NFC North

Chicago Bears

Of course I start with my beloved Bears! I think this draft starts and end with the pick up of Jay Cutler. Essentially, he’s the first and second round pick for this year. While the guys that got drafted may not be potential super-stars, all came from the third round onward. These are depth guys, who had good value for where they were picked, but if they fail then it's not a huge salary hit on all of them.
I actually thought the best comparison to Gilbert before the draft was Izzy Idonije. Long arms, a bit of a tweener DE/DT, good speed and athleticism. He's going to block at least two kicks this year, mark my words. Gilbert is depth, potential, explosive, and comes from good bloodlines (his dad and uncle both played in the NFL).

Iglesias is a solid over the middle receiver. He's similar to Rashied Davis in that he'll make his hey in the slot, and catch balls in traffic (but he’s got MUCH better hands than Davis). Good hands, just average deep speed, but good after the catch. He's the kind of receiver they needed, so it's a good pick.

Melton is a speed rusher who fits this defense perfectly. He's a lot like Mark Anderson, so I'd say good or bad, this is his last season in a Bears uniform.

Moore was a fantastic pick! He's ideal for the cover-2. He doesn't have good long speed, but he's physical and gets his hands on a lot of balls. Reminds me a lot of Vashar. He had the best technique and hips if any CB this year, at least in my opinion.

Knox is a speed burner that needs a lot of work to refine his route running. I won’t argue, but there were better players on the board here that I would have taken.

Here's what I said about Freeman before, and I think it held up well:

Marcus Freeman, OLB- Freeman is a really hard prospect to peg. He’s maddeningly inconsistent, yet the flashes of ability he shows make you want to pick him higher than you should. Some team is going to draft him higher than he should go with the thought that their coaching staff can get the most out of Freeman’s potential. There is not questioning Freeman’s athleticism, size, and speed. He’s what you ideally look for in a WLB in a 4-3 defense. The major issues with Freeman stem from his coverage ability. The minute he’s asked to flip his hips and drop into zone coverage or man up against a TE, he looks lost. Saying he’s horrible in coverage is being kind. But if it’s a run play or a blitz, he’s outstanding. I wouldn’t risk a pick on him until the 4th round, but I could see him sneaking into the 3rd round due to his potential.

Afalava and Kinder are just ‘eh’ to me. Louis intrigues me because of his size/speed ratio. The Bears announced him as a TE, because they intend to use him as a blocking TE. He came to San Diego State as a TE, but ended up playing OT then finally OG. He’s 6’3” 300+lbs and runs a 4.75. That is sickly fast for a man his size, so I can see why the Bears want to put him in as the blocking TE. It makes sense and it’s a fine point in the draft to grab a guy like that. In the end, if he can prove himself at OT or OG, then he’s depth across three positions. That’s good value for the game day roster.

Counting Cutler in there, this was one of the better drafts the Bears had. Without him, it was low risk high reward for where the players where taken.

Green Bay Packers

I absolutely hate to say this, but the Packers made some great choices in the draft. They really helped themselves, and got players that will help them move successfully to the 3-4 defense.

Part of this was being lucky enough that teams in the top either were stupid enough to pass on BJ Raji, so the Packers got the no brainer for the 9th pick. He will start right away as either their NT or the DE, and he’ll make an impact immediately.

Ted Thompson then moved up to grab Clay Matthews Jr, who will fit right in as the starting rush OLB opposite Aaron Kampmann. I love Matthews intensity and hustle, and he’ll be an excellent fit. He was a good value and worth trading up for.

I think the most underrated, but the absolute best choice, was South Carolina OT/OG Jamon Meredith. I really have no idea how he slipped to the 5th round. It makes no sense to me. He’s far too talented and versatile to not draft earlier than this, and I was really hoping the Bears would pick him up. I think this will put a chip on his shoulder, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as their starting RT come opening day.

Overall, a very solid draft for the Packers, even though their CB situation is still a bit shallow.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings didn’t have many choices so they had to hit home runs when they could. I don’t think they did, but they potentially hit some solid doubles. A lot of their draft strategy came down to taking risks on high reward, high risk players. They better hope they turn out, or this will be a major reason why this team will take a turn downward for a few years (due to the simple lack of bodies they got).

Percy Harvin is outstanding with the ball in his hands, it’s just figuring out how they’ll do this. He’s not a natural route runner, and he’s not going to play RB with Purple Jesus back there. So while it’s a potential home run, if Tarvaris Jackson can’t find him, it’s a wash.

You all know I do not like Phil Loadholt at all, so I’m glad we’ll get to see him two times a year. Enjoy taking tickets when the Bear’s DE’s or Matthews Jr run right around you big Phil.

Asher Allen is a solid pick, and it probably the best corner they could have gotten late in the draft. He’s undersized, but so are most of the Vikings CB’s, so he fits in well.

I loved Jasper Brinkley, so I won’t fault them on this. With EJ Henderson’s inability to stay healthy, I think we’ll see a lot more of him than I would like. He’s solid, and behind those monster DT’s he’s going to crush RBs.

Detroit Lions

I wasn’t a fan of their draft after day one, but day two was not bad for the Lions. I think the Lions missed in the first round completely. I obviously did not like Stafford as the number one pick, and you all know I felt Pettigrew is nothing more than a mid level blocking TE. The fact that the Lions passed on Michael Oher still makes me shake my head. If you told me they could have gotten Stafford and Oher before the draft started, I would have said you were crazy and taken the money on that.

I can’t argue with Delmas as I think he’s going to be am outstanding safety. He’s undersized though and likes to play very physical, so that could hurt him at the next level. Even though I like him a lot, there was no way in hell I would have passed on Rey Maualuga at the top of round two like they did.

Derrick Williams is a solid slot guy and return man, so that’s a good value in the third. DeAndre Levy is better than people are giving him credit for, but they needed an MLB and not an OLB.

Sammie Lee Hill is solid and fits this team’s desire to get bigger on the DL. He’s a run stuffing DT, and nothing else, but that’s how Schwartz likes to run defense.

Aaron Brown is better than people think, Lydon Murtha is a nice developmental LT prospect, and Zack Follett is a back up.

So while I can’t say this is great, it’s not terrible either. But for picking as high as they did, I do not think that they came away with players that reflect this. Enjoy being doormats in the NFC North for at least another year Detroit!