2013 NFL Draft Winners and Losers: NFC North

Jacob Feldman

cutlerWe bring our Premium members a team capsule for every team in the NFL every off-season. These quick snapshots in time give you a good assessment of where we feel the value of those players lies at the moment. Unfortunately, things change often in the NFL and in dynasty leagues. The biggest value rises or drops come as a result of the NFL Draft. Rather than leaving those capsules untouched until next year, we decided to go division-by-division with extended coverage of veteran winners and losers from the off-season. Many values have stayed the same, so an entire team capsule would be redundant. However, these articles will cover some key draft additions that have a huge impact in dynasty leagues one way or another.

We begin our journey through the NFL with the NFC North.

Chicago Bears

Pick #20 – Kyle Long, OG

Pick #50 – Jonathan Bostic, ILB

Pick #117 – Khaseem Greene, OLB

Pick #163 – Jordan Mills, OT

Pick #188 – Cornelius Washington, DE

Pick #236 – Marquess Wilson, WR

Winners

Jay Cutler, Matt Forte

When talking about the NFL draft and connecting it to fantasy production, you don’t often think about the offensive line. However, when your offensive line is as terrible as the Bears was, every little bit helps. Both Long and fifth round pick Mills actually have a shot to be week one starters, which should tell you something. This can only mean better holes for the running game and more time for Cutler back in the pocket. Plus, Cutler might actually be able to stay healthy this year if he’s not getting sacked four plus times a game and being hit three times that number.

Losers

Jay Cutler

Yes, I have Cutler as a winner and a loser in this draft. The Bears did a nice job of filling needs. However, they didn’t add another pass catcher (which is also a position of need) until the seventh round. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Marquess Wilson (especially that late in the draft), but the Bears could really use some nice talent at the position. They are unproven at tight end with Martellus Bennett and don’t really have a receiver of note behind Brandon Marshall. Alshon Jeffery was only a rookie last year, but he spent way too much time in the training room for my tastes. After Jeffery you’re talking about Earl Bennett and Devin Hester. The Bears could have used a legit receiver threat to help out but they might need to wait for next year.

Detroit Lions

Pick #5 – Ezekiel Ansah, DE

Pick #36 – Darius Slay, CB

Pick #65 – Larry Warford, OG

Pick #132 – Devin Taylor, DE

Pick #165 – Sam Martin, P

Pick #171 – Corey Fuller, WR

Pick #199 – Theo Riddick, RB

Pick #211 – Michael Williams, TE

Pick #245 – Brandon Hepburn, ILB

Winners

Nate Burleson, Ryan Broyles

The Lions are lucky enough to have the best receiver and possibly the best player in the NFL locked in as their top receiver. Behind him are tons of question marks. Burleson is aging and has been rather ineffective while Broyles is coming off of his second ACL tear. Since the Lions didn’t add any significant receiver depth (though Corey Fuller has a chance to make some noise), it is fairly likely at least one, if not both, of Burleson and Broyles will be on the field and producing on a pretty regular basis. This is something that definitely would not have been true had the Lions spent one of their first three picks on a receiver.

Losers

Matt Stafford

Stafford couldn’t have been very happy when he was sitting at home watching the draft in April. The Lions really needed to shore up their offensive line, but they failed to do so. Instead, they will be forced to shift their second year right tackle who wasn’t overly impressive over to the left side while starting a right tackle that has played on four different teams in five years – that is hardly the combination you want protecting your franchise quarterback when you’re going up against guys named Clay Mathews, Julius Peppers and Jared Allen during six of your games every year. Taking a guard in the third round might help a little bit, but they needed to do more to help Stafford and the offensive line out. Hopefully Stafford makes it through the season and they can fill the holes in next year’s draft.

Green Bay Packers

Pick #26 – Datone Jones, DE

Pick #61 – Eddie Lacy, RB

Pick #109 – David Bakhtiari, OT

Pick #122 – JC Tretter, OG

Pick #125 – Johnathan Franklin, RB

Pick #159 – Micah Hyde, CB

Pick #167 – Josh Boyd, DT

Pick #193 – Nathan Palmer, OLB

Pick #216 – Charles Johnson, WR

Pick #224 – Kevin Dorsey, WR

Pick #232 – Samuel Barrington, OLB

Winners

Aaron Rodgers

Looking at this draft, I envisioned Matthew Stafford sitting at home during the draft, yelling at his TV every time that the Packers picked saying, “See! That’s a team that knows how to treat their franchise player!” Things couldn’t have gone much better for Rodgers. The Packers had five picks in the first four rounds and used all but one of them on the offensive line or the offensive backfield. The linemen will add some much needed youth and depth to the unit while Lacy and Franklin will instantly turn one of the weakest backfields in the league into one defenses will need to account for at all points in time. It is pretty scary to think about what Rodgers did without a running game when you realize they now have an attack that will force defenses to respect the run. Play action just became a whole lot scarier in Green Bay.

Losers

The entire Packers running back group

If you are a running back and were listed on the Packers depth chart in 2012 (or are currently there in 2013), this draft wasn’t very good for you and this includes both Lacy and Franklin. Let me start with the rookies. Many people had them pegged as being two of the top three fantasy running backs coming out of this year’s draft class. Going to a pass first team with both a quarterback and a fullback who tend to vulture goal line scores is less than ideal. Going to that same team with another top running back is downright terrible. They will without a doubt split time, limiting their upside by a fair amount. The only question in my mind is exactly what kind of split it will be. Lacy is the better downhill power runner while Franklin is better catching out of the backfield.

As for those that came before them, they can be quickly ushered to the fantasy wasteland that is the wavier wire. James Starks, Cedric Benson (already a free agent), DuJuan Harris, and Alex Green will be lucky if they make the roster. Even if they do, they won’t see the field on offense. Their fantasy futures are almost non-existent unless they find a new team. Even if they do find a new squad, I’m not sure any of them are talented enough to carve out much of a role.

Minnesota Vikings

Pick #23 – Sharrif Floyd, DT

Pick #25 – Xavier Rhodes, CB

Pick #29 – Cordarrelle Patterson, WR

Pick #120 – Gerald Hodges, LB

Pick #155 – Jeff Locke, P

Pick #196 – Jeff Baca, OG

Pick #213 – Michael Mauti, LB

Pick #214 – Tarvis Bond, OG

Pick #229 – Everrett Dawkins, DT

Winners

Adrian Peterson

After the Percy Harvin trade, I jokingly wondered if teams would just put nine players in the box and let the safeties split the field given the lack of quality receivers. Then I thought a little longer and realized it could actually happen given Christian Ponder’s struggles. The addition of Cordarrelle Patterson should help out a bit. At the very least, his presence on the field will force defenses to keep tabs on him. I have questions about exactly what kind of receiver Patterson will be for the first few years, but he is a playmaker and he will help keep some pressure off Adrian Peterson. The added defensive players should also help keep scores a bit closer so Peterson can continue to be the focus.

Losers

Jerome Simpson and Jarius Wright

The Vikings had one of the worst receiving groups in the entire league heading into free agency and the draft. While the free agent signing of Greg Jennings helped a little bit, the only other options to put on the field with Harvin gone were Simpson and Wright. Neither one is a great talent. Simpson hasn’t done much with his chances and Wright is just a very watered down version of Harvin. Nonetheless, both Simpson and Wright were penciled in for big roles by default.

All of that changed with the drafting of Patterson in the late first round. The Vikings will force the ball into Patterson’s hands in many different ways, much like this did when Harvin was in town. They will do hand offs, bubble screens, reverses, and just about everything else to let him do what he can do. Jennings will still get his targets and we all know that Peterson will get his. Every touch that Patterson gets is coming away from Simpson and Wright. At the most, only one of them (Wright) is worth rostering and they lost some value.

jacob feldman