The first round of the NFL Draft has come and gone. Each of the four NFC North teams made selections last night. The Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings each made two selections, while the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers had one pick each. The Vikings and Lions did move up in the first round too. Here is a pick recap from each NFC North team in round one of the NFL Draft.
NFL Draft Round 1- Chicago Bears- QB Caleb Williams (1) and WR Rome Odunze (9)
Everyone knew as soon as the Bear were on the clock (the first overall pick was Carolina’s after a trade last season), that USC QB Caleb Williams would be the number one pick. After Chicago traded Justin Fields, the 11th pick in the 2021 Draft to Pittsburgh, there was no doubt it would be Williams. It is time to see if the Bears now have their franchise quarterback they have been waiting decades for.
In order for the quarterback to be successful, they need offensive weapons. After adding DJ Moore last year and Keenan Allen this off-season, the Bears used their original first round pick to grab Odunze, who was seen as one of the top receivers in this draft. Chicago looks to be a team that will be competitive this year.
Minnesota Vikings- QB JJ McCarthy (10) and DE Dallas Turner (17)
The Vikings moved up with both their first round picks. I thought this was best case scenario for Minnesota. They acquired an extra first round pick in a trade with Houston after losing Kirk Cousins to Atlanta in free agency. They needed a quarterback immediately. There was the potential they could use both first round picks in a trade to move up into the top five. After New England did not trade the third pick and Michael Penix Jr went to Atlanta (the biggest surprise of the night), Minnesota was able to jump up one spot form 11 to 10. This is likely because Denver was sitting at pick 12 and needed a quarterback too. They needed up selecting Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.
With the extra first round pick they didn’t have to give up, the Vikings moved up again from pick 23 to 17 to grab Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner. I thought this was a good move by Minnesota as they need some help rushing the passer. Turner was seen as a top 10 player in the draft. ESPN even ranked Turner as the seventh overall player. in this NFL draft. Overall, it was a pretty good nigh for the Vikings.
Detroit Lions- CB Terrion Arnold (24)
The NFL Draft hosts moved up from pick 29 to pick 24 in front of Green Bay to take arguably the top corner in this draft. I am not sure if the Lions had a sense or heard rumors if Green Bay would take Arnold, but corner is a need for Detroit. I was shocked to see Arnold still on the board at pick 24 as he was seen as a player who would go in the top 15. The Lions have their top corner now and Arnold should be a solid corner for a lot of years.
Green Bay Packers- OT Jordan Morgan (25)
When Packer fans looked at the board, the most popular mock draft picks were still available. That was Graham Barton and Cooper DeJean. Instead, Green Bay went with Morgan, who is a versatile offensive linemen that can play either guard or tackle.
Green Bay lost three offensive linemen this off-season and are about to pay Jordan Love a ton of money. You want to keep your quarterback upright if your’re going to give him that money. They did the right thing by starting with the offensive line. I do think Morgan would have been available later in the first round or second round, but this was clearly Green Bay’s guy.