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How well did the NFC North draft?


vike daddy

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Minnesota Vikings
Draft picks: N.C. State C Garrett Bradbury (No. 18 overall); Alabama TE Irv Smith (No. 50); Boise State RB Alexander Mattison (No. 102) 
Day 1 grade: A 
Day 2 grade: A
Overall grade: A
Draft analysis: Bradbury is athletic and tough, considered one of the best center prospects to be picked in some time. Minnesota's offensive line was in dire need of improvement so this selection will make quarterback Kirk Cousins and running back Dalvin Cook extremely happy.

Smith is a move tight end who was a nice value. He could replace Kyle Rudolph as a receiver and throw his body around as a blocker. Minnesota needs to have a solid backup at running back due to durability concerns with Dalvin Cook, and Mattison is a durable power back who can handle those duties. The Vikings have several Day 3 picks to find a safety and depth all around.

 

Green Bay Packers
Draft picks: Michigan OLB Rashan Gary (No. 12 overall); Maryland S Darnell Savage (No. 21 overall); Texas A&M OG Elgton Jenkins (No. 44); Texas A&M TE Jace Sternberger (No. 75)
Day 1 grade: A 
Day 2 grade: A
Overall grade: A
Draft analysis: Gary's production wasn't what you would have liked at Michigan and his off-field business interest turned off some teams. However, he has great athletic upside as a defender in the Packers' scheme. Announced as a linebacker at the draft on Thursday, Gary can play outside or inside and gives consistent full effort. Green Bay had an extra first-round pick from a 2018 draft-day trade with New Orleans (No. 30 overall). The Packers traded up, though, and selected Savage, who fills an immediate need at safety. He will be an effective nickel defender and will pop ball-carriers whenever possible. Trading away two fourth-round selections (one of which was gained from Washington for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix) was fine given their multiple early picks this year.

Green Bay finally used an early pick on the offensive line, picking up Jenkins, a strong and long player who played every O-line position for the Bulldogs. Head coach Matt LaFleur needed another tight end, and Sternberger turned out to be a nice value as a receiving threat in the mid-third round.

 

Detroit Lions
Draft picks: Iowa TE T.J. Hockenson (No. 8 overall); Hawaii LB Jahlani Tavai (No. 43); Boston College DB Will Harris (No. 81)
Day 1 grade: B+ 
Day 2 grade: B-
Overall grade: B
Draft analysis: I love Hockenson as a two-way tight end prospect. He will be a strong target for Matthew Stafford and a nice blocker in the run game. But he wasn't the top player available: it was defensive tackle Ed Oliver. Time will tell which way they should have gone with that pick.

Tavai was picked earlier than expected, much like Kyle Van Noy was a few years ago, though NFL scouts believe Tavai can become a starter. The Van Noy pick didn't work out for the Lions, but hopefully this one will. Trading up for Harris helped the Lions meet a need at safety and he was an appropriate value.

 

Chicago Bears
Draft pick: Iowa State RB David Montgomery 
Day 1 grade: A 
Day 2 grade: A-
Overall grade: A
Draft analysis: Khalil Mack was 100 percent worthy of the Bears' interest. He played lights-out in 2018 and I suspect will be a force over the next few seasons, barring injury (which was a bit of a concern last year). There's no question he was worth giving up their 2019 first- and sixth-round picks, as well as the 2020 third-round pick as a sweetener. And parting with a 2020 first-round pick and swapping second-round picks with the Raiders next year may only be a minimal loss for the Bears if they are a playoff team and Oakland does not greatly exceed its win total from last season.

When they were finally on the clock Friday night (they dealt away their second-rounder this year in a draft day trade last year to land WR Anthony Miller), the Bears found their new running back in Montgomery, who can carry a heavy workload. They had to give up a 2020 fourth-round pick as part of the deal, though.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001028537/article/2019-nfl-draft-quicksnap-grades-for-every-team-through-day-2

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1. Packers
2. Vikings
3. Lions
4. Bears

Ask a Bears fan and they had the best offseason since I guess Mack still counts as a first round pick this year (lol).  They don't seem to understand that he does not count as an upgrade in the offseason when they got him the previous offseason.  They're also suggesting the Packers reached and had to plug holes with their picks,  and one person even thinks Montgomery is a lot like Walter Payton (I'm not making that up).  I think the fear is starting to set in with them so they're doubling down on things to compensate for it.  Calling Trubisky a franchise QB.  Trubisky a franchise QB.  2/3 OF Trubisky's touchdowns came by the halfway point of their season.  He is not a franchise QB, and you can see that by watching him play.  He gets flustered more quickly than any QB in the NFC, and if his first read isn't open, he's at a loss.  Watching the Bears in the first half and then the second half you can see that, as Nagy's scheme put out tape, as Trubisky put out tape, Trubisky really struggled.  Detroit and Green Bay were Trubisky's only two good games after the midway point.  Neither of those defenses could have been described as anything over dumpster fire defenses.  They don't seem to want to acknowledge that the Packers actively got rid of Clinton-Dix, who was terrible on his new team.  They lost their defensive coordinator, their slot corner, their starting safety as well as good depth on defense.  They are surprising nobody in 2019. 

The Vikings are doing exactly what I say a team should not do to build a Super Bowl team.  Overpaying a QB, drafting IOL in round one, slowly neglecting what got them to the Championship game in the first place (defense)... If I had been the Vikings GM, I would have kept Keenum while looking for a QB whose talent met the value.  Either a first, second or third round pick while continuing to dump all my investments into defense.  THAT was your identity, and if you neglect your identity to fix up a perceived weakness, you're going to end up without an identity.  They will go only as far as Kirk Cousins will take them, and Kirk Cousins will go only as far as that defense will take him.  Kirk Cousins is a plus QB if he's on a defense constantly keeping teams under 24 points a game.  Once he has to start scoring 24+ points per game, that starts to fall apart, as evidenced by his record against teams with winning records.  Don't see Cousins as a good fit with Zimmer, either.  Cousins is most effective with an offensive-minded head coach. 

Lions are still the Lions.  Not having learned their lesson by drafting a bust at tight end tenth overall and habitually taking non-premium positions in the first round (5 of their last 6 first round picks were non-premium positions), they one up (two up) themselves by drafting a tight end EIGHTH OVERALL.  The stupidity there is staggering.  Hockenson would have to be Gronkowski or Kelce to ever be worth that pick, and he's not projected to be either.  They continue to be a team without an identity and stuck in a purgatory of good, not great on both sides of the ball with seemingly no end in sight. 

And then the Packers.  The Packers did what I did not want them to do.  I do NOT believe in loading up in free agency.  Still, you cannot blame them for what they did.  It was abundantly clear that Pettine does not want speed or finesse rushers.  Clay Matthews hinted at as much.  The Packers added two rather large EDGE rushers in free agency, both above the 260 range.  The Smiths (Preston, Za'Darious).  Both are versatile players, with Za'Darious being more versatile.  He'll be an EDGE rusher, but also move inside during pass rush scenarios.  The Packers also addressed OL depth by signing Turner, as well as the safety position.  Adrian Amos has never flashed, but he has consistently been an unsung defender on the Bears defense, nearly never being out of position and being able to play both positions at safety.  In the draft, they doubled down on versatile DL/EDGE by drafting Gary, who has a rare athletic score similar to Clowney, Peppers and other freaks of nature.  Then they moved up to draft a safety with the speed to be a true centerfield safety, exactly what compliments Amos' game.  Next two picks were offensive pieces that figure to be 2020 players more than 2019 players. 

While the Bears, Vikings and Lions got older and added less defensively, the Packers have completely overhauled their defense to a degree they have not done since drafting Clay Matthews and BJ Raji in the same class. 

The Packers still will rely on their new head coach.  If he is a hit, the Packers figure to have had a very short rebuild. 

I really want the Vikings to take second in the division and the Lions third.  I'm sick of Bears fans acting like they're somehow the cream of the crop after one year of good play in which they traded their very future to achieve.  I was against the Mack trade from the beginning when Packer fans wanted to trade our future picks.  Those picks turned into Rashan Gary and Darnell Savage (both of which are 21 years old).  Mack is a player you trade for if everything else is settled, and I do not see their situation as settled.  Trubisky is a bad QB in a good scheme, and we've all seen what happens to those quarterbacks when the scheme and the QB get figured out. 

Right now, I think the division will go as follows:

Packers (who get the benefit of Aaron Rodgers in a new scheme that won't be the same it has been for 10 years)
Vikings (who still have the third best QB in the division and at worst the second best defense)
Bears (who still have a lot of talent)
Lions (who are still the Lions)

All I gotta say is don't sleep on the Packers.  They fell apart due to two straight bad draft classes and a coach who could not adapt, and a QB who was emboldened to not adapt. 

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i agree with the article in that i really like TJ Hockenson and the schematic issues it causes for defenses but i am so glad that the lions didn't pick ed oliver. i feel like he could really be a nightmare for offensive lines and we already struggle with having mack in our division. 

 

 

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Honestly none of the NFCN really blew me away this year. I though what little the bears did draft sucked, Lions wasn't great, I liked the Vikings draft probably the most but I still wouldn't say it was great. I feel pretty similar regarding the Packers draft as the Vikings however the Packers have alot of boom -bust compared to what I think the Vikings very steady draft. 

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41 minutes ago, Spartacus said:

Honestly none of the NFCN really blew me away this year. I though what little the bears did draft sucked, Lions wasn't great, I liked the Vikings draft probably the most but I still wouldn't say it was great. I feel pretty similar regarding the Packers draft as the Vikings however the Packers have alot of boom -bust compared to what I think the Vikings very steady draft. 

i think that is a very fair and accurate view of the four teams' drafts.

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2 hours ago, Dolmonite26 said:

The Packers draft is laughable imo.  Gary is far more bust then boom and the safety was both poor value and a reach.

The guard and TE were solid picks.

Because drafting based on floors is the right way to go about?  I mean, I get not liking Rashan Gary if you think there's risk involved, but other than regurgitating what others have posted isn't the way to go about it.  You can't watch Gary play and not notice how many double and triple teams he faced.  You ask Harbaugh who is the key to the Michigan defense, and he'll point to Gary.  You go and watch the tape, and watch how much attention that Gary receives.  Chase Winovich owes Gary his first paycheck to Gary.  The past 2 seasons, Rashan Gary had 18 TFL and 9 sacks while Winovich had 34.5 TFL and 13.5 sacks.  Here's a link from their production in 2017.

Winovich had 6 more pressures than Gary, but managed to have 2 more sacks and 3 more QB hits.  Despite the fact that he was consistently facing single blocking where as Gary was consistently facing double or triple teams.  Chase Winovich went 77th overall while Rashan Gary went 12th overall.  Either Gute is an idiot or 32 teams knew what they were getting out of Chase Winovich.  But more importantly, look at the athletic tools.  Look at who he compares to, and then compare who Rashan Gary compares to.  And the notion that Savage was a reach or poor value is a joke.  A straight up joke.  He was the top ranked safety, and it's already been reported that Indianapolis was interested in him with their pick.  But they (along with Baltimore) traded down after the Packers took him.  So clearly it wasn't a reach despite what your opinion says otherwise.

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3 hours ago, Dolmonite26 said:

The Packers draft is laughable imo.  Gary is far more bust then boom and the safety was both poor value and a reach.

The guard and TE were solid picks.

Even if you dont like Savage at worste I see him as a early 3rd to late 2nd pick. Gary has always been a top 15 player even if he was unpopular in this forum. 

Laughable isn't how I would describe it. High risk maybe but the players weren't ridiculously over drafted. All that being said getting Keke, Sternberger, and Jenkins IMO were all better players then where they were drafted while the late round prospects are all intriguing. 

Calling it laughable just shows how little you actually follow the draft. I'm no expert but that's just a stupid take.

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