BRAGGS' BIG BOARD: Will Safety be the Best Player Available for the Chicago Bears?

Well, yeah, if they're a long long wait, I appreciate everyone in the chat I know how much you guys have been itching and scratching for this I know this is gonna change the complete complexion of Everyone's NFL draft boards at this point. I know that I'm sure I'm gonna get calls from dame Brugler and Fran Duffy and you Waited for the day of Brugler to put out the and I'm not the tight like yeah Could I break down all 400 prospects? Of course I can but I just thought I'd keep it keep it simple stupid I say that to myself all the time and I just want to kind of really itemize this for you guys in the chat in a very simple fashion and how I'm looking at this So let's pull up my big board without further ado and I'll kind of walk you through my mindset when it comes to this number one On my board. We're doing best player available And so this is how it breaks down to me give me Dylan Thiena man if he is on the board And I understand for a lot of fans you're gonna say he's not gonna be on the board And that would be a fair very fair thing to say but until we see how this draft breaks down You just don't know so I have to have him on my board the Bears want speed This guy has it in droves and not only that between obviously his Purdue connections And then moving to Oregon, you know for his final year He's played in a lot of different variations of what they ask him to do he can get down in the box He can be your center fielder. He has insane closing speed He has great ball skills. He's had some pretty remarkable Interceptions and if he killed it at the combine from a testing thing, which I don't put as much stock into but he That's why he probably was hovering. I mean, I think Daniel Jeremiah's first mock draft he had Dylan Thiena been going to the Bears at 25 And now he's shooting up boards because clearly the guy is as talented as they come So he may not be there at 25, but he has to be number one on my list number two and the reason I'm sticking with safety Is because that's kind of where I'm Circling around if we're gonna stick with defense because the defense certainly has a lot of holes to fill And we're gonna prioritize that ahead of left tackle, which I'll get to here in a minute Immanuel McNeil Warren was by far the most impressive person I talked to at the combine There is nobody Carm analysis. I really like it. There was nobody that was more impressive in an age of transfer portals and NIL this guy stuck to loyalty with Toledo and Bet on himself, you know in this day and age how scary that would be for a young man to do that That speaks to his character first and foremost Then you get his play on the field and I've seen a lot of people trying to figure out what the comp is But I've drawn it to peanut Tillman. I always thought peanut could be a safety He ended up being an all-time great corner should be in the Hall of Fame But I used to say back in the day put him at safety I thought he would have played been a great safety And I think Immanuel McNeil Warren is going to be a great safety in my comp for him small school big physical long Those are all the intangibles that Immanuel McNeil Warren has number three as I roll through this quickly We got a big guest here coming up Dave Wanzte joining us here in just a few moments is Caden Proctor You heard it from Baldy you heard it from Phil and Shane on after dark This guy should be left tackle one out of Alabama You know a dancing bear as Phil calls them and I'm all for Securing this offense for the next five years and for years to come for Ben Johnson I think it's a no-brainer I think there's more than a few different Left tackles that you have to consider or even offensive linemen in general To secure what Ben Johnson's plan is for making this the most explosive offense in football They had the most touchdowns in franchise history last year Go a long way of securing that with your left tackle And then you figure out Ozzie Trapillo a year from now and if he becomes a surplus that's a good thing and then finally As Hogue just had in his mock draft Give me Mazzador if we're looking at Defensive linemen the thing I struggle with the most is these D tackles do not scream to me as players that are worthy of that 25 pick and so yes at 25 a guy that is the age of 25 in a key Mazzador You would say well slow down now you took so many of my talking points right out for my mouth and I'm glad we're on the front On the same page. That's a good thing. That's called symmetry I'm not worried about year six seven eight with a key Mazzador if the Bears are trying to win a Super Bowl in the next four years That's all I'm worried about you draft a key Mazzador because you're trying to win now now That's the caveat if you're drafting him He has to be ready to play right now and the thing that impresses me the most is when you look at Fran Delfi's draft guide him give you a little peek behind the curtain of some of the things he does He breaks it down so extensively From what he's heard it from the combine from the measurables from the statistics You know and all the different things that he's done But what I like the most is he'll do this little segment called word on the street where he'll talk to different coaches Different scouts different people that have been a part of each individual player's life over the last five six seven years Depending on the player and this is the stuff that you hear from this guy. Here's in 2021 from Victor to Dondo from the owner of gridiron Academy Some guys will impress coaches through their 40-yard dash They'll impress with their measure measurables, but this kid is different one of the reasons he wasn't highly recruited He didn't run a good 40. He didn't look like a physical specimen, but he has a football IQ He understands the game of football better than anyone else the measurables. I'm not worried about it I loved that quote then you fast forward to 2025 with Cristobal the head coach from Miami. He's becoming something Special and his high school coach said about him in 2025. I only had him for one season But from the minute he got there he was a pro just in terms of his work at echo ethic kind of a magnetic Personality and he's obviously Unbelievably athletic. I remember him being able to do a standing backflip at 250 pounds and so for me, that's where I'm at Give me a football player a guy that knows how to be Know what his job is on that defensive line if he ends up being a rotational piece So be it but he's gonna be a guy that's gonna bring that athleticism and tenacity and that work ethic Most importantly and in my opinion be a plug-and-play player. So that's my fourth on my list I'm looking at safety. I'm looking at left tackle as my priorities in the first round But if I had to go D line, I'm looking at mezzador Mel Kuiper We're sending that clip to you so you can go through it before you get it back out there and you know Anybody else you want to name and then the NFL draft were Dane Bruehler I've tried everything to stand out at work stayed late brought in donuts wore a tie every day But then I found an easier way a comet facility assessment their engineer gave my company free insights and actions that saved us 732 thousand dollars on energy easy, right? Learn how a comet facility assessment can help you save at comet.com forward slash facility assessment Comet powering lives savings will vary based on customers usage and rate