THEY GO SMALL, THINK BIG
Bears trade down, take bulky D- II tight end Shaheen
Adam who? A day after pulling the boldest, most surprising move of the first round to acquire quarterback Mitch Trubisky, Bears general manager Ryan Pace raised more eyebrows in the second round of the NFL draft when he selected tight end Adam Shaheen from Division II Ashland ( Ohio) University with the 45th overall pick.
The 6- 6, 278- pound Shaheen is a late bloomer who started his college career playing basketball at Pittsburgh-Johnstown at 6- 6, 195 pounds.
With classic size and impressive athleticism, he has the potential to produce in the mold of Pro Bowl tight ends who create matchup problems downfield.
But Shaheen has a big transition to make after dominating Northwood, Tiffin, Ferris State and Findlay in 2016.
After coming off a 3- 13 season, coach John Fox and his staff will be counted on to improve this year.
But Pace has selected a quarterback who likely won’t play in 2017 and a tight end who likely will spend his rookie season under somebody’s wing — behind either Dion Sims or Zach Miller.
“I would disagree with that. I think Adam’s projected to play early,” Pace said. “I like his skill set. We spent a lot of time on that. So just because he’s a small- school player — yeah, it’s a big jump, but he has the physical skill set to make that jump and we’re confident in that. We’re excited about what he can add to our team right now.”
Pace drafted Shaheen after trading down nine spots to regain picks he gave up in the trade to draft Trubisky. The Bears traded their sec-
ond- round pick ( 36th overall) and seventh- round pick ( 221st) to Arizona for the Cardinals’ picks in the second ( 45th), fourth ( 119th) and sixth ( 197th) rounds this year and a fourthround pick in 2018.
In a much different way than Trubisky, the unheralded Shaheen comes to Chicago with some intrigue as a player who can make the Bears great if he pans out.
“When you’re watching a guy at that level, he needs to dominate every game. And he did that,” Pace said. “So I’m not worried about the transition to our level. He’s got the physical skill set to do that.
“For a guy his size, his athleticism jumps out. When you’re watching him on tape, you have to keep looking down and go, ‘ Man, this guy’s 6- 6 ½ and 278 pounds, and he moves like that.’ ”
The obvious knock on Shaheen is the competition he played against— including Mercyhurst ( 3- 8), Lake Erie ( 0- 11) and Walsh ( 1- 10) in 2016.
He did have a huge game against playoff- bound Ferris State ( 12- 2) — seven receptions for 152 yards ( 21.7 average) and one touchdown. And he had 10 receptions for 165 yards ( 16.5 average) and three touchdowns against Tiffin ( 8- 3).
“I’m speechless right now. But I’m going to be ready to go to work in the morning,” Shaheen said.
“I think [ the adjustment to the NFL] is something I’m very capable of. The Bears feel that, as well. I’m just excited to get to work and get grinding and [ show] everybody what I can do.”