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A thorough assessment of a team’s draft can’t truly be reached for another three years or so. That said, with tighter rosters and larger rookie contracts, a successful draft must yield at least some immediate help. With that in mind, here’s a look at how NFC North teams fared over the weekend—both from a big-picture NFL standpoint as well as a fantasy perspective—taking into account how key needs were (or weren’t) addressed and the impact potential of the players acquired.
Chicago Bears
With their first-round pick used to acquire Jay Cutler, the Bears spent day one in hibernation—waking up just long enough to trade their second-round pick. The pace picked up on Sunday with two picks in each round except the sixth, and Chicago had plenty of talent fall into its laps. A pair of athletic defensive ends, Jarron Gilbert and Henry Melton, addressed needs along the defensive front; more importantly, Juaquin Iglesias and Johnny Knox were finds in the third and fifth rounds, respectively, and could contend immediately for spots in Cutler’s receiver rotation. CB D.J. Moore and S Al Afalava shore up the secondary, while LB Marcus Freeman was another Bear draftee expected to go off the board earlier than Chicago was able to select him. About the only area of true need the Bears didn’t address was their offensive line, using only a seventh-round pick on OG Lance Louis to add depth; however, the signing of Orlando Pace at least buys them some time in that area.
Fantasy nugget: Devin Hester isn’t a true No. 1, and while Earl Bennett is a popular sleeper given his experience catching passes from Cutler there’s no question Iglesias and Knox could contribute right away in Chicago. Neither projects to be an immediate No. 1, but Iglesias is a great fit for the slot and to work the middle of the field while Hester and Knox run fly patterns.
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