Thursday, April 17, 2014
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NFL | BEARS
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MLB ROUNDUP
Bears’ best bet: Gilbert I
have spent the past 36 years analyzing and predicting the NFL draft from the national perspective, with no allegiance to any team ... and as such, my “draft board� never has included allowances for a specific team’s needs. That contrast has been screaming at me the past 36 hours or so, because our friends at Bleacher Report asked me for my top five choices for the Bears at No. 14 in the first round. The top five players on my overall draft board as it sits today are: 1. Jadeveon Clowney, 2. Khalil Mack, 3. Sammy Watkins, 4. Greg Robinson and 5. Anthony Barr. But there is no point in putting any of those players on my “Bears board,� because there isn’t a snowball’s chance down south that any of them will be available at 14. Six through 10 on my board are: 6. Blake Bortles, 7. Jake Matthews, 8. Kelvin Benjamin, 9. Justin Gilbert and 10. C.J. Mosley. The Bears are not in a position to consider Bortles or Benjamin, and I can’t find a scenario in which Matthews or Mosley last to 14. Gilbert shouldn’t slide to 14, but he could. Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel almost certainly will be overdrafted, even though there is no way they’re among the 15 best prospects in this draft, and Eric Ebron, Derek Carr, Timmy Jernigan, and Aaron Donald could be taken too high as well. It also is worth noting there are miniscule differences in the grades most NFL teams and I will put on players ranked
hubARKUSH Shaw Media "EARS analyst. He can be reached at harkush@ shawmedia. com
between seven and 10, 12 and 15, etc. Gilbert shouldn’t be there for the Bears, but he could be and, if he is, I would hope the Bears would jump all over him. Their greatest need is at safety, and it’s easy to argue their second greatest need is cornerback. Gilbert could step in at free safety on the first day of training camp or, better yet, the Bears could move Charles Tillman to safety and start Gilbert at corner, and strengthen their two biggest weaknesses with one pick. That is why Gilbert is No. 1 on my “Bears board.� Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Calvin Pryor are the two best pure safeties in this draft, and I have them as the 18th and 19th best prospects overall. Again, the difference in the grades I have on them and No. 12 Stephon Tuitt, No. 13 Marqise Lee, and No. 14 Taylor Lewan is miniscule. The Bears need two new starting safeties. If Gilbert, Clinton-Dix or Pryor are available at 14, they have to take one, as both the best available player and their greatest need, so Clinton-Dix and Pryor are Nos. 2 and 3. Unlike many, I don’t believe Jernigan or Donald are among the top 25 prospects in this draft.
Hub’s Top 5 on Bears’ Big Board
*USTIN 'ILBERT #" Oklahoma State 2. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, FS, Alabama 3. Calvin Pryor, SS, Louisville 4. Stephon Tuitt, DT, Notre Dame 4% %RIC %BRON 4% North Carolina
I have Tuitt at No. 4 on my “Bears board,� because he might be able to play a three-, four- or five-technique depending on where he lands. The problem is the Bears already have signed five defensive ends, and Jeremiah Ratliff, Nate Collins, and Lamarr Houston in free agency. Phil Emery has said he wants Jared Allen, Willie Young, and Houston on the field at the same time, Houston’s best fit is really as a three-technique, and Allen and Young aren’t sliding inside. Why would you reach for Jernigan or Donald and still leave huge holes in the secondary? Tuitt is a better prospect, and at least his versatility makes sense. Eric Ebron is in the fifth slot on my “Bears board.� I know, Martellus Bennett is set at tight end. But Ebron is one of the top six or seven athletes in this draft, the Bears have zero depth behind Bennett, and what if the Bears trade down? Ebron has potential Pro Bowler written all over him. Of course I’d love a Clowney, Matthews or Mosley, but realistically, Gilbert is probably the best the Bears can hope for, and Clinton-Dix or Pryor would be really nice fits.
AP
Yankees slugger Carlos Beltran slides into second with a double as Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney applies the tag late during the first inning of Game 2 of a doubleheader Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Bronx fail for Cubbies Yankees get first shutout sweep since ’87 "Y 4HE !SSOCIATED 0RESS
Michael Pineda followed an overpowering outing by Masahiro Tanaka with one of his own, pitching six innings of four-hit ball, as the Yankees followed a 3-0 win over the Cubs with a 2-0 decision on a bitterly cold Wednesday night in New York. It marked the Yanks’ first doubleheader shutout sweep since 1987. Tanaka (2-0) struck out 10 and allowed just two bunt hits – one replay aided – over eight innings in a 3-0 win in the opener of the day-night twinbill. Carlos Beltran homered for a third straight game, off Jason Hammel in the first inning of the Cubs’ first regular-season game at the current Yankee Stadium. Brett Gardner and Scott Sizemore had RBI singles off Travis Wood (0-2) in the nightcap. The Cubs had not been blanked twice on the
Up next s #ARDINALS 7AINWRIGHT AT .ATIONALS *ORDAN P M TODAY &3. &- s 2ED 3OX ,ESTER AT 7HITE 3OX 3ALE P M TODAY #3. 670 AM, 1240 AM) s 2EDS 3IMON AT #UBS 3AMARDZIJA 0-1), 1:20 p.m. Friday 7'. !- same day since Larry Gibson and Ray Sadecki pitched complete games for St. Louis on June 27, 1962. Anthony Rizzo’s triple with two outs in the sixth off Pineda was the Cubs only extra-base hit of the day. The Cubs have yet to win in the Bronx. They were swept in the 1932 and ’38 World Series and lost all three-games in 2005, their only interleague series in New York.
one run in 6 1/3 innings, and the Brewers beat the Cardinals 5-1 to avoid a series sweep in Milwaukee. Peralta (2-0) allowed six hits and struck out three. Cardinals starter Joe Kelly (1-1) gave up an unearned run and three hits in four innings, but left in the middle of the fourth inning with left hamstring tightness after trying to beat out a bunt attempt in the top half. Allen Craig hit his first home run of the season, a sixth-inning drive off Peralta.
Red Rox at White Sox, late: Boston scored a run
in each of the final two innnings to force extra innings. The Red Sox scored a run in the top half of the 11th, but the White Sox answered with a run of their own in the bottom half to extend the game. The score was tied, Brewers 5, Cardinals 4-4, in the 13th inning at 1: Wily Peralta allowed press time.
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