It’s always NFL Draft season to me. 365 days a year, I enjoy a good NFL mock draft. For the rest of the world though, NFL Draft season begins once their team is eliminated from playoff contention. Therefore, Raiders and Jaguars fans see draft season begin for them in September. Chicago Bears fans have seen draft season begin much earlier that usual in 2014.
As we think about the Bears franchise overhaul, let’s think about their first round draft pick too. How about Alabama Safety Landon Collins?
I’ve had Landon Collins mocked to the Bears for a month already (see my full mock here), and ESPN mocknik (or draftnik) Todd McShay released his first NFL mock draft a couple days ago. As you would expect, it’s SEC heavy. As all good NFL mock drafts should be.
Here’s how the SEC’s first-round players currently project, according to McShay.
5. Missouri DE Shane Ray (Washington Redskins)
6. Alabama WR Amari Cooper (New York Jets)
7. Florida DE Dante Fowler Jr. (Atlanta Falcons)
9. Alabama S Landon Collins (Chicago Bears)
11. Texas A&M OT Cedric Ogbuehi (Minnesota Vikings)
27. LSU OT La’El Collins (Indianapolis Colts)
28. Mississippi State LB Benardrick McKinney (Green Bay Packers)
29. Georgia RB Todd Gurley (Seattle Seahawks)
30. Kentucky DE Bud Dupree (Arizona Cardinals)
31. South Carolina G A.J. Cann (New England Patriots)
McShay also had Arkansas DE Trey Flowers in his “top five prospects still available.”
Other than Landon Collins, and the other SEC players going in the top ten, here’s how McShay sees the rest of the top ten in April’s draft shaping out:
1. Tampa, Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon
2. Tennessee, Jameis Winston, QB, Florida St
3. Jacksonville, Leonard Williams, DE, USC
4. Oakland, Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
8. New York Giants, Vic Beasley, DE/OLB, Clemson
10. Carolina, Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa.
Now is a time for drastic change and complete overhaul with this franchise. Marc Trestman and his assistants will be canned. If there’s any trade partner who’s willing to take on that horrible Jay Cutler contract, he’ll be gone too. Brandon Marshall needs to be jettisoned, GM Phil Emery could be dismissed. With a total teardown and a total rebuild in the works, it’s not too early to look a potential first round draft selection made in late April…right now at Christmas time.
Here’s what McShay had to say about Landon Collins, h/t SB Nation
Landon Collins
COLLEGE: Alabama – Class: Jr – HT: 6-0 WT: 212 POS: S
Analysis: Safety was a need area for Chicago in last year’s draft, and the Bears didn’t address the position until the fourth round when they selected Brock Vereen. He’s a solid player, but certainly not the talent that Collins is. Collins is a very impressive athlete for the safety position, with a strong, compact build, quick feet, and good length and leaping ability. He’s a good open-field tackler, possesses good ball skills and plays with an edge. The Bears need all the help they can get on defense.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2