we would not pick them. If they’re tilted, we’re going to have a lot of discussion before we would move forward with that player.”

Concussions are part of the medical process. NFL teams are taking a close look at head injuries for players at the college level because of the scrutiny being paid to concussions.

“That's part of our research,” Emery said. “Any time a head injury, knocked out of the game, headache, any of those words are used, we get it down in our injury incident report so that our physicians can follow up with the proper questions or proper screening and medical tests for that situation. The schools are very forthcoming but you always use that data that you've collected yourself and with interviews with a player.

“Sometimes, players are much more revealing in the process leading up to the draft than they might even be with their school officials about issues such as concussions because they want to make sure they're forthcoming on everything and so you gather all of that information and you evaluate it and yes, we're very conscious of that as we are with any other injury.”

Whether Emery was directly talking about McClellin cannot be determined but he could have been convinced by McClellin's straight talk during his pre-draft visit about his past concussion history to not "tilt" him towards the risk category.

The undeniable fact however is McClellin will forever be at a risk for another concussion during his football career.  That risk will also be higher than a player who hasn't suffered a concussion in his career, something that Bears fans will without question be watching as McClellin's career in Chicago moves forward.

When the Chicago Bears fired Jerry Angelo everyone thought that things up and Halas Hall would change.  Change didn't come however with the hiring of a former Bears scout in Phil Emery taking over.  Emery was considered a draft guru, and instead Emery proved he's more of the same.  

The Bears drafted Shea McClellin who was a linebacker/defensive end at Boise State.  The McClellin pick might as well mean that Rod Marinelli is the GM of the Bears.  McClellin plays with a high motor and brings shovel to work, but he's not a 4-3 DE in the NFL.  He might be a 3-4 outside linebacker the position he took nearly every rep at while playing in the Senior Bowl.  

McClellin might as well be Nick Reed the defensive end from Oregon who made the 53-man roster after an exciting pre-season where he played tough and hustled.  He does not fill the Bears position of need, does not play well at the point of attack, and does not have explosion off the edge.  

With Whitney Mercilus, Chandler Jones still on the board the Bears passed on true base DE prospects in favor of the one-dimensional LB prospect.  A head scratch pick that raised eyebrows throughout the twitter world. He's not the type of athlete that will help Julius Peppers out.  

If this is a sign of what's to come for the Bears, it could be a very disappointing decade to come.  If Lovie Smith doesn't do well next year and the Bears go with a 3-4 defense after a Smith firing then this pick might make more sense.  He's more of a linebacker than he is a DE, hopefully he grows into a DE. 

When the Chicago Bears fired Jerry Angelo everyone thought that things up and Halas Hall would change.  Change didn't come however with the hiring of a former Bears scout in Phil Emery taking over.  Emery was considered a draft guru, and instead Emery proved he's more of the same.

The Bears drafted Shea McClellin who was a linebacker/defensive end at Boise State.  The McClellin pick might as well mean that Rod Marinelli is the GM of the Bears.  McClellin plays with a high motor and brings shovel to work, but he's not a 4-3 DE in the NFL.  He might be a 3-4 outside linebacker the position he took nearly every rep at while playing in the Senior Bowl.

McClellin might as well be Nick Reed the defensive end from Oregon who made the 53-man roster after an exciting pre-season where he played tough and hustled.  He does not fill the Bears position of need, does not play well at the point of attack, and does not have explosion off the edge.

With Whitney Mercilus, Chandler Jones still on the board the Bears passed on true base DE prospects in favor of the one-dimensional LB prospect.  A head scratch pick that raised eyebrows throughout the twitter world. He's not the type of athlete that will help Julius Peppers out.

If this is a sign of what's to come for the Bears, it could be a very disappointing decade to come.

Update:

Even more disheartening are the reports that Shea McClellin suffered at least two concussions at Boise State.  Some reports have the number as high as three concussion, while McClellin himself states he suffered one and a half concussions while a Bronco. 

What is important to note here is there is no way to detect a concussion from a medical standpoint by Bears doctors during an evaluation.  A concussion is something that undetectable but that can lead to an early end to a football career. 

After months of preparation the most hyped off-season event in all of sports kicks off today with the first round of the NFL draft.  The Bears as just about every one knows will be selecting from the 19th spot in the draft.  As has been reported Rod Marinelli is likely going to get a new toy to play with on defense in the form of a pass rusher or potentially a defensive tackle.

First some tidbits Phil Emery stated the Bears have been focused their pick onto seven players in the first round.  Guesses have been wide ranging to an offensive tackle to a wide receiver with pass rushers in between.  I don't like getting into the game of prediction but if there are seven players I can only truly pigeon hole five of the seven possibilities:

Michael Brockers
Whitney Mercilus
Chandler Jones
Quinton Coples
Nick Perry

Those five would seem to be the five most associated as first round picks in the range of the Bears.  Some speculate on a wide receiver that would be in the mix at that spot.  Michael Floyd's stock has been in flux as of late with the rise up the draft boards of Mark Barron and Chandler Jones and the chance the Vikings might not take Ryan Khalil thus causing him to fall a bit to a team who might otherwise have drafted Reilly Reiff. Floyd doesn't get past the Jets at 16 so the chances he's there for the Bears at 19 doesn't seem plausible.

Kendall Wright is another receivers associated with the Bears who best first a role as a slot receiver.  Last time I check the Bears had no shortage of slot receivers so I don't see Wright fitting into the Bears' draft plans either.  Earl Bennett and Johnny Knox fit that slot role just fine meaning the Bears if they're going to draft a receiver are going to take an outside WR threat probably in rounds two or three.

Phil Emery publicly stated that there are a lot of mid round offensive tackle prospects who also fit in as offensive guard prospects meaning he's likely not going to look at DeCastro or Reiff at 19.

The Bears re-signed CB Tim Jennings and also signed veteran Kelvin Hayden to a one year minimal risk deal to be the third or fourth CB on the roster.  D.J. Moore is a solid  nickel CB so I don't see the Bears looking at Dre Kirkpatrick.

The focus is on pass rushers pure and simple and it's why I'm comfortable in narrowing it down to five players rather than trying to guess at seven.  The reason I am focusing on the pass rushers is they're likely to come off the board one after another starting with the Chargers at 18.  The Titans could go with a pass rusher at 20 with the Lions and Steelers going after pass rushers at 23 and 24.  The first pass rusher could even come off the board as early as seven to Jacksonville or possibly 9 with Carolina or 12 with Seattle.

If pass rushers come off the board early then I don't see the Bears trading down if either Coples, Perry or Mercilus is still on the board.  If the Bears are left with those three then trading down would leave the Bears with a small chance of upgrading the pass rush.

If there are very few pass rush options left at 19 then the Bears may trade down and look in an entirely different direction all together.

I think what the Bears' draft will come down to will be a pass rusher in the first round.  The pass rusher value is at the top of the draft and then it drops off considerably after those players.  Pass rushers are always highly valued in the first round, so much so that some of the targets may not even be legitimate first round players.  Their value is simply inflated because of the need to get after the QB on third down in a pass happy league.

Phil Emery has done a lot for the Chicago Bears this off-season, he's been very busy in the free agency market.  So far in the free agency period Emery has addressed receiver, linebacker, running back, backup quarterback, corner back and offensive line.  Some of the moves were big, adding Brandon Marshall via trade, a starter capable backup in Jason Campbell and Michael Bush as a starter level capable running back.

Now the focus shifts to the draft and the strategy has become clear that the Bears will likely address defense with their first round pick.  The Bears have been tied to two players through various reports, DT Michael Brockers and DE Whitney Mercilus.  Brockers doesn't seem to fit the Bears scheme all that well and Mercilus is listed by some as a better 3-4 OLB prospect.  Brockers may be better suited for the 3-4 DE position known as the 5-technique rather than the three technique.

With this knowledge there is another strategy that is quietly revealing itself that helps the Bears even if they are not successful during the 2012 season.  If the Bears fail to reach the playoffs then Lovie Smith may be fired and a change in defensive scheme may come with his replacement.

If the Bears shift to a 3-4 defense then they will need to completely rebuild the players on defense and could be able to with either Mercilus or Brockers as a piece of the foundation.  If the Bears grab a player a scheme versatile player in the first round, they may grab yet another in the second who serves in that same role.  Kendall Reyes is a three technique/five technique scheme versatile DT that might be around in round two.

Other scheme versatile players that the Bears may look at include Shea McClellin who is a solid base end prospect and versatile OLB prospect.  At 6-foot-3 260-pounds can rush from a standing position or from a down position with his hand in the dirt.  He's athletic in his drop backs and shows the ability to read and diagnose and tackle in the open field.  He's also a strong blitzing prospect that can attack any gap on the line, increasing his value in the 3-4 defense.

Another base DE prospect we have talked about is Nick Perry from USC.  Perry put on 25-pounds for the combine to solidify his spot as a base DE, but he also played at 250-pounds.  If Perry plays well at 275-pounds dropping weight back down to the 255-260 range to play as a 3-4 linebacker if required.

Fortunately for the Bears this draft offers some scheme versatile players who can play as needed in a 4-3 or 3-4.  Bottom line though is the Bears don't want to lose in the first place, but if in that unenviable position Emery will likely put himself in position for the present and the future.

The Bears today announced the signing of weak-side linebacker Geno Hayes formerly of the Tampa Bay Bucs.  Hayes a four year veteran of the NFL has racked up a pretty decent resume in his time in Tampa and could wind up competing with Nick Roach for the starting strong side linebacker spot.

From the Chicago Bears' official release:

Hayes has started 42 of 56 games played at weakside linebacker for Tampa Bay over four seasons (2008-11) after being selected by the Bucs in the sixth round (175th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. The 6-1, 226-pound linebacker out of Florida State has collected 334 tackles (231 solo), 36 tackles for losses, seven sacks, four interceptions – including one returned for a touchdown, 16 pass break ups, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in his NFL career. He has added nine special teams stops and a blocked punt which he returned for a touchdown.

Hayes has 29.5 stuffs - a tackle of a rusher for negative yards – according to STATS, second most in the NFL since entering the league in 2008. He led the league with 11 stuffs in 2009 and finished tied for second with 11.5 in 2010.

In 2011, Hayes started 13 of 16 games played, finishing third on the team with 86 tackles and seven tackles for losses, adding one interception and two forced fumbles.

Hayes' arrival in Chicago brings instant legitimate depth to the Bears' linebackers.  His play has been at a level that represents a solid level contribution to the Bucs defense.  Hayes' familiarity with the Bears' defense means he should be a plug and play type of player who comes in and competes immediately.

This signing also makes the Bears' draft plans all the more apparent.  The desire to find a pass rushing DE opposite Julius Peppers still exists as does a need for another defensive tackle.  As reported earlier the Bears have been high on both DT Michael Brockers and DE Whitney Mercilus and will likely target them at the 19th overall selection.

The one thing to keep an eye on is by filling out the roster with veterans who already fit the system and are looking to jump start their careers the Bears are addressing needs that were once thought to be draft needs.  The key thing now is watching the Matt Forte situation and realizing that the Bears could potentially look to trade up in the draft.

Free agency signings have filled draft needs which could meaning using draft picks to trade up in the draft to target a specific player.  Is that player DT Fletcher Cox; perhaps if Matt Khalil starts to fall in the draft the Bears consider moving up to take a franchise LT?

The Chicago Bears have officially announced the signing of former 49ers offensive guard Chilo Rachal to a one year contract.  Rachal was a strong run blocker in 2010 but lost his starting job at the end of the 2011 season.  According to reports from ProFootballFocus Rachal graded out as one of the worst offensive guards in the league last year.

Contrastly in 2010 PFF had Rachal rated as a secret superstar for the 49ers.  One thing is certain Rachal is a reclamation project who could benefit from some tutelage from Mike Tice.

Rachal started 38 of 55 games over the last four seasons with the 49ers. The 6-5, 323-pounder made all 38 starts at RG for San Francisco. He struggled to adjust to the power man blocking approach the 49ers switched to with Jim Harbaugh.  The question remains will Rachal return to his former run blocking abilities in the Bears' zone blocking scheme. 

Rachal may move to left guard in the Bears' scheme or he may force the move of Chris Spencer to left guard.  Either way Rachal will be competing with Lance Louis Spencer and Chris Williams.