Your 'initial' assessment of the Draft

[DWhitehurst]

I dare not give grades. Those national prognosticators that do always give the "Paper Tiger" Vikings an "A" and the Packers a "C". (I did think the Bears did well). But just on the players on the board they selected and/or those they passed on, needs addressed/not addressed, what are your initial thoughts? This also takes into consideration you really can't sufficiently assess a draft until at least 2 years after the fact, which is why I qualify with "initial" thoughts....

--I'm not sold on Stokes yet. Time will tell. It's certainly not his physical numbers. It's what's between the ears. Upside is there, but we said the same about King coming out. Perhaps my hesitation is all the failed picks on CBs in the past. I would have taken OT Jenkins at #29, and drafted a couple boundary zone CB prospects later (e.g., Benjamin St. Juste, Keith Taylor, etc.) and hope you hit on one of them. 

--I don't dislike C Myers, but he seems more suited for a power scheme. Then again, there aren't many pass-rushing 0 and 1 Techs in the league, so maybe it won't matter. He'll get push at the goal line. 

--My favorite pick was WR Amari Rodgers. Won't take it to the house like say a 4.29 Rondale Moore can, but given his RB build, he should be durable (reliable). Just give the QB another reliable outlet. 

--None of these OLineman convinces me they can adequately man the RT position, at least other than spot duty. But if just one of them sticks as a swing OG/OT backup, that's a success.

--RB Kylin Hill was a good get in the 7th round. I had him going in the 4th/5th rounds. Physical. Pounder. Fearless. Offers versatile utility. Good pass catcher. Has to learn to protect the QB, but that's typical. Jones had to get coached up in that too. If Jones goes down, you won't fall off that much with Hill. Great #3 RB.

 

What are your initial thoughts?

 

 

[Sasquatch]

All I know about this draft is a bunch of posters here have mom’s married to our draftees fathers.

[Donzo]

We don't know anything, but to me, it feels like they only got good value with the first 5th rounder and in the 7th round.

[MacReady]

Significantly more first year impact than last year.

[CWood21]

Solid overall draft, nothing spectacular draft.  I think it's one of those drafts we look back that turn out to be a solid backbone class.

[St Vince]

On paper I like it better than 2020. I give it a C+ because we seem to spend so much draft capital on Corners and OL every year. For that reason we can't get the middle of the defense fixed. All the misses at corner is why our defense has weaknesses at MLB and DT. Love the slot weapon in Rodgers, wish we could've added one more. Hate we missed out on Tonga because we drafted another OG at 214. Could've had two young massive bodies in the middle to shut down the run. I'm tired of filling the DL with UDFA. Oh well I just hope we can get some higher drafted DL help next year along with MLB. We need to get that fixed.

[HeresAGuy]

not the draft we wanted, but the draft we needed

Next year, trade Rodgers and use those two first rounders on DTs

Edited May 2, 2021 by HeresAGuy

[gopackgo972]

I wasn’t really expecting a super good draft because of the Packers draft position. I think Stokes is a reach. I like Myers, Rodgers and Hill. 

[AlexGreen#20]

Stokes is a classic back end of the first round shot on a premium. Flawed prospect with an extremely high ceiling. We'll see what the staff can do with him.

Myers is a ready to go Interior lineman prospect that doesn't quite have the athletic profile to be elite in any fit, but the sky's the limit here, especially if a one of the handful of Guard prospects turns into something to his right.

Rodgers is a middle of the road slot-only type. The change of direction isn't what you like to see at his height, but he's built strong and is tenacious. You need the bulldog in that slot in this offense. They all need to be able to block here, and that isn't super common in the slot-only types.

Newman's a classic midround interior type. The clay is good, but he's probably not the pure athlete you want at RT. He'll have as much a shot at one of the Guard spots as any of them. He doesn't lack anything there, the development just needs to happen.

Slaton has the body to hang as a run plug though he might not be there yet. He's been out of shape his entire football career. If he gets down to 315 there's some genuine ability there. Hopefully somebody can get it out of him, if not he basically plays Lancaster's role.

SJC's probably a special teams body and a borderline special one. The technique isn't horrible, but the athleticism doesn't show on defense. Maybe he's the kind of DB that can ugly things up enough to slow things down for his game to play, but the hips don't seem like they're going to play at the pro level.

Van Lanen's tough to evaluate. He's a big with some athleticism, but it's bad when the arrow has been trending downward for two consecutive years. Watching guys consistently dip under him the last few years has been awful. Maybe the staff can get it out of him. It's a lottery ticket.

McDuffie is a dime a dozen ILB body at the new 225 build. The instincts are middling, the athleticism is average. He can probably play if kept clean and will be a decent special teams body immediately.

Hill is a damn good player if you can look past the red flags, both injury and personality. Teams were going to be scared off by both as he missed significant time in college due to injuries and disciplinary benchings. When he can play he's got phenomenal balance and runs angry. The speed is good but not great but the vision and the balance should play in the pros. 

 

 

[MaximusGluteus]

12 minutes ago, St Vince said:

On paper I like it better than 2020. I give it a C+ because we seem to spend so much draft capital on Corners and OL every year. For that reason we can't get the middle of the defense fixed. All the misses at corner is why our defense has weaknesses at MLB and DT. Love the slot weapon in Rodgers, wish we could've added one more. Hate we missed out on Tonga because we drafted another OG at 214. Could've had two young massive bodies in the middle to shut down the run. I'm tired of filling the DL with UDFA. Oh well I just hope we can get some higher drafted DL help next year along with MLB. We need to get that fixed.

To be fair, we weren't fixing the middle of the defense with what was available in this draft.

Edited May 2, 2021 by MaximusGluteus

[{Family Ghost}]

Solid draft .. Stokes, Myers, and Amari Rodgers should provide some instant impact and I think special teams will be getting a pretty big infusion of talent.  I don't think I got a single pick right in the draft contest, but it seemed like the Packers got quality value with the majority of their picks.  I'm satisfied .. now we wait and see how they actually look in live action. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by {Family Ghost}

[pacman5252]

It is definitely too early to tell as far as prospects go.

-I hope all these guys become quality players.

-My initial assessment would be that the strategy had no surprises. I think most reasonable people thought we'd get a DB, capable OL, a weapon, early and then some development/niche players.

-Stokes- I'm not super jacked about. The guy has tools, but red flags. I know we took him because we want a corner that can come in and contribute/develop (only 1 guaranteed on the roster in 2022), but I felt the class was deep enough to trade down/get similar toolsy red flag guys R2.

-Myers- Makes a lot of sense. Looking at the depth chart at OL we needed another guy who could come in and play right away. We only have 5 capable+ guys (Bak, Jenkins, Turner, Runyan, Patrick), and I'm not sure I'd want Patrick/Runyan as penned in starters. Myers should come in and start at C. Jenkins now has some flexibility as well to play tackle if Bak is out awhile. You need 7 guys who aren't terrible on the OL to function a whole season or you'll end up like us 3 years ago starting journeymen hole guards.

-A Rodgers- Liked the pick. We needed a guy like this in the O that could create after the catch/had flexibility. Looking to 2022, we have no wrs under contract so we needed a wr from a roster construction standpoint. He'll be our PR as well. I hope we don't ruin him like Ty Montgomery. I wish we didn't have to give up our 4th, but I like that we secured a guy.

-Newman- Solid development OL pick. R4 you're getting stash and develop guys, STers, or niche players

-Slaton- Big Boy, niche run defender at this point. If he's decent, Lowry (money) or Lancaster (meh/cheap) are gone

-Jean Charles- Chance to make it as corner 5/6 and STs

-Van Lanen- Will be fighting for OL spot 8/9 with Nijman/Stepanik. 

-McDuffie- ST/roster spot fighting with Burkes/Summers and maybe a random UDFA

-Hill- Has a legit shot at the roster as RB 3. I think he has more juice than Dexter. There is nobody else to compete with in house.

 

 

I think we'll get more contributions from this class than last year's year 1 (low bar). Realistically, we'll probably 1 opening day starter (Myers), a CB 3, and gimmick WR 4/PR (maybe 500 yards from scrimmage this year), and some spot niche duties from Slaton/Hill in 2021.

[Joe]

Throw out the Myers pick and this is another “for the future” draft. We needed an OT really bad and didn’t draft one. That tells us either Bakh is on time to come back by Week 1 and/or Jenkins is kicking out to Tackle. Nijman has proven nothing.

On the other hand, given that we’ve invested heavily in the IOL, it would strongly point to the fact that Jordan Love will be a game manager QB and we’ll revert back to those Mike Tice led Vikings squads where we rarely pass and attempt to control the clock with a running game.

Defensively, it’s pretty obvious that we’re going to a pseudo, 4-3 alignment or even front with an undersized IDL signed post-draft and an obvious NT taken in the 5th. Look for heavy zone looks in the secondary as well.

[MaximusGluteus]

3 minutes ago, pacman5252 said:

- A. Rodgers- Liked the pick. We needed a guy like this in the O that could create after the catch/had flexibility. Looking to 2022, we have no wrs under contract so we needed a wr from a roster construction standpoint. He'll be our PR as well. I hope we don't ruin him like Ty Montgomery. I wish we didn't have to give up our 4th, but I like that we secured a guy.

 

McCarthy ruined Montgomery.  MLF won't ruin Rodgers.

[Leader]

3 minutes ago, MaximusGluteus said:

McCarthy ruined Montgomery.  MLF won't ruin Rodgers.

The serious ankle injury didnt help matters.