2016 NFL Draft: Bears Trade Up for Floyd, Quarterbacks and Safeties Rise

So much happened in so little time, yet the clock seemed to grind on. Two quarterbacks went first, as predicted, and then after Joey Bosa, the Cowboys made all of our discussions over Ezekiel Elliott's value moot, and one picture helped to define a young man's career before it even began.

If you lost track of all of the trades, you would not have been alone. Twelve first round picks were traded this year, and 7 of the top 15 picks traded hands at one point. The Bears were one of the teams in the middle of it all.
One-time favorite Laremy Tunsil fell to 13 while Jack Conklin merited the Titans trading back up to 8 (after originally dropping to 15). The Bears traded up to #9 to get Leonard Floyd, presumably to beat the Giants to the punch. The decision was less than popular on the boards, but Pace had told Bears fans all along that he might make a move:

"I think if there's a player that's special enough -- even if it is a deep position -- if he's special enough and he's an impact player, we'll go ahead and pull the trigger on him"

After the trade, a pair of corners went off the board—letting us all know who we will be comparing Floyd to for the near future. Every interception either makes will be met with a "we could have had him and kept our fourth," or at least until Floyd makes a name for himself.

Back in December when EJ profiled him, he had this to say: "you flip on some game film and it becomes obvious very quickly that he is indeed special." Those of you struggling with the pick might like to give it a quick read. I know I felt better after I reviewed it. For those who like such things, Football Outsiders projected Floyd as the top rusher using their SackSEER metric; however, they also called him a boom-or-bust prospect.

For more on Floyd, check out what Dane's first look and the discussion over the pick itself.

While the boards here raged, draft boards were raided for defensive backs cornerbacks and wide receivers.

To nobody's surprise, a team traded up to take Paxton Lynch, Because it was the Broncos, it turns out that the reward for being the third-best prospect in a weak quarterback year is to play with the Super Bowl champions and what is probably the best defense in the league. If you gave any of the quarterbacks drafted in round one (from Goff to Lynch to Wentz) the choice of going to LA with Fisher or Denver with Elway and Kubiak, I think we all know the decision that would be made.

Other trades of note include the Chiefs moving up to take another favorite in these parts, Joshua Garnett. A lot of pre-draft favorites are left, including Myles Jack. On the other hand, safeties Karl Joseph and Keanu Neal went much earlier than was expected.

Tell us who you want the Bears to target next down below.