Tuesday’s two-minute drill, NFL draft edition …
A year ago after the NFL draft, critics accused Jerry Angelo of arrogance for ignoring obvious needs at tight end and instead taking defensive players with the first five picks. This time, Angelo’s confidence carried the day for the Bears.
The best general managers leave doubt at the draft-room door, as Angelo did Saturday.
After taking the obvious choice of tight end Greg Olsen at No. 31, Angelo simply trusted his scouts’ grades enough to select the next three players perhaps a round earlier than they were projected. Angelo acknowledged as much Sunday when he said picking players a half-round or more higher is “irrelevant as long as you believe in that player.”
It only becomes relevant if those players don’t pan out.
Chances are good that defensive end Dan Bazuin, running back Garrett Wolfe and outside linebacker Michael Okwo might have been on the board for a while, but Angelo took no chances because the Bears’ scouting department endorsed each guy strongly enough to warrant the risk.
Angelo’s faith also was evident when the Bears took four players from midlevel programs that didn’t compete in the Bowl Championship Series — one more than the Bears had taken from non-BCS schools in the previous three years.
The Bears couldn’t have reached any more without straining a back muscle but earned the benefit of the doubt after their ’06 draft.
The only real surprise about their first-round pick was that he was still available. The Bears had to take him because rarely does a player at the end of the first round impact a passing game as much as Olsen potentially can.
A bigger surprise came when Angelo indicated the other first-day picks will have the same chance as Olsen to contribute early.
Angelo made it clear they didn’t draft Bazuin to watch and will give him every chance to work into a crowded rotation. The message to veterans Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown couldn’t have been clearer without appearing on their BlackBerrys.
Angelo’s praise of Okwo also communicated to Lance Briggs — and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus — that the Bears actually can envision life without him. It’s much better for everybody if Briggs arrives, sure. But drafting a potential replacement in the third round and comparing him to Briggs reaffirmed their lack of urgency to acquiesce in the standoff.
On the other hand, does the Bears’ reluctance to settle for a draft-day trade just to unload a headache show just how much they value his importance to their defense?
As for Wolfe, Angelo didn’t want people to compare him to Warrick Dunn then did so six times in the next two minutes. The fact that the Bears considered Wolfe a potential every-down back and drafted him that high, from this seat, was the most surprising pick of their draft. But already the tough kid from the West Side has made a career out of overachieving, so doubting Wolfe only seems to embolden him. …
Darius Walker, the Notre Dame running back who could challenge Wolfe if he signs a free-agent contract with the Bears, followed some bad advice. He could have returned to Notre Dame for a senior year full of handoffs and history, yet he now is probably closer to carrying the ball for the Chicago Rush than the Bears. His sad case is the latest example why the NFL should consider adopting the NBA policy of letting underclassmen test the draft but return to college if they don’t sign with an agent. In the case of Walker, he became ineligible the minute he signed with Rosenhaus. …
Speaking of policy changes, had the first round of the draft dragged on much longer, ESPN cameras might have caught Brady Quinn in his pajamas during one of their frequent and painful interviews of the former Notre Dame quarterback. The round lasted a record 6 hours 8 minutes — an average of 11 1/2 minutes per pick. One Bears official even cracked that teams might have made up their minds but waited until the last possible moment so the networks televising the draft would talk about them longer.
One possible solution to a marathon Saturday could be expanding draft coverage rather than reducing it. What about limiting teams to 10 minutes per pick in the first round and moving the first round at Radio City Music Hall to Friday night? That way the TV-driven event could start at 6 p.m. EST and probably take five hours. Saturday could be used for rounds two through four with the final three rounds Sunday. The NFL would get an additional day of coverage and teams, media and fans get more time to digest each day’s developments. …
Fourth-round find Josh Beekman played two positions at Boston College — guard and center — and nearly picked up two degrees. He finished four classes shy of a master’s degree in administrative studies after earning a bachelor’s degree in history and black studies. Beekman inherited the dedication from his dad, Charles Sr., who had two jobs and occasionally took his son to his job as a guard at a juvenile detention center to show him what happens to kids who find trouble. His mom, Valerie, played a pretty big role in his athletic development, too, coaching his Little League baseball team in Amsterdam, N.Y., for five years. The Beekmans raised a kid so conscientious that he actually corrected a reporter Sunday who asked him about going through his senior season at Boston College without giving up a quarterback sack. “I did give up a couple of sacks,” Beekman clarified. “Playing against the caliber of players in the ACC, you’re going to give up a sack here and there, but I didn’t give up too many.” …
The Patriots’ acquisition of Randy Moss solidified their spot as the obvious preseason Super Bowl choice, but nothing that happened during the draft changed the notion that the Bears enter 2007 as the NFC favorite. … Forget the buzz over signing undrafted quarterback Chris Leak out of Florida to a free-agent contract. Bears property J.T. O’Sullivan completed 14 of 22 passes for 223 yards and one touchdown without an interception for the Frankfurt Galaxy on Saturday. O’Sullivan, who has been on six NFL rosters the last five seasons, has led the Galaxy to a 3-0 start in NFL Europa.
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dhaugh@tribune.com
