Wednesday, 7 June 2017

Initial Draft Grades 2017 - NFC North








1 (2). North Carolina QB Mitchell Trubisky
2 (45). Ashland TE Adam Shaheen
4 (112). Alabama S Eddie Jackson
4 (119). North Carolina A&T RB Tarik Cohen
5 (147). Kutztown OG Jordan Morgan


Good Move - Moving the draft from Chicago to Philly. It possibly saved the Bears Front Office getting lynched by their fans in their hometown. For me, the Bears made too many questionable trade moves and suspect selections in this class which was surprising after a few solid drafts.
Bargain Pick - Eddie Jackson was the only selection I liked, falling out of the top 100 due to a season ending injury in college. Jackson could fill my Good Move, Bargain Pick and Risk/Reward gamble category as a result. The Bears urgently need secondary help in this division and Jackson should contribute.
Risk / Reward Gamble - Adam Shaheen from small Division II Ashland was a surprise as high as #45. At 6'6 and 280 lbs he's a Frankenstein-like target at TE and shown good athleticism and speed at the combine. I'd be concerned at both the step up in competition and question why his blocking should be so poor for a man of his size.
Tell Me Why Again - No-one appeared sold on a sure-fire franchise QB in this years class, yet the Bears, despite seemingly having secured a starting QB in free agency, surrendered picks #67, #111 and a 2018 3rd rounder for a move up just one place in the draft to take a QB with only 13 career starts in college. If Trubisky proves to be their franchise QB, good for the Bears. However, the picks lost to move up just that one place when the 49ers were pretty obviously not going to take a QB left me puzzled.








1 (21). Florida LB Jarrad Davis
2 (53). Florida CB Teez Tabor
3 (96). Northern Illinois WR Kenny Golladay
4 (124). Tennessee OLB Jalen Reeves-Maybin
4 (127). Toledo TE Michael Roberts
5 (165). San Diego CB Jamal Agnew
6 (205). Arkansas DE Jeremiah Ledbetter
6 (215). Miami (FL) QB Brad Kaaya
7 (250). Eastern Michigan DT Pat O’Connor

Good Move - The Lions has arguably the worst linebacking unit in the NFL in 2016. They've made free agency moves for depth and landed an instant starter upgrade in Jarrad Davis in the 1st round. Reeves-Maybin was added in the 4th but carries injury concerns. He's a project but again good on the Lions for addressing the need at linebacker.
Bargain Pick - Michael Roberts caught 16 TD's in his final year at Toledo. I'm not going to kid anyone here and pretend he can replicate that in the pro's. What Roberts' will provide is a big bodied TE2/TE3 who can run block and has good hands if called upon in the pass game.
Risk / Reward Gamble - Teez Tabor was mooted as a possible 1st round pick until running a 4.62 at the combine and a 4.75 at his pro-day. For some this confirmed the whispers that his lack of top-end speed leaves him afraid of the deep ball. Add into the mix criticisms of weak tackling and suspensions over drug tests and an altercation with a team-mate and you've got some pretty big questions marks to off-set his 28 passes defensed and 9 picks during his college career.
Tell Me Why Again - I was really surprised the Lions didn't address the pass-rush in the 1st round with McKinley, Harris and Charlton still on the board. I'm not knocking the selection of Davis, LB was a need and there was plenty of depth in this class of edge rushers for Detroit to defer an obviously urgent need. However, it became a total head-scratcher when they then waited until the 6th round to attempt to address the pass rush.








2 (33). Washington CB Kevin King
2 (61). North Carolina State SS Josh Jones
3 (93). Auburn DL Montravius Adams
4 (108). Wisconsin OLB Vince Biegel
4 (134). Brigham Young RB Jamaal Williams
5 (175). Purdue WR DeAngelo Yancey
5 (182). Texas El-Paso RB Aaron Jones
6 (212). South Florida G/C Kofi Amichia
7 (238). Utah State RB Devante Mays
7 (247). LSU WR Malachi Dupre

Good Move - The Packers went defense early, maybe pre-occupied with nightmares of Julio Jones running all over them and clearly drafted for size and athleticism in the selections of King and Jones. Both players should hopefully be pushing for starting roles by the start of week one.
Bargain Pick - Jamaal Williams has a bruising, aggressive style which could prove to be a great foil for WR turned RB Ty Montgomery. The Packers don't know how Montgomery will handle a full season in the backfield, so whilst Williams will likely spell Montgomery he's demonstrated at BYU that he can handle a full workload.
Risk / Reward Gamble - Originally a top 5 high school defensive recruit, Montravius Adams never really hit his potential at Auburn and carries a bit of the underachiever tag. Can the Packers get the best out of him consistently? His combine numbers were just ok and together with his college production I think Adams was picked too high
Tell Me Why Again - Did the defensive co-ordinator and offensive co-ordinator take shifts at turning in the picks? Initially four defensive players picked, then the draft rounded off with six successive offensive players. And three RB's selected.... really? OK there's a need for depth at the position in Green Bay so I'll give them a little leeway on that.











2 (41). Florida State RB Dalvin Cook
3 (70). Ohio State G/C Pat Elflein
4 (109). Iowa DT Jaleel Johnson
4 (120). Michigan LB Ben Gedeon
5 (170). South Florida WR Rodney Adams
5 (180). Miami (FL) OG Danny Isidora
6 (201). Virginia Tech TE Bucky Hodges
7 (219). Miami (FL) WR Stacy Coley
7 (220). Northwestern DE Ifeadi Odenigbo
7 (232). Kansas State LB Elijah Lee
7 (245). North Carolina State CB Jack Tocho

Good Move - I'm struggling to find a problem with this class. Sensible trades up to secure Cook and Elflein, understandable trades down to acquire additional picks later on to add competition for roster spots. Dalvin Cook was a top 10 1st round talent who unexpectedly fell into the 2nd round after posting less than stellar combine numbers. Elflein is a likely day one starter. Add-in the first round pick sent to the Eagles for Sam Bradford and this class looks better still.
Bargain Pick - Like Cook, Jaleel Johnson was another player who didn't light up the combine but was a consistently solid performer at Iowa. A high motor and excellent hands, working with a coach in Mike Zimmer who knows how to get the best out of defenders will benefit him enormously.
Risk / Reward Gamble - The risk is mitigated here with this being the 201st pick, but Bucky Hodges brings off-field baggage as part of this pick but had a really strong combine and has the size and all the athletic traits to succeed in the NFL. Pat Shurmer likes to utilise TE's in his offense and Hodges is one of the new breed of WR/TE hybrids but with the additional capacity to block in-line too.
Tell Me Why Again - Why can't the Vikes better their 8-8 record from last year? A solid draft class and key moves in free agency have only strengthened this roster. It will be vital that 2016 1st rounder Laquon Treadwell takes a huge leap (1 catch for 15 yards as a rookie) otherwise the passing offense will continue to suffer through lack a playmakers.

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