2011 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 62

by Brian Galliford on Apr 25, 2011 12:00 PM EDT in SB Nation Writers Mock Draft

Our annual 2011 NFL Mock Draft, with picks made by each of SB Nation's NFL team bloggers, is in full swing. The latest pick in to the podium: the Chicago Bears, at No. 62 overall.

With the 62nd overall pick in the 2011 SB Nation NFL Writers Mock Draft, the Chicago Bears select Stefen Wisniewski, center, Penn State..

Dane Noble of WindyCityGridiron.com explains the choice, and our own Dan Kadar reacts to it, after the jump. Make sure you're grading this pick for the Bears, and checking out Windy City Gridiron for all of your Bears needs.

Dane Noble explains: Many would argue that our first-round pick for Chicago should have addressed the underwhelming OL, especially with guys like Nate Solder and Derek Sherrod still on the board. But we went with DT Stephen Paea instead, with the intentions of finding an OL upgrade with our second pick. Stefen Wisniewski is exactly that.

Wisniewski comes from a family of NFL players, and his elite football intelligence and technique are a testament to those bloodlines. Many have pointed out that Wisniewski’s upper-body strength is nothing more than average, but he knows how to play football, and uses technique, leverage and brains to more than make up for it.

He is a guy who would start from day one for the Bears; our thoughts are that he’d start a year or two at guard, then slide over to center when Olin Kreutz hangs up the cleats. He instantly upgrades both the guard and center positions, and is likely a player who we could plug in and forget about for the next several years.

Dan Kadar reacts: Wisniewski is a solid player who should play in the NFL for a decade. Will he ever make a Pro Bowl? Maybe not. Will he be the reason a line is bad? Not as long as he's in the right system. His most natural position is center, and with Kreutz at 33, he could slide into the middle in a year or two. The trouble is seeing him excel for Chicago in the rough NFC North. Green Bay's power linemen would give him trouble, as would the Williams in Minnesota and Detroit's up and coming d-line. Interior is where Chicago needs to address, but should maybe look for a stronger player.

With that, the Pittsburgh Steelers - and our friends at Behind the Steel Curtain - are now on the clock.

Mocking the Draft's Top 5 Remaining Prospects

OVR	Name	Pos.	College	Report
29	Jurrell Casey	DT	USC	scouting report
35	Johnny Patrick	CB	Louisville	scouting report
36	Ryan Williams	RB	Virginia Tech	scouting report
47	Titus Young	WR	Boise State	scouting report
48	Rodney Hudson	OG	Florida State	scouting report

2011 SB Nation NFL Writers' Mock Draft - RESULTS

Rd.	No.	Team	Player	Pos.	College	Link
1	1	Carolina Panthers	Blaine Gabbert	QB	Missouri	story
	2	Denver Broncos	Von Miller	OLB	Texas A&M	story
	3	Buffalo Bills	Patrick Peterson	CB	LSU	story
	4	Cincinnati Bengals	A.J. Green	WR	Georgia	story
	5	Arizona Cardinals	Cam Newton	QB	Auburn	story
	6	Cleveland Browns	Marcell Dareus	DT	Alabama	story
	7	San Francisco 49ers	Prince Amukamara	CB	Nebraska	story
	8	Tennessee Titans	Nick Fairley	DT	Auburn	story
	9	Dallas Cowboys	Tyron Smith	OT	USC	story
	10	Washington Redskins	Robert Quinn	DE	North Carolina	story
	11	Houston Texans	Julio Jones	WR	Alabama	story
	12	Minnesota Vikings	J.J. Watt	DE	Wisconsin	story
	13	Detroit Lions	Da'Quan Bowers	DE	Clemson	story
	14	St. Louis Rams	Corey Liuget	DT	Illinois	story
	15	Miami Dolphins	Mark Ingram	RB	Alabama	story
	16	Jacksonville Jaguars	Christian Ponder	QB	Florida State	story
	17	New England Patriots	Gabe Carimi	OT	Wisconsin	story
	18	San Diego Chargers	Cameron Jordan	DE	California	story
	19	New York Giants	Mike Pouncey	G/C	Florida	story
	20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Ryan Kerrigan	DE	Purdue	story
	21	Kansas City Chiefs	Phil Taylor	DT	Baylor	story
	22	Indianapolis Colts	Anthony Castonzo	OT	Boston College	story
	23	Philadelphia Eagles	Jimmy Smith	CB	Colorado	story
	24	New Orleans Saints	Muhammad Wilkerson	DT	Temple	story
	25	Seattle Seahawks	Ryan Mallett	QB	Arkansas	story
	26	Baltimore Ravens	Aldon Smith	DE	Missouri	story
	27	Atlanta Falcons	Justin Houston	DE	Georgia	story
	28	New England Patriots	Cameron Heyward	DE	Ohio State	story
	29	Chicago Bears	Stephen Paea	DT	Oregon State	story
	30	New York Jets	Akeem Ayers	OLB	UCLA	story
	31	Pittsburgh Steelers	Nate Solder	OT	Colorado	story
	32	Green Bay Packers	Derek Sherrod	OT	Mississippi State	story
2	33	New England Patriots	Brooks Reed	DE	Arizona	story
	34	Buffalo Bills	Jake Locker	QB	Washington	story
	35	Cincinnati Bengals	Andy Dalton	QB	TCU	story
	36	Denver Broncos	Marvin Austin	DT	North Carolina	story
	37	Cleveland Browns	Adrian Clayborn	DE	Iowa	story
	38	Arizona Cardinals	Martez Wilson	ILB	Illinois	story
	39	Tennessee Titans	Bruce Carter	OLB	North Carolina	story
	40	Dallas Cowboys	Aaron Williams	CB	Texas	story
	41	Washington Redskins	Danny Watkins	OG	Baylor	story
	42	Houston Texans	Rahim Moore	S	UCLA	story
	43	Minnesota Vikings	Ricky Stanzi	QB	Iowa	story
	44	Detroit Lions	Brandon Harris	CB	Miami (FL)	story
	45	San Francisco 49ers	Colin Kaepernick	QB	Nevada	story
	46	Denver Broncos	Brandon Burton	CB	Utah	story
	47	St. Louis Rams	Mikel Leshoure	RB	Illinois	story
	48	Oakland Raiders	Marcus Cannon	OT	TCU	story
	49	Jacksonville Jaguars	Ben Ijalana	OT	Villanova	story
	50	San Diego Chargers	Jabaal Sheard	DE	Pittsburgh	story
	51	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Mason Foster	OLB	Washington	story
	52	New York Giants	Kyle Rudolph	TE	Notre Dame	story
	53	Indianapolis Colts	Quinton Carter	S	Oklahoma	story
	54	Philadelphia Eagles	Clint Boling	OT	Georgia	story
	55	Kansas City Chiefs	Leonard Hankerson	WR	Miami (FL)	story
	56	New Orleans Saints	Quan Sturdivant	ILB	North Carolina	story
	57	Seattle Seahawks	Drake Nevis	DT	LSU	story
	58	Baltimore Ravens	Jon Baldwin	WR	Pittsburgh	story
	59	Atlanta Falcons	Marcus Gilbert	OT	Florida	story
	60	New England Patriots	Torrey Smith	WR	Maryland	story
	61	San Diego Chargers	Randall Cobb	WR	Kentucky	story
	62	Chicago Bears	Stefen Wisniewski	C	Penn State
	63	Pittsburgh Steelers
	64	Green Bay Packers

Poll

What's your grade for the Chicago Bears' selection of C Stefen Wisniewski?

A

57 votes

B

43 votes

C

21 votes

D

6 votes

F

7 votes

134 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 10 comments | Add comment | 0 recs |

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Comments

I gave you an A.

It is a bit of a headscratcher to me that a number of other players are drafted under the assumption that they will get stronger, yet I constantly read about Wisniewski’s “weakness” and inability to take on powerful tackles.

Wis is 6’ 3" and +310 pounds. He did 30 reps as well. I would think with some NFL quality weight training and coaching, some of these weaknesses can be improved. He has better than average size for a Center and just under average size for a Guard.
Wis also appears to be one of the high effort, self driven types that would respond well to better coaching and improve himself. It just seems to me that some have written him off and do not believe he can get better. Am I missing something?

"I read one article, I said, 'This guy doesn't know what he's talking about,' " Mayhew said. "Then I read another one, and I thought, 'Wait a minute, they're all saying the same thing.' -Martin Mayhew 2011 regarding Draft Gurus.

by NorthLeft12 on Apr 25, 2011 12:41 PM EDT reply actions

Some feel that Wisnewski's frame has filled out as much as it ever will,

and that could be a valid concern for some teams.

But, the Bears employ one of the best (if not THE best) OL coaches in the game (Mike Tice), so the opportunity for improvement and development would definitely be there, be it in strength, technique, etc.

www.twitter.com/DaneNoble

by Dane Noble on Apr 25, 2011 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Seems like a need pick

I dont like your philosphy here, yeah we all know that the bears need O-lineman but, with free agency yet to come, the Bears need to concentrate on finding more play makers. In the second round O line wise I liked Marcus Cannon (gone) and Orlando Franklin, both to me have more upside (they might be tackles, they should be very good guards) than attributed to Wisnewski. I also like Ras I Dowling at CB, and Greg Little at Wide receiver. Both players could come in and be a significant upgrade on the team.

by Wild Wesr Bear Fan on Apr 25, 2011 1:28 PM EDT reply actions

Free agency this year will be a feeding frenzy.

www.twitter.com/DaneNoble

by Dane Noble on Apr 25, 2011 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions

And I expect the Bears to be at the feasting the greatest.

3 things. Bears have been better at free agency than most, getting the players they want.
Secondly, its likley there will be a lot more free agents this time around than there have been. Because unless the players fold, I cant see them giving back money, and long rookie contracts. If they return to the 4 years to free agency then all those from last year and this year are available. Plus I think there are more available this year because teams held off on extending players when they should have. There are alot of above average O-linemen available.
Finnally Teams will have to worry about signing their own players.

by Wild Wesr Bear Fan on Apr 25, 2011 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Free Agency yet to maybe come somtime this or next year

It’s not a guaranteed thing. They also need to start building their line from the draft and stop depending on Free Agency to overpay for decently talented players who have reached their ceiling.

by Digs D-League on Apr 25, 2011 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions

It is guaranteed!!

They cannot go into next season with teams with only 40 players on the roster. The players trade group would have to agree to giving up free agency, or at least no free agency for 6-8 years to remove the rights of existing players to negotiate with another team.

by Wild Wesr Bear Fan on Apr 25, 2011 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Agree with both of your players

Would he be drafted this high as a guard? I don’t think so. We are drafting a player to play out of position for a year or two when there are other talented players on the board. At this point I would rather have Pittsburgh’s draft.

by MrPants on Apr 25, 2011 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Good pick

Although, I vehemently disagree with the Paea pick. I’d like to think Williams, Solder, Austin, or Sherrod would be better value picks and address a big need at the same time.

"Our ideas held no water but we used them like a dam" - Modest Mouse

by propheteer on Apr 25, 2011 3:21 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed...

Dane, not a fan of the pick in the first, especially with the people available. That being said, if the draft had fallen the way it has here, Wisniewski is the right pick. He will fill a need and is one of the best available. Finding a replacement for an aging Kruetz is important and we found a guard for a year or two.

by I Have Bearsititis on Apr 25, 2011 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions