Chicago Bears 2016 Draft Do-Over

NFL Draft season is a good time to look back on past drafts and dream about what could have been. Chicago Bears’ fans have plenty of near misses in recent memory, both in players that went a pick or two in front of them, and also in players that they passed on.

Pro Football Focus, through their partnership with ESPN, recently looked at some do-over draft picks in the 2016 NFL Draft.

The Bears picked up two quality players in the 1st and 2nd rounds, Leonard Floyd (OLB) and Cody Whitehair, OL), so PFF went to the 3rd round for their Bears’ do-over. The Bears took Florida defensive end, Jonathan Bullard, with the 72nd overall pick, and in the re-do, they gave the Bears USC quarterback Cody Kessler, who was actually picked by the Cleveland Browns in the 3rd round, at 93rd overall.

Here’s what they said about the change.

The Bears have major questions still to answer at quarterback, but a year ago they were in a decent position to draft one, develop him for a year and hand him the starting spot for 2017. Kessler (Round 3, pick 93) needed development, but in limited rookie action, graded well (74.2) and had a passer rating of 82.4 when pressured, good for sixth best in the NFL.

I didn’t realize Kessler started eight games for the Browns last year. On the season, he completed 65.6% of his passes, for 1,380 yards, 6 TDs to 2 Ints, and a passer rating of 92.3.

Bullard played in 14 games, and he had 15 tackles and 1 sack. He was also put in “time-out” one week by the coaches.

What do you guys think about this re-do?

Is Kessler the real deal? Will Bullard live up to some of the hype?