No. 44

Pick by Windy City Gridiron Anthony Collins Offensive Tackle Kansas

After making one of the more controversial first-round selections with RB Rashard Mendenhall, WCG of Windy City Gridiron is back to make his second-round pick.  He's used the opportunity to select Kansas tackle Anthony Collins, and he joins us now to explain his decision:

  The Bears selected a running back the first round in some combination of a best player/big need strategy, but in the second round with the likes of Joe Flacco and Brian Brohm off the board this pick has but one way to go.  Straight to the offensive line.   The Bears' bigger need is probably at guard; ideally, we'd like to draft Chilo Rachal. I think he is versatile and has the perfect attitude to play offensive line, but he is a bit of a reach in this part of the second round, so we look to tackle.

John Tait currently sits at the Bears' left tackle position.  Collins will allow Tait to move back to the right side where he is a better fit.  This improves the Bears at both tackle positions and gives the Bears some much needed depth.  Collins is a great athlete, with long arms and is equally as good at blocking the run as he is the pass.  He is a bit inexperienced, but has tremendous potential once he sharpens his technique.  Collins with a few years under his belt will be better than some of the tackles taken before him, but he will be needed this year to help whoever it is that lines up under center for the Bears.
 
Matt Miller, host of this site as well as owner of New Era Scouting, provides his analysis below:

I know that Bears fans hate me at this point, but that's okay. I like this pick of Collins. He's a very athletic tackle and is still very new to the position, having been recruited to Kansas as a defensive tackle. Collins was on my roster of players to scout this season in the Big 12, so I was able to watch him up close and personal quite a bit. He did very well against speed rushers, something he'll see a lot of in the NFC North this year as a starting left tackle.

My only criticism here is that the team needs a quarterback, badly. Chad Henne is my #3 QB, and is still on the board. Offensive tackle is more of a need, though, in my opinion. The talent here is also running dry. This pick makes the most sense, but may not appease the casual fan. Still, it's a great pick, WCG.

Grade: A  ::  Anthony Collins Scouting Report - New Era Scouting :: Matt Miller's Top Five Prospects Remaining: 1.  LB Shawn Crable, 2.  RB Jamaal Charles, 3.  WR Earl Bennett, 4.  TE Fred Davis, 5.  QB Chad Henne

No more picks today, but at 10AM Eastern tomorrow, we'll have the pick from Pride of Detroit for you.  The Detroit Lions are now on the clock.