It’s rare to hear how this sport actually works.

Why one player is taken over another player. The process that leads to a team loving or loathing a prospect. The fans who pour their hard-earned money into the NFL are too often fed insipid cliches at the podium and left in the dark.

We’ll always try to lift up the curtain here. And on this episode of the Go Long Show, Josh Lucas takes everyone right inside the thinking of an NFL front office.

From 2015 to 2022, Lucas served as the director of player personnel under GM Ryan Pace with the Chicago Bears.

Before this, he worked with our podcast co-host Jim Monos as an area scout with the New Orleans Saints from 2005 to 2014.

You’ll learn how decisions go down before an NFL draft and, more specifically, how the Chicago Bears got to this point — from the decision to draft Mitchell Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes in 2017 to the trade up for Justin Fields in 2021. Lucas offers thoughts on several other Bears picks, relives Saints memories and has a fresh take on Jordan Love. Also: How do you know if a college prospect can overcome adversity?

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