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Mel Kiper's non-predictive draft has Chicago Bears taking OL and LB in early rounds

The point of this draft is different--if he was the GM of all the teams, he'd pick them this way. And his picks for the Bears aren't names that have been mentioned for them too much.

By Kev H
You need to lower it to like, right here, man.
You need to lower it to like, right here, man.
Joe Robbins

Kevin Seifert from ESPN's NFCN Blog tweeted this out last night, and, well, it's just too good not to share:

Mel Kiper recently did an ESPN Insider(!) draft where instead of trying to make predictive picks, he picked as if he were picking for every team. Seifert was kind enough to bring us the first two rounds for the NFC North teams. (You can see the rest in the link at the tweet.

And who did Mel have Chicago select in those first two rounds?

Chicago Bears
Round 1: Oregon offensive lineman Kyle Long
Round 2: Connecticut linebacker Sio Moore

Hmm. Interesting. And here's what Seifert had to say:

Both of the top two middle linebackers, Alec Ogletree and Manti Te'o, are off the board by No. 20. Long hasn't been valued by media analysts as a top-20 pick, but he can play guard and tackle. Moore could play multiple linebacker spots (but not at once).

Long is generally considered a 2nd round pick, and there's been a little talk of Sio Moore making his way into the late first round when it is all said and done, but where are the other names going?

Here's what Kiper has to say about the draft:

In the Grade A draft, I make a pick for each team at each spot, based on my projected needs and my prospect grades. Again, it is not a mock draft, but instead a look at how I would pick for each team at each spot

So of the remaining picks before the Bears, there must have been some interesting choices for the Bears to reach back to a projected 2nd round offensive lineman.

We don't have the whole thing, but we have the top 5:

1. Detroit - Dee Milliner, CB (Detroit trades up in this scenario)

2. Jacksonville - Luke Joeckel, OT

3. Oakland - Sharrif Floyd, DT

4. Philadelphia - Dion Jordan, OLB

5. Kansas City - Eric Fisher, OT

...Ogletree...Te'o...

20. Chicago - Kyle Long, OT/G

Who else fills in those gaps? Who do you think would be gone to cause the Bears valuation to go with Long?

Here's my biggest problem with this draft, though. Kiper suggests it is as if he is picking for all 32 teams. But, unless you have partners for your mock draft--YOU ARE ALWAYS PICKING FOR ALL 32 teams. Why does Kiper suddenly change his valuation for this one?

You shouldn't. That's the thing about draft picks--your value of players shouldn't wildly vary whenever you choose to do another one. If a value changes dramatically, it means you're making a lot mistakes. If you're making mistakes, why should your judgment be trusted?

Consider this your least helpful mock draft in terms of preparation, but it's at least worth talking about for a while. What do you guys think?

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