NFL Draft Aftermath: Winners and Losers from the NFC North

Matt Price Posted On May 14, 2017

The NFC North provided us with some fireworks in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. Chicago shocked everyone when they traded up one spot to select Mitch Trubisky after signing Mike Glennon to a contract with $18.5M in guaranteed money in March. Early in the pre-draft process, Dalvin Cook was widely considered to be the 1.01 in dynasty rookie drafts but as the off-season progressed through the combine his stock fell dramatically. There were rumors swirling that he may fall out of the first round and they came to fruition when he slid all the way to pick 41 where he was selected by the Minnesota Vikings who in March signed Latavius Murray to a deal with $8.55M in guarantees. Let’s take a look at all the skill position selections for the four teams in the NFC North.

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Green Bay Packers

Jamaal Williams, RB, Brigham Young University Round 4, Pick 28 (No. 134)

DeAngelo Yancey, WR, Purdue Round 5, Pick 32 (No. 175)

Aaron Jones, RB, UTEP Round 5, Pick 39 (No. 182)

Devante Mays, RB, Utah State Round 7, Pick 20 (No. 238)

Malachi Dupre, WR, LSU Round 7, Pick 29 (No. 247)

Detroit Lions

Kenny Golladay, WR, Northern Illinois Round 3, Pick 32 (No. 96)

Michael Roberts, TE, University of Toledo Round 4, Pick 21 (No. 127)

Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami Round 6, Pick 32 (No. 215)

Minnesota Vikings

Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State Round 2, Pick 9 (No. 41 overall)

Rodney Adams, WR, USF Round 5, Pick 27 (No. 170)

Bucky Hodges, TE, Virginia Tech Round 6, Pick 17 (No. 201)

Stacy Coley, WR, Miami Round 7, Pick 1 (No. 219)

Chicago Bears

Mitchell Trubisky, QB, UNC Round 1, Pick 2 (No. 2 overall)

Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland Round 2, Pick 13 (No. 45)

Tarik Cohen, RB, North Carolina A&T Round 4, Pick 13 (No. 119)

Winners

Ameer Abdullah, RB, DET

Many, including myself, believed the Lions would draft a running back relatively early but instead, the team passed over the position completely. Theo Riddick is so good in the passing game that Abdullah won’t have all the touches to himself but despite playing in only 11 games over his first two seasons due to injuries, Detroit appears to still trust Abdullah to be their lead back and give him the lion’s share of the workload.

Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB

Rodgers is on the list because the Packers drafted Jamaal Williams, one of the best pass blocking backs in the draft according to Matt Waldman. TJ Lang and JC Tretter departing in free agency leaves the offensive line in much worse shape than has been publicized. Williams along with Martellus Bennett should help minimize the damage done to the Packer’s ability to protect their quarterback. Jamaal Williams also slots right in as the Packers power back, a position they have lacked since Eddie Lacy was lost to an ankle injury last October. Williams should be able to help the team close out games in the fourth quarter using his physical running style on tired defenses. For an honest look at Williams abilities check out his film room session

Rodgers also gained another receiving option out of the backfield when the Packers selected Aaron Jones in the fifth round. He along with Ty Montgomery and Randall Cobb give Rodgers a bevy of options to be creative with in his backfield.

Dalvin Cook, RB, MIN

From the standpoint of landing in a place with fewer distractions, Minnesota is a great spot for the talented running back out of Florida State. If he landed on one of the Florida teams or in one of the bigger cities where there are all kinds of opportunities for off-the-field transgressions, I might be concerned, but my hope is Cook will be able to focus on football in the great white north. Minnesota also traded up to get their guy so it’s clear that they like him despite handing out a sizeable contract to Latavius Murray earlier in the off-season. The offensive line which was one of the worst in football last season is a huge concern but in terms of opportunity, this seems like a good spot long-term

Losers

Mitch Trubisky, QB, CHI and Mike Glennon, QB, CHI

I feel for Mike Glennon. He was booed in Soldier Field and was invited to a draft party where he was blindsided when the team who had just paid him like a starter moved up one spot in the draft to select their presumed quarterback of the future. Ideally, Trubisky, who only has one year as a starter under his belt, will sit for a year but Glennon will always have the rookie looking over his shoulder. I’d be surprised if it actually plays out that way. When you spend a second overall pick on a rookie quarterback it’s likely he will have the opportunity to compete right away and at the very least see time later in the season once the Bears fall out of playoff contention. There is going to be a ton of pressure on both of these guys but for very different reasons.

It’s not as if the team is providing either of their quarterbacks with tons of quality weapons either. We still don’t know if Kevin White is going to work out. Cameron Meredith had a nice breakout season, but the jury is still out. Markus Wheaton and Kendall Wright were added in free agency but are they going to suddenly break out when paired with a retread or a rookie throwing them the ball? In the draft, they added the physically gifted tight end Adam Shaheen, but making the jump from Ashland to the NFL is going to be a big step up for the rookie. Whichever QB gets the start, it’s going to be a rough season.

Ty Montgomery, RB, GB

I never truly bought into Montgomery being the lead back in this offense and the selection of Jamaal Williams says to me that they want to let a true power back do the heavy lifting. Montgomery is likely to maintain a sizeable workload in the short term because of his prowess as a receiver, but if Aaron Jones, one of the best receiving backs in this class, hits his ceiling then he could eat into Montgomery’s role. It’s possible Montgomery gets buried on the roster as both a receiver and a running back becoming a better NFL option while fading away as one we look to each week for fantasy.

Jerick McKinnon, RB, MIN

Latavius Murray is likely to still have a large slice of the backfield early on but SPARQ-phenom Jerick McKinnon may be left without a clear role now that Dalvin Cook is in town. After the Vikings traded up to select Cook we have to assume McKinnon has already fallen on the depth chart. It seems like the athletic super-freak and his dynasty owners may have to wait until his second team for him to garner any fantasy value.

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Matt Price

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Senior writer and co-host of the DLF Dynasty podcast, the longest running dynasty focused podcast on the planet

Creator and Co-host of Dynasty Game night, the fantasy football game show.

Creator and host of the Zookeeper Stories podcast.