Round Two Options?

[manxman2601]

5. Chris Bell still high on my list.

This is something I was thinking about the other day. How different are Bell and Stribling? I'm not trying to play one binky off against another here, but they have very similar styles. Bell has 15lbs on Stribling and is probably stronger at the catch point but they are both big bodied receivers who run fairly linear routes, are on-field tough and both are explosive.

 

[VJCPatriot]

So we've had a late day three thread and a mid-round thread so let's talk round two.

The way I see it, what happens in round two depends on two different trajectories resulting from the pick at 31.

1. If we go OT, I think EDGE will be inevitable, very possibly with a trade up.

2. If we go EDGE at 31, I think things are opened up quite a bit. There's no obvious RT at 63 to take allowing us to go in a different direction. I realise some of this has already been discussed across different threads.

So with regards to option 2 (excluding RT and EDGE) according to The Beast, the following are available in range of pick 63.

56. Treydan Stukes, CB/S, Arizona
62. Keylan Rutledge, OG, Georgia Tech
63. Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt
66. Max Klare, TE, Ohio State
67. De'Zhaun Stribling, WR, Ole Miss
72. Ted Hurst, WR, Georgia Southern

Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn St., Keionte Scott , CB/S Miami and Kyle Louis, LB/S, Pii are other possibilities.

According to the consensus big board:

58. Keylan Rutledge
60. Gennings Dunker, OG, Iowa
61. Keionte Scott
62. Josiaiah Trotter, LB, Mizzou
63. Treydan Stukes
72. Kyle Louis
75. Max Klare
77. Ted Hurst

Stowers is borderline top 50 on the consensus board so less likely.

I think all this moot if we go Iheanachor/Miller at 31. As I said, at that point, EDGE is very likely somewhere in Rnd 2. However, interior OL, TE and safety (maybe WR depending on the AJ Brown trade) do offer intriguing options if we go elsewhere in the first.

Here's some additional round 2 options:

WR Chris Brazzell (62), Malachi Fields (64), Antonio Williams (81), Elijah Sarratt (83)
EDGE Jaishawn Barham (65), Gabe Jacas (66), Joshua Joseph (73), Zion Young (76), Romello Height (77)
TE Michael Trigg (67), Eli Stowers (68)

Just going off CBS Prospects big board: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospect-rankings/

Feels like there's plenty of WR and EDGE prospects that will be available in that area. We might need to get ahead of a run and trade up a little bit if there's a guy Vrabel and Wolf favors over the others.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

If we go OT at 31 I'm assuming a day 2 EDGE, but not necessarily round 2. It's such a deep class, I suspect some will slip, and trading up from 95 could land one. 95 + 131 gets you to around 87, which is the 2nd of Miami's 4 3rd round picks (75, 87, 90, 94).

My current wet dream is Max Iheanachor + Keylan Rutledge + DDS + Sam Roush. Missing out on Treydan Stukes, Keionte Scott, Jacob Rodriguez and Jake Golday hurts me more than missing out on TJ Parker, Gabe Jacas, Malachi Lawrence and Zion Young. I really love those 4 guys. But I'm leaning towards nailing down the OL and establishing a bully mentality on offense.

I would like to "nail down" the OL as well, but if we can't move Onwenu and Moses, maybe it is better to take the OL makeover in two steps, one step in both '26 and '27. There are some interesting BPA guys at LB and FS that might balance the team more.

 

[manxman2601]

Here's some additional round 2 options:

WR Chris Brazzell (62), Malachi Fields (64), Antonio Williams (81), Elijah Sarratt (83)
EDGE Jaishawn Barham (65), Gabe Jacas (66), Joshua Joseph (73), Zion Young (76), Romello Height (77)
TE Michael Trigg (67), Eli Stowers (68)

Just going off CBS Prospects big board: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospect-rankings/

Feels like there's plenty of WR and EDGE prospects that will be available in that area. We might need to get ahead of a run and trade up a little bit if there's a guy Vrabel and Wolf favors over the others.

Those are certainly good candidates but I was discounting EDGE because that's either a round one pick or highly likely if we go RT at 31. As for WR, I was working on the idea that Brown is very likely which makes WR at 63 much less so.

But sure, they are certainly good considerations if those assumptions are wrong.

 

[mgteich]

If we go OT at 31 I'm assuming a day 2 EDGE, but not necessarily round 2. It's such a deep class, I suspect some will slip, and trading up from 95 could land one. 95 + 131 gets you to around 87, which is the 2nd of Miami's 4 3rd round picks (75, 87, 90, 94).

My current wet dream is Max Iheanachor + Keylan Rutledge + DDS + Sam Roush. Missing out on Treydan Stukes, Keionte Scott, Jacob Rodriguez and Jake Golday hurts me more than missing out on TJ Parker, Gabe Jacas, Malachi Lawrence and Zion Young. I really love those 4 guys. But I'm leaning towards nailing down the OL and establishing a bully mentality on offense.

If only you could get the entire league to allow your dreams to be real.

 

[mayoclinic]

I would like to "nail down" the OL as well, but if we can't move Onwenu and Moses, maybe it is better to take the OL makeover in two steps, one step in both '26 and '27. There are some interesting BPA guys at LB and FS that might balance the team more.

That's a very rational approach, hence I'm going to ignore it completely.

Seriously, if guys like Stukes, Scott, Rodriguez or Golday are available, they would arguably be BPA. But if they are off the board, I wouldn't be too concerned about overloading on the OL. The draft is for the long term, and building a dominant OL should be one of the highest priorities.

Spread it out has been my plan, but if the dominoes fall otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[mayoclinic]

Some Bears 2nd round options, many of whom overlap:

2026 Bears draft: Evaluating potential Round 2 options

Jacob Infante breaks down his top potential Round 2 targets for the Bears in the 2026 NFL Draft.

www.windycitygridiron.com

 

[mgteich]

if we can't move Onwenu and Moses

???
If we can't trade Onwenu for a move-up in the 7th round on the 2028 draft, we cut him and save $17M of 2026 cap room.

 

[mgteich]

???
If we can't trade Onwenu for a move-up in the 7th round on the 2028 draft, we cut him and save $17M of 2026 cap room.

Moses is a different issue. For him, $4.5M is guaranteed and the bonus was paid last year. The net cap cost for keeping him is $3.2M. At that cost, I would keep him even as a backup or mentor.

 

[mayoclinic]

My preferred options at 63 for the Pats:

1. Jake Golday
2. Chris Bell
3. Treydan Stukes
4. Jacob Rodriguez
5. Keionte Scott
6. Keylan Rutledge
7. TJ Parker
8. Gabe Jacas
9. Malachi Lawrence
10. Mike Washington
11. Ted Hurst
12. Dani Dennis-Sutton

In all scenarios in which EDGE is not picked in rounds 1 or 2, it becomes the overwhelming priority for round 3 with a trade up.

 

[mayoclinic]

My preferred round 3 options:

1. Dani Dennis-Sutton
2. Keyron Crawford
3. Derrick Moore
4. Mike Washington
5. Ted Hurst
6. Sam Roush
7. Kyle Louis
8. Eli Stowers
9. Devin Moore
10. Oscar Delp

Trading up for 1-3 is a priority if not taken in the first 2 rounds.

 

[Water Boy]

I'm curious about when the TE run is going to start. I've heard it predicted that it will start in the 3rd. I don't like picking in the back end of that round if that's the case.

 

[manxman2601]

If Iheanachor/Miller aren't there at 31 and they go EDGE with the first pick, it's going to be very interesting to see what they do with the 2nd. They could go in a number of directions.

WR (Stribling?)
S (Keionte Scott, Wheatley)
TE (Klare, Delp?)
LB (Louis?)

Trade back and secure Travis Burke?

 

[mgteich]

If Iheanachor/Miller aren't there at 31 and they go EDGE with the first pick, it's going to be very interesting to see what they do with the 2nd. They could go in a number of directions.

WR (Stribling?)
S (Keionte Scott, Wheatley)
TE (Klare, Delp?)
LB (Louis?)

Trade back and secure Travis Burke?

If Mesidor which EDGE players do you think that Vrabel might pick at 31?

 

[manxman2601]

If Mesidor which EDGE players do you think that Vrabel might pick at 31?

Hard to tell. Gabe Jacas has an excellent 10 yard split and has the 'violent hands' aspect to his game which we know the coaches love. Malachi Lawrence might be the higher upside pass rusher but I think has a lower floor too. And then there's short-armed Cashius Howell who provides the speed Eliot Wolf was talking about. And TJ Parker of course who, if he finds his '24 form, might have the highest upside of the lot. I think it comes from those four if not Mesidor. My guess? Howell or Jacas.

Which of course means, after saying all that, it'll be R Mason Thomas

 

[mgteich]

Hard to tell. Gabe Jacas has an excellent 10 yard split and has the 'violent hands' aspect to his game which we know the coaches love. Malachi Lawrence might be the higher upside pass rusher but I think has a lower floor too. And then there's short-armed Cashius Howell who provides the speed Eliot Wolf was talking about. And TJ Parker of course who, if he finds his '24 form, might have the highest upside of the lot. I think it comes from those four if not Mesidor. My guess? Howell or Jacas.

Which of course means, after saying all that, it'll be R Mason Thomas

After that, I would be ordering Wolf to come back with a list of best trade-down offers.

 

[manxman2601]

If Iheanachor/Miller aren't there at 31 and they go EDGE with the first pick, it's going to be very interesting to see what they do with the 2nd. They could go in a number of directions.

WR (Stribling?)
S (Keionte Scott, Wheatley)
TE (Klare, Delp?)
LB (Louis?)

Trade back and secure Travis Burke?

With news of the Lawrence/Jacas visits dropping today, suddenly a more pertinent question.