You know it’s a wild NFL Draft when the Detroit Lions outshine the Green Bay Packers. However, that wasn’t the only surprise in the NFC North.
Welcome to the NFL Draft Recap series for the Say It Again Network. For those of you that followed my Mock Draft series throughout the year, I genuinely thank you. This draft season was one of the more unpredictable ones in quite some time, and it was cool to take a prediction-only spin on the draft process.
However, now we get into the nitty-gritty; seeing what players have the best chance to succeed based on the situations they went to. Some call their draft recap articles “Draft Grades,” but that concept is, forgive me for being blunt, inherently stupid. Anyone’s draft grades are strictly based on their own evaluation of players and team needs. It doesn’t take into account a player that you disliked going to a perfect situation, or vice versa. In short, draft grades are just the biases of the draft analyst showing up in article form.
This is why my recap articles on the NFL Draft look a little different. I’m not giving silly letter grades to show who I think had a successful draft and who did not. Instead, I’ve created a bold prediction for each team based on the players they have selected.
Now you’ll get my draft thoughts in the breakdown of each team. However, I wanted to create a draft recap article where there was no confusion about how I came to my conclusions. Unlike my mock draft, these are my predictions based on my thoughts on players and where they wound up.
In short, draft grades don’t prognosticate which players stand the best chance to be successful at the next level. This NFL Draft Recap will do just that.
Part six of our eight-part series takes a look at the NFC North and how the balance of power might have shifted in this division.
Chicago Bears: Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker, Velus Jones Jr., Braxton Jones, Dominique Robinson, Zachary Thomas, Trestan Ebner, Doug Kramer, Ja’Tyre Carter, Elijah Hicks, Trenton Gill
The Prediction: This Entire Draft Class is a Bust
The chances of an entire draft class being a whiff is almost a zero. Truth be told, I do think Jaquan Brisker shines because he’s incredibly versatile and he’s intelligent in the back end. However, let’s assume that, for whatever reason, Brisker doesn’t shine. The rest of this draft is an absolute zero.
Kyler Gordon gambles a ton in the back end, he doesn’t mirror well, and he tested poorly athletically. Call me crazy, but I don’t love that combination at the next level. Velus Jones is a YAC nightmare, but he’s not a clean route runner and has a really limited catch radius. Day three featured a ton of reaches and some offensive linemen that, at best, could be career backups (which is where I like Braxton Jones).
Overall, Chicago was not nearly aggressive enough in setting up Justin Fields for success. I don’t love the selections they made, and I think Chicago is in for a tough year because of a subpar off-season.
Detroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Josh Paschal, Kerby Joseph, James Mitchell, Malcolm Rodriguez, James Houston, Chase Lucas
The Prediction: Jameson Williams is the Best Player in the Entire Draft Class
When Detroit made the move up from 32 to 12, everyone assumed it was for a quarterback. That move would have likely tanked their fake draft grades from many of the experts. Instead, Detroit shocked us all by showing competence. They didn’t bite on a subpar quarterback class, and they chose to land a true “WR1,” for whoever is their eventual quarterback of the future.
Attention NFL Teams; this is the way. Don’t force a quarterback onto a subpar roster. Build the roster first and insert the quarterback last.
Jameson Williams would have been an excellent fit in 32 out of 32 NFL offenses. He’s a blur in the open field, he’s a more nuanced route runner than he’s given credit for, and he catches just about everything thrown his way. Had he not torn his ACL in January, there’s a good chance he goes in the top five.
Perhaps the most ideal scenario for Williams is letting him redshirt in 2022. Williams just turn 21 years old, meaning he’s on the younger side of players that go into the draft. By the time he’s ready to go in early November, Detroit likely will not be one of the “contenders,” for a playoff spot because their roster is still a year or two away.
Detroit invested so much draft capital into Williams via the trade that they will do whatever it takes to ensure he’s at 100% in 2023. If they are able to find a quarterback (maybe Bryce Young or CJ Stroud), Williams should have no trouble reaching his true potential.
Green Bay Packers: Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt, Christian Watson, Sean Ryhan, Romeo Doubs, Zach Tom, Kingsley Enagbare, Tariq Carpenter, Jonathan Ford, Rasheed Walker, Samori Toure
The Prediction: Christian Watson is the Best Receiver in This Draft Class
Yes, this is a bold prediction that directly contradicts the one above. However, one of the rules of this article is to create a bold call for each individual team. The goal isn’t to go 32 for 32, it’s just to create a prediction that’s inherently bold and has a logistical chance of occurring.
Green Bay confused everyone on night one when they took multiple players on the defensive side of the ball. They waited until day two to take their swing at pass catcher. However, the guy they went with is a perfect fit for Aaron Rodgers.
Watson was a darling of many throughout the draft process. With top-end athleticism at 6’4’’, Watson showed the ability to run precise routes throughout Senior Bowl week, which was his biggest question mark on film. Rodgers is going to find it easy to develop chemistry with Watson on the back shoulder balls, and Watson should be an elite red-zone target. In a year with a ton of high-end number two receivers, Christian Watson might be one of the few that becomes a true number one.
Minnesota Vikings: Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth Jr., Ed Ingram, Brian Asamoah, Akayleb Evans, Esezi Otomewo, Ty Chandler, Vederian Lowe, Jalen Nailor, Nick Muse
The Prediction: Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Make Immediate Impacts and Help Lead Minnesota to a Division Title in 2022
Minnesota’s objective this offseason was to improve their defense. After making a move for Za’Darius Smith to play opposite Danielle Hunter, the Vikings added two quality secondary pieces early in the draft.
Lewis Cine was one of the Vikings’ favorites during the draft process. He’s a true single-high safety that flies around the field as if his hair is on fire. The key for single-high safeties is seeing how aggressive they are as tacklers. In order to be the last line of defense, you have to take good angles to the football and be willing to get dirty. Cine is an aggressive tackler that can also play near the line of scrimmage.
Andrew Booth was a polarizing prospect during the draft process. The injuries kept him lower on most boards than some in the media would’ve thought. He’s a well-rounded corner and a good athlete. Booth breaks well in off coverage, he has excellent ball skills, and his ability in trail coverage is strong. Getting to learn from Patrick Peterson should help Booth become extremely successful.
Overall, the Vikings’ defense should be much more successful in 2022. With the loss of Davante Adams in Green Bay, you can argue that the most talented roster in the NFC North is Minnesota. They can run the ball, they have a top-tier receiving core and a more balanced defense. The sky is the limit if Kirk Cousins can put it together for 17 games.
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