Around the NFC North: 2024 NFL Draft
A different kind of draft mocking.
By Mike Price
It's time to talk about what the three inferior NFC North teams did in the draft. Did they blow one of only a few picks on a punter? Did they trade the farm for an edge rusher who The Ringer compared to Josh Sweat? Did they use their third pick on a player who doesn't even have a PFF profile? Let's get into it.
Chicago Bears
Round 1, Pick 1: Caleb Williams, QB, USC
Round 1, Pick 9: Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
Round 3, Pick 75: Kiran Amegadjie, OT, Yale
Round 4, Pick 122: Tory Taylor, P, Iowa
Round 5, Pick 144: Austin Booker, EDGE, Kansas
Think about the most Bears thing you can imagine. Now imagine they only had three picks outside the top ten in the draft and used one of them on a punter. Was that better or worse than you imagined?
The punter was pretty good, sure, but when will NFL teams learn? The hit rate on drafting (drafting period, not even drafting in the fourth round of all things) specialists in stead of signing them as free aganets or UDFAs is basically zilch. Who's the last high draft pick kicker or punter you remember who was actually good?
Prior to the punter, the Bears selected Kiran Amegadije, an insanely athletic tackle, from Yale of all places, who apparently grew up a tortured Bears fan. He has the profile to grow into a great tackle, but will likely need a few years to develop.
Oh, almost forgot, the Bears also drafted the best QB prospect since Andrew Luck and a receiver who will more than likely be one of the five best in the league by his third year.
Minnesota Vikings
Round 1, Pick 10: J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan
Round 1, Pick 17: Dallas Turner, EDGE, Alabama
Round 4, Pick 108: Khyree Jackson, CB, Oregon
Round 6, Pick 177: Walter Rouse, OT, Oklahoma
Round 6, Pick 203: Will Reichard, K, Alabama
Round 7, Pick 230: Michael Jurgens, OL, Wake Forest
Round 7, Pick 232: Levi Drake Rodriguez, DL, Texas A&M Commerce
The story of the Vikings draft was JJ McCarthy the trades it took to make Dallas Turner happen.
After spending the off-season attempting to trade for Justin Herbert or trade up for Drake Maye, the Vikings settled for JJ McCarthy at QB. Thank God.
McCarthy looks like the new Kirk Cousins or maybe like a more mobile Jared Goff. He was never anything super special in college, but he won a lot of games and a national championship game thanks to a killer defense and unstoppable run game. I don't know if he'll be a great QB in the NFL, but he can't put up stats on this Vikings team, he probably needs to get licensed to sell insurance or something.
Next, was Dallas Turner. Turner was touted by many as the best edge in a bad edge class. He isn't anything close to a Myles Garrett or even a Danielle Hunter, who recently departed this Vikings team but he's a plus edge who could maybe develop into a fringe pro-bowl type player. The Vikings, who already used a lot of off-season capital to acquire two edges this off-season, spent a ton of draft capital to get him.
They had already traded up to the 23rd pick, which they were using to try to trade up for Drake Maye and then they added even more to move up and get Turner. Altogether, they gave up picks 42, 167, and 188 in this year's draft and a second, third, and fourth in next year's draft. According to OvertheCap, this is the equivalent of a fifth round pick. Time will tell whether it was worth a 10th overall pick and a 5th overall pick to take JJ McCarthy and Dallas Turner, on a team ready made for a veteran QB with two starting edges. But I doubt it.
Detroit Lions
Round 1, Pick 24: Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
Round 2, Pick 61: Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB, Missouri
Round 4, Pick 126: Giovanni Manu, OT, British Columbia
Round 4, Pick 132: Sione Vaki, S/RB, Utah
Round 6, Pick 189: Mekhi Wingo, DL, LSU
Round 6, Pick 210: Christian Mahogany, G, Boston College
The Lions are becoming the new Eagles on draft day. Everyone congratulates them for a great draft, because they recognize a lot of the names, meanwhile they took a corner with a 6.17 RAS in the second round who can only play where their current best defensive player plays, a tackle who has only played in Canada after paying Penei Sewell a trillion dollars, and a safety to play running back.
OK, it wasn't that bad. They snuck ahead of the Packers to take Terrion Arnold, who has a good chance of being the best corner from this draft, in the first round. Ennis Rakestraw, the slot they took in the second round, is almost universally liked. It's probably better for them if Brian Branch is a full-time safety anyway.
We asked 17 or 18 times in draft and off-season previews whether the Lions would be willing to, finally, invest in their pass defense and I think the answer is that they split the difference. They traded for Carlton Davis and drafted two good corners to defend the pass. They also gave DJ Reader $22mm, drafted Vaki who is better in run defense and gets lost in zone coverage and then drafted Mekhi Wingo is a run stuffer only at D tackle. It's like they're trying to focus on the pass defense but they're too addicted to the bit.
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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved form Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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Comments (19)
Bitternotsour
April 29, 2024 at 11:16 am
The Vikings never fail to crack me up. Wasting draft capital, even overreacting and giving the Jets a pick to move up one spot for a player that will not be Kirk Cousins, but rather Christian Ponder V.2
Admittedly, the Lions got some entertainment benefit from moving up, it pumped up the crowd, but if they'd have trusted their board they could have saved the draft capital and still got their guy. A rookie mistake by a team that actually thinks they're close to the prize, but in reality are nowhere near it.
The Bears trading up for a punter is the most Bears thing I've ever heard of. I guess it makes sense though - the Bears will likely be punting more than any team other than the Vikings, and that's only because the rookie QB pick number one is going to lead the league in turnovers...
golfpacker1
April 29, 2024 at 11:30 am
Don't mock the punter pick by the Bears, they still suck, but Tory Taylor single handedly won 5 games for Iowa last year. And maybe 4 the year before. He is excellent at changing field position and his ability to pin teams deep is gamechanging. Place kickers can win games with a single kick. Taylor demoralizes team with the constant bad field position he gives them.
The Vikequeens first 2 picks speak for themselves but were costly in draft capitol. I was a big Khyree Jackson fan the whole draft season. They got the #1 placekicker in Reichard. I would have liked Rouse over our late OL pick.
Detroit got 2 "TOP 6" CBs and that was their biggest weakness last year. I would have loved Vaki to be a Packer. He is a "poor mans'" Cooper DeJean and is a playmaker on both sides of the ball. Also, they might have got the steal of the draft in Christian Mahogany-OG-Boston College @ pick #210. I wonder why the TOP 4 OG fell so far in the draft, and why his former coach, Jeff Hafley didn't push for the Packers to pick him before Travis Glover?
All the teams got better, but GB addressed their weaknesses and can now go on a Super Bowl run.
DoubleJ
April 29, 2024 at 11:36 am
"Christian Mahogany-OG-Boston College @ pick #210. I wonder why the TOP 4 OG fell so far in the draft, and why his former coach, Jeff Hafley didn't push for the Packers to pick him before"
Just because the consensus board says someone is an R3 player doesn't mean that NFL talent evaluators see the same thing. I think it is pretty telling that Packers didn't draft Mahogany even though their DC was his HC the year before.
Bitternotsour
April 29, 2024 at 12:20 pm
to be fair, no one mocked a punter to the bears in the fourth round...
DoubleJ
April 29, 2024 at 11:32 am
"this is the equivalent of a fifth round pick."
That should read the equivalent of the 5th OVERALL pick and not 5th round pick.
GregC
April 29, 2024 at 05:30 pm
Thanks, I was wondering about the math there....
Tundraboy
April 30, 2024 at 02:04 am
Me too, but I was already confused.
dobber
April 30, 2024 at 08:44 am
Analysts always seem to devalue picks in future drafts in assessing how they fit into the net +/-, but they still count come 2025.
splitpea1
April 29, 2024 at 11:38 am
The Lions went right to work addressing their deficiencies at the CB position, which made a lot of sense. A couple of those contracts were expiring anyway. I don't think they're too concerned about Rakestraw's low score; after all, Branch's was even worse and he finished fifth in DRoY voting.
The real stunner was the Lions giving up next year's third round pick to the Jets so they could move up and draft Manu. That's a high price for a project (admittedly a physically huge one) that wasn't even listed in the top 300 consensus. It will be interesting to see how this works out.
The Bears? As is always the case, show me first and worry later.
RCPackerFan
April 29, 2024 at 12:49 pm
Chicago Bears -
Bears took 3 offensive players and a Punter. Its like hey we have the best offense in the world, but incase we don't, we got a punter to cover for the failed offense.
They had to use a 2025 4th round pick to draft a 5th round pick this year.
Minnesota Vikings -
Vikings made 2 first round trades.
First trading up from 11 to 10. They gave up picks 129 and 157 while getting back 203.
Next they traded from 23 to 17. They gave up picks 167 plus their 3rd and 4th round picks next year.
Having 2 high picks and then 1 mid round pick and 4 late round picks will not give a ton of new ammo to the team. McCarthy will be the eventual starting QB, and Turner should be a starter right away. Jackson could be a starter as well. But they gave up a ton of draft capital in the trades they made.
Detroit Lions -
Lions traded from 29 to 24 to get Arnold. They got back a 7th rounder in 2025, but gave up 73.
Lions also traded for pick 126 (Manu). They gave up a 2025 3rd round pick.
Lions also traded for picks 132 and 210. They gave up 164 and a 4th round pick in 2025.
They weren't done trading as they traded for pick 189 (Wingo), and gave up 205 and 249.
Lions clearly felt they had needs to attack. They felt defense needed the help and they went after them. But they gave up a lot to do so. Finishing with 6 picks, they also gave up 4 picks this year and 2 picks next year.
Comparing these teams trades to GB' Trades.
Green Bay traded from 41 to 45. They gained picks 168 and 190.
They then traded from 126 to 111, and gave up 190.
They then traded from 168 to 163 and gave up 219.
Green Bay started with 11 picks, and ended with 11 picks.
The other 3 teams traded away future picks for this year. GB did not.
Crazy stat of the day.
There were 28 trades. The NFC North was a part of 10 of those trades.
Leatherhead
April 29, 2024 at 04:20 pm
Well done.
We had more draft picks than any other team in the division, and more in the top 100.
Detroit had 6 picks, and traded away two future picks. One of their high picks went to a DB with a RAS that gives him no hope of covering the Packer receivers. They other one they traded up for Arnold, which might work out for them, like Suh, and Megatron, and Hockenson and all the other good players did.
Minnesota had to take a QB because of the way they've managed their franchise. When was Green Bay in a situation where we had to draft a QB? The 80s? One of my joys in life is watching the wheels come off in Minnesota, and I'm expecting to be very joyful this year. This is a last place team.
Chicago....if their new QB is half the winner as he's been called, Chicago will make the playoffs. Last year, they were 0-2 against GB and 7-8 against the rest of the league; GB was 2-0 against the Bears and 7-8 against the rest of the league. These guys are close.
WorseWisconsin
April 29, 2024 at 05:59 pm
Within NFC North matchups, wins are going to be tough to get in the '24 season.
* Detroit potentially addressed their biggest deficiency, and by most accounts killed it in the draft (I'm one of them, and I'm not a Lions fan), and they went to the NFC championship game despite their secondary. And they may be even better in '24.
* Vikings got 2 potential marquee players in R1; but while the draft is always about potential, it's especially true for this Vikings draft. I think they'll be last in the division in '24.
* Bears clearly got better. That said, both Detroit and GB were tough outs in the '23 postseason and may be better in '24. Bears could be significantly better than last year but still see only 2 more wins vs '23 due to the tough division.
* GB lost some players but seem like they may have successfully backfilled them in the long-term. Time will tell.
Baring injuries, I don't see anyone knocking off the Lions in the division.
Leatherhead
April 29, 2024 at 07:00 pm
"""Baring injuries, I don't see anyone knocking off the Lions in the division.""
Well.....a consecutive division title by a team that hasn't won the division twice in a row since forever. And it's possible, because the Head Coach presided over the worst playoff collapse in franchise history.
We have just witnessed a peak in Lions history, and can tell our grandchildren about it. They have the worst defense in the division and they play a first place schedule this year for the first time since Disco was cool. They'll recede towards mediocrity , eventually fire Campbell, and the 30 cycle will begin again.
LeotisHarris
April 29, 2024 at 06:40 pm
In case you missed it, the McCaskey family rolled out the Bears' new stadium proposal last week, at a launch ceremony opened with a prayer from Dr. Charlie E. Dates, pastor of Progressive Baptist Church.
From The Defector:
"They forgot to pray that no one would look too closely at the particulars of the financing proposal for this project. The moment is now lost: The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA), the governmental body charged with drumming up the public's portion of the debt-financed dough to pay for all this, ran the numbers, and what was already a galling proposal now looks incredibly worse.
Remember those innocent times, [checks calendar] approximately four days ago, when this project was being described as a nearly $5 billion public-private undertaking, for which the public would be asked to fund something like $2.4 billion? Per a new report from the Chicago Tribune, that number included $900 million in borrowed money to help pay for the new domed stadium, plus an additional $1.5 billion in infrastructure spending, to spruce up the area around the stadium with parks and green spaces and fully realize what Wednesday's hype video described as "a world-class destination." But included in the proposal, says the ISFA, is a refinancing of a mountain of existing debt taken on for renovations of Soldier Field way back in 2002, of which only about half has been paid off, plus the establishment of a $160 million "liquidity fund," essentially a backstop against any future effects of the dreaded economic headwinds. Turns out there's a lot more in here than meets the eye: "Counting interest and other long-term costs," reports the Tribune, via ISFA CEO Frank Bilecki, the total cost to the public will be something like $4.8 billion, and that is if the project is all paid off on schedule, without any snags or hiccups or global pandemics along the way."
It'll be interesting to watch the stench continue to rise off these grifters. I suppose you could consider Chicago a world-class destination if you pretend it's not Chicago and not in Illinois.
13TimeChamps
April 29, 2024 at 07:22 pm
Not saying I think it will ever happen, but......let's hope that converting to a domed stadium will turn out to be as successful as it has been for Detroit and Minnesota.
I sincerely hope GB will be the only NFCN team to continue to play outdoors in my lifetime.
EDIT: Last 15 SB winners: KC, KC, Rams, KC, TB, NE, Philly, NE, Denver, NE, Seattle, Balt, NYG, GB. NO. See a theme there? I think we should all start a GoFundMe fundraiser for a domed stadium for the Bears.
Leatherhead
April 29, 2024 at 07:04 pm
As a prophet told me, "The Wealthy and Powerful look out for each other and they do not care about the rest of us".
Tundraboy
April 30, 2024 at 02:11 am
Wise man.
joejetson
April 29, 2024 at 08:58 pm
All three of GB's NFC North competition have mortgaged future assets just to field a competitive team in '24.
The Bears and Vikings will experience major issues with young, inexperienced QB's making rookie mistakes. Neither one has had the advantage of learning the NFL game that Love had behind Rodgers. There's a much higher percentage of struggling Bryce Young's than successful CJ Stroud's.
Just ask Christian Ponder or Justin Fields.
Detroit is still limited by having Goff as their QB. And as mentioned by other commenters playing a 1st place schedule will be a tough road to navigate.
Meanwhile, GB had a "meat and potatoes" draft fortifying the O-Line and adding a lot of upgrades to their defense. Without surrendering future assets.
Looking forward to the 2024 season.
jkoenzuraida
May 01, 2024 at 03:54 am
Never really got into this. It is interesting how they do this though
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