Ten Thoughts on the NFL: Chicago Bears and beyond

1) There has been confusion over LSU's La'el Collins all weekend. Collins was expecting to be a 1st round draft pick, but he was wanted for questioning in the murder of a 29 year old pregnant woman. Her baby was delivered, but died over the weekend.

Collins is not a suspect in the case, but there's no way an NFL team would draft him with the investigation hanging over his head.

I'm gonna bold this next sentence only because it should clear up some confusion. Collins can not re-enter the 2016 NFL Draft and he can only receive a contract fitting of an undrafted free agent. There will be no giant bidding war for his services if he's cleared, as each team has a limited amount of bonus money that is allocated for UDFAs.

If Collins is cleared and if he receives multiple offers, his best bet is to go to a team he feels he can immediately play for.

2) History tells us that one of the 2 quarterbacks drafted 1-2 this year, Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota, will struggle.

ESPN compiled this list of QBs picked 1st and 2nd in the Super Bowl era..

1971- Jim Plunkett, Stanford, by New England, and Archie Manning, Mississippi, by New Orleans.

1993- Drew Bledsoe, Washington St., by New England, and Rick Mirer, Notre Dame, by Seattle.

1998- Peyton Manning, Tennessee, by Indianapolis, and Ryan Leaf, Washington St., by San Diego.

1999- Tim Couch, Kentucky, by Cleveland, and Donovan McNabb, Syracuse, by Philadelphia.

2012- Andrew Luck, Stanford, by Indianapolis, and Robert Griffin III, Baylor, by Washington.

So far, only the 1971 twosome went on to have lengthy and good NFL careers.

If I were a betting man, I think I would wager that both Winston and Mariota find some success. What do you guys think, will these two buck the trend?

3) The biggest surprise of the 1st round was Washington taking offensive lineman Brandon Scherff over Leonard Williams or another top defender. Williams was considered the top player in the draft by many, but he fell to 6th. Here's what Redskins' GM Scot McCloughan said about his decision.

"The thing about Leonard (Williams) -- very good football player," he said. "I was hoping to be able to move back there and it didn't happen. Everyone was talking about trading up, trading up to our spot but it was all for (Dante) Fowler. Once Fowler went (to the Jaguars), then all the talk went off the board. Leonard is a good football player. If for some reason Brandon (Scherff) would have been gone, he probably would have been your one seed. ... Going into this thing I knew we needed some help up front on the offensive side and it was too good of a bang for the buck to not get Brandon there."

The Washington fan base will no doubt be keeping a close eye on Williams' career as a New York Jet.

4) Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay remarked over the weekend that he expects a couple Super Bowls, check that, he expects back-to-back Super Bowls in the Andrew Luck era.

5) Speaking of things probably best left unsaid, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly took at shot at his two time Pro Bowl starting left guard with this nugget, "Evan Mathis has been available for trade for two years and there have been no offers."

Mathis responded via Twitter.

Deez.

— Evan Mathis (@EvanMathis69) May 2, 2015

For those not in the know, "Deez" is a slang word that usually comes before another slang word for testicles.

6) Speaking of Twitter, did you catch the dumb-ass tweet from Dallas Cowboys' suspended defensive end Greg Hardy?

On Friday, a Panthers fan tweeted a photo of Kelvin Benjamin and second-round pick Devin Funchess, describing the new teammates as "The Twin Towers." Hardy replied to the tweet: "didn't the twin towers get blown up lol."

Besides the obvious idiotic Twin Towers reference, there's just something about people that end a text or a social media comment with lol. Are they laughing out loud at their own joke? Is that a command to the reader to laugh out loud?

Whatever it is, Hardy has left twitter, so we may never know.

7) I thought the coolest moment from the entire draft was when Dick Butkus gave his stamp of approval on Chicago Bears' 2nd round draft pick Eddie Goldman.

It doesn't get much better than the greatest living Chicago Bear and the greatest middle linebacker to ever play the game to drop an "I like this," before calling your name.

8) I've never been a guy that liked to grade a draft as soon as it finished, but that doesn't stop me from seeing how others feel about teams. The Chicago Bears have been getting high marks from just about every publication out there.

Steven went around the interwebs to compile a bunch of grades right here.

I won't put a grade on what Chicago GM Ryan Pace did, but I was very impressed with his initial haul. He took the best player available philosophy and never wavered. We won't know for a couple years if his draft board was "right", but for now it's hard to criticize a guy for sticking to a plan.

9) I thought the Jacksonville Jaguars, who haven't had a winning season since 2007, added some high quality prospects in the draft. Their first three picks, DE/OLB Dante Fowler of Florida, RB T.J. Yeldon of Alabama and OG A.J. Cann of South Carolina should all step in as day 1 starters.

Since the Bears were in the market for a safety, a wide out and defensive line help, I did some pre-draft research on the next three players the Jags ended up picking, S James Sample of Louisville, WR Rashad Greene of Florida State and DT Michael Bennett of Ohio State. All three of these guys should be immediate contributors too.

Which teams really impressed you in the Draft?

10) The two Bears' picks that caused the most head scratching from our readers were running back Jeremy Langford in the 4th and offensive lineman Tayo Fabuluje in the 6th. But NFL.com had both players listed in the NFC North's Best Bargain picks.

RB Jeremy Langford
Why he's a bargain: This was a deep running back class, and Langford didn't get much publicity in the pre-draft process -- a shame, because he was a great runner at Michigan State and brings a diverse skill-set to the table. Injuries contributed to an up-and-down senior year, but Langford is more physical than he's given credit for and is an option in the passing game. He'll take some of the load off Matt Forte and was a nice value in the fourth round.

No Bears' fans should expect Matt Forte to rack up 350+ touches again this season.

OT Tayo Fabuluje
Why he's a bargain: Fabuluje is just scratching the surface of his potential, and at the right weight he could turn into a Pro Bowler holding the edge. He'll fit in great with the new mentality of the Bears and is more nimble than you'd expect for somebody his size (6-foot-6, 353 pounds). The Bears are retooling their line, and Fabuluje could wind up starting early if he buys in.

Many scouts feel that Fabuluje must move inside to guard, but Ryan Pace kept talking about Tayo's good feet. That's an indication that they may keep him outside at right tackle too.

What were some of your thoughts over draft weekend?