Redrafting Phil Emery’s Chicago Bears’ drafts

Phil Emery was the general manager of the Chicago Bears from 2012-2014. The Bears went from 10 wins, to 8 wins to 5 wins during his time on the job. (Insert sad trombone here...)

A big reason Emery was let go, was his inability to procure talent. Current Bears’ GM, Ryan Pace, was brought in for a rebuild and that started with a massive purging of the roster. Pace lopped off players that didn’t fit the new scheme, players that had some “character” issues, aging players, and players that were just plain bad.

Pace’s teams have won a grand total of eight games during his two year run, but they are still in the middle of a rebuild. The arrow should be pointing up at some point, shouldn’t it?

Of all the players drafted by Emery during his three year run, only six remain, Kyle Long, Will Sutton, Ka’Deem Carey, Pat O’Donnell, Kyle Fuller and Charles Leno Jr. The chances of these six all making Chicago’s 2017 53-man roster are slim. Sam Householder recently asked you guys to vote on this, setting the over/under for Emery picks to remain at 3.5. I took the under.

I realize that not all of Emery’s selections would be a schematic fit for what the Bears currently do on defense, but just for fun, let’s re-draft all three years of Phil Emery’s picks.

There’s also the chance that the Bears wouldn’t need a certain position in the future if they redrafted in the past, but let’s not get all paradoxical on things.

2012

1st round, Shea McClellin, DE, Boise State

Re-Draft - Chandler Jones, DE, Syracuse

McClellin never fit in to what the Bears wanted to do, going from DE, to OLB, to ILB, but Jones has racked up 47 sacks in his 5 year career.

2nd round, Alshon Jeffery, WR, South Carolina

Re-Draft - Bobby Wagner, LB, Utah State

Since it didn’t work out with Jeffery, I’ll redraft it to the three time Pro Bowl inside linebacker, Wagner.

3rd round, Brandon Hardin, FS, Oregon State

Re-Draft - Akiem Hicks, DT, Regina (Canada)

Ten picks after the Bears whiffed on the athletic Hardin, the Saints grabbed Hicks, who played really good for the Bears last year.

4th round, Evan Rodriguez, TE, Temple

Re-Draft - Bobby Massie, T, Mississippi

Here’s another re-draft to a current Bear. Love him or hate him, Massie has started 61 games during in the in the NFL.

6th round, Isaiah Frey, CB, Nevada-Reno

Re-Draft - Danny Trevathan, LB, Kentucky

Let’s make that three in a row. Four picks after Frey went to the Bears, the Broncos took Trevathan.

7th round, Greg McCoy, CB, Texas Christian

Re-Draft - J.R. Sweezy, G, North Carolina State

Sweezy started 49 games at guard during his first 4 years with the Seahawks and he took this epic head shot. Meme courtesy of Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show.

2013

1st round, Kyle Long, OG, Oregon

Re-Draft - Nope, I’m good with Kyle.

Pro Bowler and a team leader.

2nd round, Jon Bostic, ILB, Florida

Re-Draft - D.J. Swearinger, SS, South Carolina

There were a few solid options after Bostic, but I went with a player the Bears were rumored to be in on during this last free agency period.

4th round, Khaseem Greene, OLB, Rutgers

Re-Draft - Kyle Juszczyk, RB, Harvard

I had to go 13 picks down to the Ravens’ selection of Juszczyk, but I love the versatility a talented fullback brings an offense.

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

5th round, Jordan Mills, OT, Louisiana Tech

Re-Draft - Ricky Wagner, OT, Wisconsin

I know I’m in the minority, but I always liked Mills. Since being cut by the Bears, he found a home starting at right tackle for the Bills. But for the redraft, I’ll go with a better right tackle in Wagner.

6th round, Cornelius Washington, DE, Georgia

Re-Draft - Theo Riddick, RB, Notre Dame

If it wasn’t for injuries, I think Washington would have carved out a role for himself in Chicago, and I think his best football is ahead of him. I went with the pass catching tailback here in the redraft.

7th round, Marquess Wilson, WR, Washington State

Re-Draft - Kemal Ishmael, DB, Central Florida

Injuries has been the story of Wilson’s career too, so give me back up safety and special teamer Ishmael.

2014

1st round, Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech

Re-Draft - Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon St.

Since I already redrafted a couple of ILBs to the Bears, I passed on Ryan Shazier and C.J. Mosley, and went down to the speedy wide out with 215 catches in 3 years.

2nd round, Ego Ferguson, DT, LSU

Re-Draft - Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois

This one stings a bit. Emery recently had given Jay Cutler a huge contract (another possible reason Emery was fired), so I understand him not taking a QB in the 2nd round, but hindsight tells us that Jimmy G would have been a swell pick.

3rd round, Will Sutton, DT, Arizona State

Re-Draft - Donte Moncrief, WR, Mississippi

I thought Sutton would be a 1 gap disruptive force after his college career, but after three seasons, he’s still looking for his first career sack. Moncrief is a solid #2 or #3 wide out.

4th round, Ka'Deem Carey, RB, Arizona

Re-Draft - Anthony Hitchens, LB, Iowa

The Ka’Deem Carey fan club was probably hoping I’d keep Carey here, but I think he’s getting cut this year, so he’s gotta go. Hitchens has 36 starts in three years for Dallas, and would be ILB depth behind those two ILBs I redrafted above.

4th round, Brock Vereen, SS, Minnesota

Re-Draft - Aaron Lynch, DE, South Florida

Lynch has played OLB for the 49ers and he has 14 sacks in three years.

6th round, David Fales, QB, San Jose State

Re-Draft - E.J. Gaines, CB, Missouri

As a developmental QB, Fales is still hanging around the NFL, havinhg just signed on with the Dolphins, but for the sake of this exercise, I’ll take Gaines, who has 25 starts for the Rams during the 2014 and 2016 seasons.

6th round, Pat O'Donnell, P, Miami (Fla.)

Re-Draft - Pat O'Donnell, P, Miami (Fla.)

I wasn’t as mad as some when the Bears took a punter in 2014. Sixth round picks are usually long-shots to make a 53 man roster, so the fact that O’Donnell is still hanging around is fine by me.

7th round, Charles Leno, T, Boise State

Re-Draft - Charles Leno, T, Boise State

Leno may not be an All Pro, but at the very least, he’s a serviceable NFL left tackle.

The Bears may have fired Emery after the 2014 season, but he was just a part of the scouting staff of the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons.

To be fair, the jury is still out on Ryan Pace’s drafts, so hopefully we aren’t here in a couple years doing this exact same thing again.

If you guys want to play along, you can find the drafts at Pro Football Reference, just click the year - (2012, 2013, 2014).