The 2020 NFL Draft was an amazing three days of non-stop action. We laughed, we cried, we raged, we gained some hope in our teams. Let’s take a look of the NFC North teams picks.
Chicago Bears
1st round. LOL. Nope
2nd Round Pick 43 Tight End Cole Kmet
The Bears went back to the 2nd round tight end well. Kmet is a Kyle Rudolph clone and will replace the failure free agent Trey Burton. Both were Notre Dame tight ends. Solid pick by the Bears to help their struggling offense. Kmet will team with Jimmy Graham and former 2nd round pick Adam Sheehan in the Bears tight end group.
2nd round Pick 50 CB Jaylon Johnson.
Chicago cut Prince Amukamara and needed to add more talent at CB. Jaylon Johnson is a big strong corner from Utah. He’ll compete with Artie Burns for the staring CB2 spot in the Windy City. Potential Starter
3rd and 4th round pick. Negative Ghost rider
5th round Pick OLB Trevis Gipson. The Bears needed OLB depth and they got it. Gipson is from Tulsa so Raji will love that.
5th Round Pick CB Kindle Vildor. This guy sounds like an E-reader not a CB. He played for Georgia Southern which is in the South of Georgia. That’s all I got on him. CB depth
5th round Pick WR Darnell Mooney. Tulane WR should compete for the 5th WR in Chicago behind Robinson, Miller, Patterson and Riley Ridley.
7th round pick G Arlington Hambright. The Bears added Germain Ifedi and this interesting name will be depth.
7th round pick OT Lachavius Simmons. Tennessee State depth pick at OT.
The Bears added at TE, CB and depth at OLB, CB, WR and Offensive Line. Decent draft for not having a 1st, 3rd or 4th round pick.
Green Bay Packers
1st round pick 26 after trade up from 30. QB Jordan Love. Shocker of the draft but has starting potential from Utah State. Rodgers has 21 million, 36 million and 39 million cap hits the next 3 years. 2022 could get interesting if Love shows potential and Rodgers declines a bit.
2nd round pick 62: RB AJ Dillon. Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams are free agents next year. Dillon is a big, bruising back with not much agility. A little bit of a reach but he might be a bull like Eddie Lacy in his early seasons.
3rd round pick 94: TE Josiah Deguara. The Packers added a run blocking tight end to pair with Jace Sternberger and Marcedes Lewis. Back to back years Green Bay took a tight end in the 3rd round. They are planning on running the ball more it seems.
Round 4. Nope, Jordan Love trade
Round 5 Pick LB Kamal Martin. Green Bay adds a late round LB from Minnesota. Could Martin up-end Kirksey or Burks. Clean up man for the Packers.
Round 6 Pick Guard Jon Runyan Jr. Jon Runyan Sr was a long-time right tackle in the league. The Packers hope junior can provide some guard depth with good ties at Michigan.
Round 6 Pick Jake Hanson Center Oregon. Green Bay continues to add interior offensive line depth. Lane Taylor and Corey Linsley are both free agents next year so this makes sense.
Round 6 Pick Guard Simon Stepaniak. Another guard for depth from Indiana. Creating some nice young competition hoping to steal a starter on day 3.
Round 7 Pick FS Vernon Scott. Great Scott, the Packers add safety depth and special team ability.
Round 7 Pick DE Jonathan Garvin. Miami DE that will need to work his way onto the roster.
Green Bay made some interesting picks. Jordan Love could push Rodgers in 2022 and they are going to run the ball with Jones/Dillon. Blocking TE, interior offensive line depth and some special team additions for the Packers. People will definitely be scrutinizing this draft but could be like 2005 if Love turns into Rodgers.
Minnesota Vikings
Round 1 Pick 22 Justin Jefferson. Replacement for Stefon Diggs with good size and nice route runner from LSU.
Round 1 Pick 31 after trade down: CB Jeff Gladney. Solid corner that can replace Rhodes or Waynes to pair with 2019 1st rounder Mike Hughes.
Round 2 Pick 58: OT Ezra Cleveland. Inconsistent tackle with potential from Boise State. The Vikings trade to trade for Trent Williams but he vetoed the trade and went to the 49ers. Reiff and O’Neil should remain the starters but will watch Cleveland to see if he can put it together and replace Reiff.
Round 3 Pick 89: CB Cameron Dantzler. The Vikings really needed CBs after losing Rhodes, Waynes and Alexander. Dantzler should give them more talent and could start as well early.
Round 4 Pick 117: DE DJ Wonnum. The Vikings found Hunter and Griffen in the mid-rounds. This is the next attempt to find a good one on early day 3.
Round 4 Pick 130: DT James Lynch. The Vikings needed a 3-tech and added one to compete with Jaleel Johnson and Shepmar Stephen.
Round 4 Pick 132: LB Troy Dye. Nice pick by the Vikings who need competition at Will LB. Gedeon is in a contract year so Dye could be the future.
Round 5 Pick: CB Harrison Hand. The Vikings really needed CBs and they added a third. This one is from Temple.
Round 5 Pick: WR KJ Osborn. Osborn adds depth and could be the 4th WR in 2020.
Round 6 Pick OT Blake Brendel. More OT depth for Kirk Cousins
Round 6 Pick: S Josh Metellus. Michigan safety that could replace Jayron Kearse (Lions)
Round 7 Pick: DE Kenny Willikes. Highly productive Michigan State DE that isn’t very athletic. He could replace Stephen Weatherly (Bengals)
Round 7 Pick: QB Nate Stanley. Iowa QB who had success but never put it all together. Sean Mannion should remain the backup to Cousins.
The Vikings filled their big needs at WR and CB. Minnesota had a ton of picks and added good depth at OT, LB, CB and DE.
Detroit Lions
Round 1 Pick 3: Jeff Okudah. Stud man cover starting CB. Replaces Darius Slay along with FA Desmond Trufant. Detroit improved and have a strong secondary.
Round 2 Pick 35: RB DeAndre Swift. Three down LB that will complement Kerryon Johnson well. Detroit loves taking running backs with their second pick (Best 2010, Leshoure 2011, Abudllah 2015, Kerryon 2018). Swift has good power, speed, blocking and receiving ability. Nice cheap rookie deal and will have immediate impact. The Lions will run the ball with Kerryon and Swift combo under Darrell Bevell.
Round 3 Pick 67: Edge Julian Okwara. Okwara had first round potential if not for a broken leg. He adds to Detroit’s pass rush and can play JACK or end. His brother Romeo Okwara is already on the team at DE. Flowers, Okwara brothers, Jamie Collins, D’Shawn Hand, Jarrad Davis blitzing and Nick Williams can provide plenty of pressure for the Lions in 2020.
Round 3 Pick 75: G Jonah Jackson. Jackson will be a starter for the Lions out of Ohio State. He is versatile with some center experience but is strong in pass pro to play LG. Detroit traded up and give up a 5th round pick and swapped 6th rounders.
Round 4 Pick 121: G Logan Stenburg. This guy is a nasty mean run blocking RG. The DTs in the NFC North are going to hate him. Pancake city but lots of penalties too. Detroit traded from 109 to 121 and got a 5th round pick back from the Raiders.
Round 5 Pick: WR Quintez Cephus. Big, strong WR from Wisconsin but very slow. Was acquitted of sexual assault and missed all of 2018 for the Badgers. He will be 5th/6th WR at best behind Golladay, Marvin Jones, Amendola, Marvin Hall and Geronimo Allison. Will battle with 2019 6th round pick Travis Fulgham for the roster.
Round 5 Pick: RB Jason Huntley. Huntley has some speed with a 4.37 40 from New Mexico State. He will battle Ty Johnson for the 3rd RB spot and Huntley could win the return job from Jamal Agnew (contract year). He could fill the role of JD McKissic from 2019.
Round 6 Pick: NT John Penisini. Well he has penis in his name. He is a nose tackle from Utah that did the dirty work. Needs to bulk up but could be the 4th DT if he beats out John Atkins or Kevin Strong behind Danny Shelton.
Round 7 Pick: DT Jashon Cornell: Backup 3-tech for the Lions from Ohio State. Was a 5 star recruit but never lived up to his potential for the Buckeyes.
The Lions added starters at CB, Edge Rusher, both guard spots and a good RB. Solid day 3 as well for depth at DT, returner/RB and WR. The Lions are primed to win the NFC North now.