Bleacher Report says the Pack had a decent draft....
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The Green Bay Packers may have reached a bit when they took Arizona offensive lineman Jordan Morgan with the 25th pick. Morgan was the 39th-ranked prospect on the B/R board and one many expected to move inside at the next level.
"His questionable range and middling redirect skills will be difficult to overcome on an island against NFL edge-rushers, but he could make it work inside a run-first, play-action-based scheme that limits those exposures," Thorn wrote.
However, Morgan gained plenty of seasoning as a three-year starter at left tackle in college, and he'll give Green Bay a chance to find David Bakhtiari's long-term replacement. If Morgan doesn't pan out there, the Packers might have their replacement for guard Jon Runyan instead.
In Round 2, Green Bay made Texas A&M's Edgerrin Cooper the first linebacker off the board. Cooper was the top-rated linebacker on the B/R board and should help reload a Packers defense that parted with De'Vondre Campbell earlier this offseason.
Georgia safety Javon Bullard—the 47th-ranked prospect on the B/R board—was a solid value at No. 58 and will help shore up the back end with free-agent addition Xavier McKinney.
MarShawn Lloyd is a far more explosive running back than AJ Dillon and will give Green Bay some quality depth behind free-agent addition Josh Jacobs. Ty'Ron Hopper will bring additional depth to the second level of the defense.
General manager Brian Gutekunst did a fine job of finding value on Day 3, especially with the selection of Oregon State safety Kitan Oladapo. He was the 35th-ranked overall prospect on the B/R board and will partner with fellow rookies Bullard, Evan Williams and free-agent addition McKinney to help solidify the back end of Green Bay's defense.
Michael Pratt is an interesting developmental quarterback who will provide some insurance behind Jordan Love. After watching numerous starting QBs go down in 2023, it was a sensible flier.
Did Gutekunst get the most value with each of his selections? Probably not, but he did manage to address most of Green Bay's most notable needs.
Grade: B
....which places them well behind the Bears....
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The Chicago Bears kicked off the 2024 draft with the selection most expected. There's no guarantee that USC's Caleb Williams will end up being the best quarterback taken in this class. However, he was widely viewed as a "can't-miss" option with a high floor and an even higher ceiling.
"The arm talent oozes off the film, and he is a special playmaker when things break down. Williams is also more put together as a processor than his playing style suggests, even if he still needs work," Klassen wrote.
Like the Cincinnati Bengals did with Joe Burrow a couple of years ago, Chicago did the smart thing by staying put at No. 1 and getting its guy.
Chicago came back and grabbed Washington receiver Rome Odunze with the ninth pick. He's a tremendous value—Odunze was the second-ranked receiver on the final B/R board—and he'll help ensure that Williams has no shortage of playmakers in his rookie campaign.
Oduzne joins DJ Moore, Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen in a suddenly scary Bears receiving corps.
Kiran Amegadjie is a bit of a project coming out of Yale, but he has the baseline athletic ability and instincts to provide depth at guard and tackle early and potentially push for a starting role within his first couple of years.
Given Chicago's investment in Williams, investing in the offensive line was the right Day 2 decision for the Bears.
While fans probably won't get excited about a punter pick, adding Tory Taylor in Round 4 was a brilliant move. Taylor was one of the most valuable players for Iowa this past season, and he can be a field-flipping difference-maker for Chicago at the next level.
Taylor was slated to be Chicago's final selection of 2024, but the Bears traded back in to take Kansas edge-rusher Austin Booker. He'll help bolster a pass rush that took off after the 2023 trade acquisition of Montez Sweat.
Poles didn't enter the draft with a high volume of picks, but it's hard not to love what he did over the weekend. Odunze puts the finishing touches on the best supporting cast Chicago has given a quarterback in recent memory. Williams should put an end to the franchise's quarterback futility.
Grade: A
...and the Lions....
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The Detroit Lions flipped the third-round pick they acquired in the T.J. Hockenson trade in a deal with Dallas to land Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold.
Corner was a substantial need for the Lions, who finished the 2023 season ranked 27th in passing yards allowed. With defensive backs falling, Detroit decided not to wait and landed the second-ranked corner and 11th overall prospect on the B/R board.
While the Lions did have to give up a valuable Day 2 selection to land Arnold, it's hard to criticize the decision. Arnold has the potential to be a reliable starting corner for the long term.
"A complete and well-rounded defender, there isn't much he can't do," Cory Giddings of the B/R Scouting Department wrote.
Detroit doubled up at the cornerback position by grabbing Missouri's Ennis Rakestraw Jr. at the bottom of Round 2. Rakestraw will partner with Arnold and trade acquisition Carlton Davis to help turn around the Lions' biggest 2023 weakness.
The Lions failed to reach the Super Bowl because their defense couldn't close out the NFC title game. Detroit has recognized that and made some serious investments in the cornerback room.
Detroit traded a 2025 third-round pick to move into Round 4 and grab British Columbia tackle prospect Giovanni Manu. While Manu will likely be a project, he has the size (6'8", 352 lbs) and physical upside to be a future key contributor.
The Lions showed that they clearly trust their own evaluation process by trading a future pick for an international player and then announcing former Utah safety Sione Vaki as a running back. Given the results from last year's class, it's hard to doubt Detroit.
The bottom line is that Detroit entered draft weekend with one obvious need. General manager Brad Holmes addressed it with his first two picks without reaching for prospects who can't contribute early.
The rest of Detroit's draft wasn't exactly filled with value, but again, the Lions are adamant about trusting their board.
Grade: A-
...and, oh yeah, the Vikings, too....
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The Minnesota Vikings traded up to No. 10 in a first-round deal with the New York Jets to land Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The most surprising thing about the selection is that Minnesota didn't have to trade higher to get its quarterback.
McCarthy was the fourth-ranked QB on the final B/R big board. While a top-10 pick may be too high for what McCarthy's college tape might suggest, the Vikings only had to give up a pair of Day 3 selections to get their guy.
The surprise selection of Penix may have pushed McCarthy into a more reasonable range for Minnesota. Regardless of how it happened, the Vikings got McCarthy without having to give up the 23rd overall pick, which they acquired from Houston in a predraft trade.
Minnesota traded up again in Round 1, landing Alabama's Dallas Turner, the second-ranked edge-rusher on the final B/R big board.
"Turner has plenty of tools to work with to warrant a top-15—and maybe even a top-10—selection in this year's draft class," Holder wrote.
Adding Turner will help boost a pass rush that lost Danielle Hunter but added Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel earlier in the offseason.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah largely focused on developmental prospects on Day 3, though cornerback Khyree Jackson is a notable exception. Jackson was the 43rd-ranked prospect on the B/R board and could get on the field as early as Week 1 of this season.
Sixth-round kicker Will Reichard should challenge John Parker Romo for the starting job in training camp.
This class will be defined by Minnesota's two trades in Round 1. The Vikings seemed quite comfortable with McCarthy as their quarterback of the future and resisted the urge to overpay to land him. Turner may need a little seasoning, but he has the potential to blossom into a franchise player.
Using both first-round picks instead of flipping them both for McCarthy was a win for Minnesota.
Grade: A-
Sounds like Gute really made the most of his treasure trove of 2024 picks! Better luck next year, guys!
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Antonio Gramsci wrote:
The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.