Arkush: Round 1 of NFL draft goes smoothly as Bears look to Round 2
While the Bears sat out the first round of the NFL draft for a second consecutive year Thursday, we still certainly felt their presence, to borrow a Ryan Pace-ism.
No, not to the extent of, say, Urban Meyer - who incredibly recruited each of the top three picks in Joe Burrow, Chase Young and Jeff Okudah to the Ohio State Buckeyes - or even Nick Saban, who watched Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, right tackle Jedrick Wills and wide receivers Henry Ruggs III and Jerry Jeudy go in the top 15.
The NFL's first virtual draft actually included hardly any insanity, with no trades in the Top 10 for the first time in five years and, subsequently, no egregious reaches at the QB position.
Miami certainly led a misinformation campaign, not unlike Pace's Bears in their covert pursuit of Mitch Trubisky three years ago, but ultimately stood pat at No. 5 and made Tagovailoa the ultimate "fish tank' prize he's been long thought to be.
So there would be no Trubisky shades, not with the Dolphins taking the best quarterback on the board, rather than eschewing a national champion who commanded comparisons to a sports icon from his collegiate coach, as the late smokescreens suggested they might.
The Chargers then made Oregon's Justin Herbert the sixth overall pick and heir to Philip Rivers, and the fast and furious early QB action came to a halt. Yet we were all still reminded of the Bears' infamous move up one spot for Trubisky, after all.
With the 13th overall pick, acquired from the Colts in the DeForest Buckner trade last month, the Niners once again compelled the team drafting one spot behind them to move up. Except this time it was the Buccaneers, clearly set for 2020 at quarterback with Tom Brady, ensuring neither of their intrastate rivals with multiple first-rounders could beat them to the gold rush for the final top-tier offensive tackle in Iowa's Tristan Wirfs.
That might've been the only Trubisky parallel of the night but not the lone painful draft reminder for Bears nation, which then watched ESPN show video clips of the uber-athletic Wirfs jumping out of a swimming pool.
Sound familiar? It did to our friend and former colleague, former longtime Bears college scouting director Greg Gabriel, who actually apologized in real time on Twitter for the Bears' decision to draft fellow pool jumper Jarron Gilbert in the third round of the 2009 draft - the first of two consecutively in which they were without first- and second-rounders following the Jay Cutler trade.
Hey, at least the Bears have two second-rounders and Khalil Mack this year, right?
In all seriousness, the rest of Round 1 of the virtual draft was surprisingly tame. There were minimal trades, and minimal technological snags, but as expected, not minimal offensive tackles and receivers going off the board.
That may not be great news for the OL- and WR-hungry Bears, but there will be plenty of good alternatives, perhaps not even separated all that much talent-wise from the player chosen by the Raiders with their pick from the Mack deal, Ohio State CB Damon Arnette, when they're first on the clock at No. 43 Friday evening.
The Bears' rivals in Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay focused on perimeter skill improvements, with the Lions settling for Okudah after failing to bait any QB-hungry clubs; the Vikings selected reigning wide receiver Justin Jefferson of LSU to replace Stefon Diggs.
When the real fun begins with the Bears joining the fray Friday evening, we'll get to see Pace in his own makeshift draft room in the dining room and, Bears fans hope, a couple exciting selections who can contribute a lot more than Jarron Gilbert.
•Reach Hub Arkush on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.