NFL Draft Grades 2011: NFC North

Chicago Bears

I don’t care what you tell me, the Bears weren’t that good of a football team last year.  They only made the NFC Title game because they got to play the Seahawks in the Divisional Round.  Chicago ranked 28th in passing offense, 22nd in rushing offense, 20th defending the pass, and 2nd defending the run.  Their only true strength was stopping the run, Jay Cutler was as erratic as ever, the offensive line ranged from abysmal to serviceable, and the pass coverage was inconsistent.  The Bears have a lot of holes to address, and they only had five picks to fill those holes in this draft.

In the first round picking offensive tackle Gabe Carimi (Wisconsin) was a great move.  Ready to start from day one, Carimi could turn into a dominant run blocker.  Physically, Carimi won’t be overmatched by anyone at 6’7” and 315 pounds.  Despite his enormous frame and brute strength, Carimi is light on his feet and quite adept in pass protection.  I believe he should be solid immediately and could develop into an elite, Pro Bowl player.

The Bears’ second round pick, Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea, builds on an existing strength, their run defense.  Paea will likely take the place of oft-injured Tommie Harris in the middle of the line, and he should do a good job of it.  Incredibly strong (a record 49 reps at the combine) Paea also has surprising quickness off the snap.  He won’t rush the passer, but he’ll be a force against the run.

Those two players, while good, essentially make up the core of the Bear’s draft class.  Nathan Enderle is a project quarterback from Idaho the Bears selected in the fifth round.  He won’t see the field unless a few people get injured, and I think the Bears could have addressed their receiving corps, offensive line, or secondary with the pick.

They did get defensive back Chris Conte from California in the late third round, which fits a big need.  Conte is a safety converted from cornerback and was a late riser on draft boards.   He should contribute early and bolster the secondary.

The Bears did well with their first three picks: Carimi, Paea, and Conte.  The first two should start right away and Conte will contribute on defense and special teams.  Enderle was a head scratching pick, and while the Bears filled some big needs, they have many holes remaining.  The picks they made were good, but they needed more of them.

Grade: C+

Detroit Lions

Don’t look now, but the Lions have drafted extremely well recently.  Matt Stafford looks like a star talent when he’s healthy.  Calvin Johnson is the most physically imposing receiver in the league.  Last year Ndamukong Suh may have been the most dominant rookie of the past decade.  Jhavid Best, Louis Delmas, and Brandon Pettigrew all look to have promising futures in this league as well.  Detroit is becoming a talented team, year by year adding big time players.

In 2011 enter Nick Fairley.  Maybe Fairley didn’t fit a huge need, but getting one of the five best players in this draft at pick 14 was too good to pass up.  Fairley now pairs with Suh to create what should be one of the most feared defensive fronts in the NFL for the next 8-10 years.  Don’t forget Kyle Vanden Bosch, Corey Williams, and Cliff Avril, all quality players still in the mix too.

Second round pick Titus Young (WR, Boise State) is the perfect foil to the gargantuan Johnson: small, quick, precise in his routes, and has very good speed.  He’s a smart player that catches the ball almost every time and can even help in the return game.

Then at pick 25 in the second round, Detroit got what I think was a first round talent in Illinois running back Mikel Leshoure.  Rated by some as the best running back in this draft, Leshoure is big at 6’0” and 227 pounds, very strong, and has enough speed with a 4.56 40.  He’s the physical back Detroit has been missing, a guy that can carry the ball effectively 20 times per game.  Leshoure should perfectly complement the scat back contributions of Best, and together they could form one of the league’s best young backfields.  Stafford, Best, Leshoure, Johnson, Pettis, and Pettigrew are a really impressive nucleus of young talent on the offensive side of the ball.

Though the first three picks were, I thought, fantastic, the Lions only selected two more players in the whole draft.  Fifth rounder Douglas Hoge (LB, Syracuse) is an athletic player who will most likely find his niche on special teams.  Johnny Culbreath in the seventh round is an offensive tackle who has an outside chance at making the team.

Fairley and Leshoure can be Pro Bowl players in my opinion, and I love that the Lions just decided “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to have the best defensive tackle duo in the league for the next decade?”  Pettis, an excellent slot receiver and multi-purpose player, could take this offense to another level.  Like the Bears, Detroit only had a few nice picks and not much else, but the Lions’ top three choices really blew me away.

Grade: B+

Green Bay Packers

The Packers had the luxury of having minimal needs heading into this draft.  They’re coming off a Super Bowl performance in which several key starters weren’t even healthy enough to play, and they still won.  With most of those starters back in the fold this coming year, in effect this draft was just icing to an already scrumptious cake.

If there was a need on this team, it was offensive line.  Sure that unit was solid last year, but it wasn’t spectacular.  It’s aging in spots, and Aaron Rodgers is the single most important player in the league to protect.  With that, I loved the pick of Mississppi State tackle Derek Sherrod with the last pick in the first round.  He is a solid, first round talent, and many projected him to go higher than thirty-second.  At 6’5”, 321 pounds, he has the prototypical build to play offensive tackle in the NFL.  Having started his last three seasons, 50 total games in the rugged SEC, Sherrod should be used to pressure environments and a high level of physicality.  He’s quick for his size, smart, and has long arms.

Sherrod certainly brings a great attitude and an immense amount of talent to an improving Packer line.  Providing depth behind the Packers’ two starting tackles Brian Bulaga and the aging but still productive Chad Clifton, Sherrod may even slide in to play guard.  Bulaga, Sherrod, and guard Josh Sitton create a wonderful young foundation for the Green Bay offensive line.

If it’s possible, I like the Packers’ second round choice even more than their first.  Drafting a receiver wasn’t a need, but in getting Kentucky wideout Randall Cobb, the Packers took an already electric offense to off the charts territory.  Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Jones, and Jordy Nelson represent the league’s best receiving corps, but none of those guys is the smallish, cat-quick, slot-type receiver that can find openings underneath defenses.  Cobb is that man.  He has a lightning quick first step and is surprisingly strong, which helps him get his release off the line of scrimmage.  Plus, he has great hands and runs tremendous routes.  Scouts say football is his first love and they expect him to be a dedicated pro.  Cobb also brings intriguing talent to the return game, where his sudden quickness and agility might lead to some game-breaking returns.

In the third round the Packers continued to add weapons to the arsenal by bringing in the talented and bruising running back from Hawaii, Alex Green.  Green is 6’0”, 225 pounds and ran a 4.45 40-yard dash.  A punishing, make-one-cut-and-go runner with surprisingly good hands and very good acceleration, Green should make an impact right away, especially in short yardage situations.

The Green Bay receiving corps is deep, but the running back group is stockpiled as well with returning star Ryan Grant, last year’s breakout performer James Starks, and the rookie Green.  When the Packers run the ball, they’ll have an improved line and three talented backs to give the ball to.

In the fourth round the Packers continue their perfect weekend by selecting New Mexico State corner Davon House, who many had rated as a mid-second round prospect.  House will join the stud group of Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams, and Sam Shields.  If House is ready to make an impact as a nickel corner, that will free up Woodson even more to continue to rove between safety, corner, and blitz linebacker.  Essentially, the selection of House makes the league’s best secondary even more versatile.

In the fifth round, the Packers were clearly trying to make my head explode when they got my top-rated tight end in the draft, Arkansas’ DJ Williams.  Williams played in Bobby Petrino’s pro-style offense, had laser-armed quarterback in Ryan Mallett, and was hugely productive in the toughest college conference, the SEC.  At 6’2” and 245 pounds, Williams joins Cobb as a great middle of the field target.  He will be a nightmare for linebackers or safeties to cover with his 4.59 40 speed, soft hands, and great route running.

Williams and the returning mega-talent Jermichael Finley give the Packers the best tight end duo in the league.  Add to that to the best quarterback in the league, the best receiving corps in the league, a three deep running back rotation, and a much improved offensive line. Shnikees.

The Packers finished out the draft by adding depth and developmental players to the offensive and defensive lines.  Guard Caleb Schlauderaff from Utah was a nice pick in the fifth round.  He’s not overly talented but was a third team All-American as a senior and started virtually his entire career at Utah.  He’s considered a guy that should make the team, provide quality depth, and maybe even challenge for a starting spot.  The Pack may have also nabbed a steal in the sixth round with defensive lineman Ricky Elmore, who has a really quick first step and a knack for getting to the quarterback.

A team that didn’t need much improvement drastically improved.  They got a stud offensive tackle and a guard that should certainly make their final roster.  They got the one type of receiver they’ve been missing, a lightning-quick slot man who also returns kicks.  They added a physical, fast, punishing back to an already talented backfield.  They got a cornerback in the fourth round that could have gone early in the second and will give an already versatile secondary even more options.  They also got the best tight end in the draft, and can now pair him with the most athletically gifted tight end in the league.  With the coaching the Packers have in place, all of these players can reach their highest potential, and that is a frightening for the rest of the league.

Grade: A+

Minnesota Vikings

Maybe Christian Ponder will be a really nice quarterback in this league.  He’s athletic with a good but not great arm, a very talented player.  But that’s not quite the point.  Just like Jake Locker—who went eighth to the Titans—Ponder could have been had later in the draft, perhaps in the second round.  I suppose if the Vikings loved Ponder, it’s an okay move, but why not try to move back in the draft, accrue more picks, and look for Ponder in round two?

I digress…onto Ponder as a prospect.  With good size at 6’2” and 230 pounds, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds, joining Locker, Cam Newton, and Colin Kaepernick in what was an incredibly athletic QB class.  Ponder is a good kid that wants to win and was a leader at Florida State.  When he makes the correct read, he can be very accurate.  It’s just that he often has trouble reading defenses and makes a lot of ill-advised throws.  That only figures to get worse as a rookie starter in the NFL.  Ponder may well get to an elite level, but it’s going to take at least three years.

On the bright side for Ponder, he’s stepping into a system with weapons like Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice, and fellow rookie Kyle Rudolph.  Notre Dame’s Rudolph was widely regarded as the best tight end in this draft.  He’s a big, smooth athlete with soft hands, good speed, good size, that came from a pro system.  He’s an effective route runner as well, the type of player that could be good right away but may never be great.

I really like their next three picks.  Christian Ballard (DL, Iowa) is a really good player that could have gone in the late second round, but the Vikings got him in the fourth.   At 6’4” and 283 pounds, he is big and strong enough to play defensive tackle.  Running a 4.75 40 at Ballard’s size was also very impressive, which indicates he’s athletic enough to be a pass rushing end as well.  Versatile, talented, and tough, if nothing else, Ballard provides quality depth to the line in his first season.

Getting Utah corner Brandon Burton in the fifth round may have been a slight steal; he definitely adds depth to a position of need on the Vikings.  His measureables aren’t mind blowing, but they’re adequate, and he’s a smart, instinctive, and tough player.

Demarcus Love (OT, Arkansas) was a great value in the sixth.  At 6’4” and 315, Love is a strong run blocker that could move to guard in the NFL.  He’s an imposing, nasty presence that started 37 games in the SEC and was a team captain.  In other words, he’s been through a lot of wars in the trenches of a tough conference and was a leader on his team.

Ponder was taken too high, but he is a gifted player and the Vikings needed a quarterback badly.  Rudolph adds a really nice talent to an already loaded offense.  Ballard and Burton will both see the field and could become starters, and I think the selection of Love will reap immediate benefits.  The Vikes also had five more developmental picks in the late sixth and seventh rounds.  One or two of those players will probably surprise and make the team.  Overall the Vikings got better in this draft, and the only time they reached was on a very talented player at a position of major need.

Grade: B

--from Adam