Yall are supremely underestimating Slowiks play calling this year. Stroud has been terrific but a lot of these guys are also wide ass open downfield. They don’t run tons of screens. Both of their tight ends can catch and run. All three of their top WRs can catch and run. All across the field it’s scary trying to contain them all.
You draft him. The advanced stats view him highly and his play hasn’t dropped off from injury now that he’s he’s healthy. You have the draft capital and the money to do the trade and sign him for a few more years without breaking the bank or hurting the draft capital. There is no need to give up a first rounder so the Bears still have those and could get a first rounder to put on the dline either way him.
To me, despite the injury he had that kept him out for a while, this is low risk.
It was a 2021 knee injury that kept him out for a while. It wasn’t like he was snake bit and got injured every season like a Jaycee Horn type of player or CMC in Carolina type of player.
The Bears have 10 sacks as a team. Young has 5 by himself. TJ Edwards, Yannick Ngakoue and DeMarcus Walker combine for 5.5 sacks.
Young has more sack yards than all three of the above combined. He also has more tackles for loss than any of the 3 above.
Having a guy like him on the team would help out the entire defense and he’s still a young player.
Outside of money, how many kids in this draft class have his upside that they will fall to round two? You have to spend the money on something and this free agent class doesn’t look great and last years free agent class had almost all of the high potential guys get resigned or traded and signed. And those folks who do become available would still have to CHOOSE the Bears.
Two in the hand they say.
The thing is, as others pointed out, this is his fifth year of starting in college football. That is a long time. Studs go to the NFL after 3 years, prove it players 4, and then the Covid year has allowed some guys like Bo Nix to start four five seasons. It’s hard to replicate experience. He will have had 60 starts under his belt in college after his next game.
He, like Penix, like Minshew, like Eason, like Sanders… there seems to be a trend in college football over recent years where transferring out west has helped put up crazy numbers where transferring east seems to hurt stats or at least not blow them up.
As an example, CJ Stroud just turned 22 a month ago. He hit the NFL at 21 years old. Bo Nix will turn 24 in February. Imagine what CJ Stroud could do in college football if he played this season plus next year in college.
Nix should be mentally well above almost every single guy he’s on the field with and then physically he should be further along with a few more seasons under his belt than his competition.