Pride of Detroit
With the 2024 NFL Draft finished, who did each team in the NFC North take, and how tough did the division get?
The 2024 NFL Draft is officially over and all 32 teams have added some rookies to their roster to try and compete for the Super Bowl next season. The Detroit Lions are trying to defend their NFC North divisional title, and events like the draft can shift a team from a pretender to a contender in the division. Now while we won’t know what these teams look like until they hit the field, we can still get an idea of how good they can be with the additions of their free agents and the draft picks.
While some teams drafted to gain some depth and a few starters, others drafted a franchise-changing quarterback in hopes of leading them to a bright future. With the Lions trying to defend their title, the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and Chicago Bears all were doing their best to make sure they were finding the best players to try and dethrone Detroit as the divisional champions.
Here I am going to break down who each team took and how they were able to improve as a team heading towards the 2024 season.
Picks:
Round 1: CB Terrion Arnold
Round 2: CB Ennis Rakestraw
**Round 4:**OT Giovanni Manu
Round 4: RB/S Sione Vaki
Round 5: DT Mekhi Wingo
Round 6: OG Christian Mahogany
The Detroit Lions revamped their secondary in free agency with the additions of Carlton Davis via trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and signing Amik Robertson, but the job wasn’t done after that. After trading with the Dallas Cowboys to move up from pick 29 to 24, they grabbed arguably the best cornerback in the draft with Arnold, and got some more depth in Rakestraw in the second round.
Once the secondary was handled, the Lions moved towards the trenches and went on a trading spree, trading three times in a row. First, they moved up to draft a developmental offensive lineman in Manu in the fourth round. Then they drafted a mystery player a few picks later in Vaki, who can play at running back, safety, and special teams. Then the third trade was to move up and get Wingo, before finishing the draft and getting another depth piece for the offensive line in Mahogany.
Overall, Detroit has a better secondary now than they did last season, and they have some future pieces to their franchise that can see more playing time later in their career. Throw in a wild-card weapon in Vaki that can be used in all three phases of the game, and Detroit did a good job in addressing their biggest weakness in the secondary and beefing up what they love the most, the trenches.
Picks:
Round 1: OL Jordan Morgan
Round 2: LB Edgerrin Cooper
Round 2: DB Javon Bullard
Round 3: RB MarShawn Lloyd
Round 3: LB...
