Bears Trade for O-Line Help. Plus, Why Will Howard’s Combine Performance Isn’t a Big Deal.

Welcome back to The McShay Report! In today’s newsletter, we’re going to tie up a few loose ends from the NFL scouting combine, offer insights from my interview with Super Bowl–winning GM Howie Roseman, and discuss how some recent trades could affect the draft and free agency.

Here’s the Thursday morning rundown:

• Bears Trade for Offensive Line Help: Chicago’s acquisitions of Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson might shake up their strategy with the 10th pick.

• Talking Life After the Super Bowl With Howie Roseman: Read some standout moments from our combine interview with the Eagles’ executive vice president and general manager.

• People Are Making Too Much of Will Howard’s Combine Workout: Howard’s on-field performance in Indianapolis isn’t going to tank the quarterback’s draft stock.

• Updated Thoughts on Will Campbell: Why the arm length concern is legit, but not a dealbreaker. 

How Chicago’s Offensive Line Trades Could Affect Their Draft Strategy

In a span of 24 hours, the Bears acquired starting offensive linemen Jonah Jackson (Rams) and Joe Thuney (Chiefs) via trade. These moves signal that Chicago is all in on protecting their franchise quarterback, Caleb Williams, who was sacked a league-high 68 times in 2024. 

If you’re a Bears fan, you should be breathing a big sigh of relief. The front office is addressing needs the correct way and giving first-year head coach Ben Johnson options heading into the draft, where he won’t be forced to select an offensive lineman when there could be better value on the board. The question now is how these deals will affect who the Bears target with the 10th pick, which previously seemed like an obvious landing spot for one of the top tackles in this class. My two cents? They should take the best running back or edge player available. There isn’t a wide receiver I like enough to rationalize drafting this early, but imagine how much pressure all-world Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty could take off Williams’s shoulders in year two. GM Ryan Poles and Co. could also opt for an edge rusher such as Jalon Walker or Mykel Williams, given Chicago’s sack leader last season was Montez Sweat with 5.5. 

That said, if Chicago loves a specific offensive lineman with this pick, they should still consider drafting him. Armand Membou could be worth it if he’s available, but after his combine workout—which included a 4.91-second 40-yard dash at 332 pounds—I think he may go as high as no. 4 to New England. Plus, he’s a right tackle, and I don’t see how that works with Darnell Wright (a 2023 first-round pick) still improving at that spot for Chicago. Will Campbell is also a possibility but his 32 and 5/8-inch arm length presents risk at left tackle in the NFL.

When they’re on the clock, I think the Bears will be looking hard at Jeanty, one of the Georgia pass rushers, and possibly North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton. An elite running back would be a dynamic addition to Johnson’s offense, but if I’m sticking to my principle of using premium picks on premium defensive positions (or on pass protection) once a franchise QB is in place, I think the right choice would be edge over running back.

Regardless, Poles just gave his organization the freedom to take the best player on the board by addressing the team’s biggest offseason need.

Talking Life After the Super Bowl With Eagles Executive Howie Roseman

At the combine, my cohost Steve Muench and I had the opportunity to speak with Eagles executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman about roster-building and winning his second Super Bowl. Below are three standout moments from the interview, which you can watch in full on Spotify and YouTube as part of our Decision Makers series.

On his path to becoming Eagles executive vice president and general manager:

I wouldn’t trade it. I’ve had an incredible passion for football since I can remember. Every draft cycle from the time I was 8 years old, I’d write up players, I’d watch the draft. I’d watch games, I’d write them up. I had this “This is what I’m going to do. This is what I was meant to do,” mentality. But no one really encouraged that. 

At Florida, no one gave me a chance, so I kept writing letters to all 32 teams. And then I went to law school because the cap had just started. And basically, Mike Tannenbaum in 1996 said to me, “Hey, it’s going to be hard for you to get a scouting job.” And I said, “But I like scouting, I like evaluating players.” He said “Have you thought about the salary cap?” 

It’s not what I wanted, but he said there’s not a lot of guys doing it. So I went to law school just to get a job in the NFL. My first interview was with the Jets for a scouting job. I ended up not getting it but they referred me to the Eagles, who’d I’d sent so many letters to. I said, “Salary cap is interesting but I want to evaluate players. I want to get into the scouting side of it.” And they told me—Andy [Reid] and Joe Banner had just gotten there—“If you do your job well, we’ll expand your role.”

On Philadelphia’s draft strategy at quarterback:

We drafted Kevin Kolb in 2007 when Donovan [McNabb] was still in the prime of his career. We’ve flipped guys. We had A.J. Feeley, who we traded for a second-round pick.

No team has benefited from the backup quarterback position over the last 25 years more than the Philadelphia Eagles. You can’t have enough. If you lose your starter, now your third’s your backup and he’s one snap away. They’re hard to find, so if you like one, you better draft one. And it’s such an important position that you can’t beat yourself up if you swing and miss. If you go 1-for-5, you’re killing it.

On the difference between winning his first and his second Super Bowl:

The first one’s almost like the first time you have sex. You’re so glad you had sex, it’s not even about the quality of it. The second time it’s like, “Wow, I can actually have fun and enjoy this.” This one was more fun. It was less of a relief, less of an “I got one, I can check that box off” and more like “Let’s enjoy it. Let’s have fun.” 

These responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Will Howard’s Combine Workout Isn’t a Big Deal

We think Cam Ward is going 1 or 2. That’s the assumption from everyone in the league I’ve talked to, at least. And it’s possible Shedeur Sanders is a top-five pick and already has a good sense of what city he’ll be calling home in a couple months, even though I’m not sold that there’s a significant difference between him and the other second-tier quarterbacks (Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough) in this class. However the draft plays out for those top two guys, it’s clear that teams are becoming more intrigued by the next group of QBs, some of whom I could see coming off the board late in the first round. 

We’ve talked at length about a few of those guys—Dart, Shough, Jalen Milroe, and Quinn Ewers, to be specific—but what about the starting QB of the national title–winning Ohio State Buckeyes?

Everyone wants to bash Howard’s combine performance. I get it. And I’ll acknowledge that he missed a handful of passes. But at least he was out there competing, trying to throw with anticipation and hit some spots with unfamiliar receivers.

For what it’s worth, if I’ve seen a guy throw live before, on-field passing drills at the combine make up less than 1 percent of my scouting process. If I haven’t, the drills make up maybe 2 percent of the evaluation. You get my point—it’s just not a big deal. And I’m not alone on that view. Broncos head coach Sean Payton implied as much earlier this week when speaking about Bo Nix’s predraft process. 

“He had a pro day on Friday and then, Saturday, we had a private workout,” Payton said. “I think that Saturday after his private workout, we felt like [he] was our target. At this point in time, we didn't. And he really didn't throw well [at the combine]."  

Talent evaluators look closely at intangibles for the quarterback position: what motivates a player, how well he retains information, his processing speed, and his understanding of concepts, among other factors. And I’m told that Howard performed extremely well in official meetings with teams in Indianapolis. He’s a grinder, a leader, a winner. That’s what I heard over and over again. I also heard that he’s likely to get drafted earlier than people think—and certainly earlier than folks starting smear campaigns based on one workout might expect.

One last note: I don’t know how early the Raiders would take Howard, but I’m fairly certain new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly would like to pick up where he left off with the quarterback after the two experienced 16 games of improvement together last season at Ohio State.

Expanded Thoughts on Will Campbell’s Arm Length and Draft Stock

Will Campbell had an excellent combine workout. At 6-foot-6 and 319 pounds, he ran a 4.98 40, jumped 32 inches in the vertical, and looked great in on-field drills. But his arm length—just 32 and 5/8 inches—scares me. 

I’d be the biggest hypocrite in the world to say Campbell can’t play left tackle. I’ve studied guys who have sub-34-inch arms and still went on to be great tackles in the NFL, including Joe Thomas, Bryan Bulaga, and Penei Sewell. But I’m also a realist. None of those guys had sub-33-inch arms like Campbell does, and I’d be lying if I told you I’m certain that he’ll succeed at the position in the NFL. 

One other thing to consider, as noted by my McShay Show cohost Steve Muench earlier this week: If Campbell isn’t a tackle in the NFL, are we even sure he’d be an elite guard? 

He’s a tall, high-cut, career-long tackle. Just watch him in his stance and study how he comes out of it—it’s not a certainty that he’ll excel at guard. As a GM, you’d have to get the green light from your offensive line coach after working Campbell out as an interior lineman during the predraft process to be confident enough in his ability to fire out low and with leverage.

Again: I really, really like his balance and movement skills at tackle. He’s a high-character guy and he will come to work every day ready to prove the world wrong. I love that about Campbell. And in the middle of the first round, he’s a player I’m willing to roll the dice on.

But given the high-level traits of his draft counterpart, Missouri’s Armand Membou, and the talent of a few players at different positions that will also be on the board, selecting Campbell with a top-10 pick feels a little rich. And in the top five is a hard no for me.

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