2024 NFL Draft: Which NFC North team earned highest first-round grade?

It was a wild first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday night, and now that the dust has settled, it’s time to issue some grades.

We’ve already graded the Chicago Bears’ pick of Caleb Williams here and Rome Odunze here. Now, it’s time to grade the rest of the NFC North’s first-round performance.

Detroit Lions: A

The only reason I’m not giving the Lions an A+ is that they had to trade up to get their guy, but their guy was Terrion Arnold, a lockdown cornerback from Alabama.

Widely regarded as the best cornerback of this class, Arnold suffered from the unprecedented run on offensive players early in the first round and fell into the 20s. The Lions, who desperately need help in their secondary, swapped picks with the Dallas Cowboys and pounced.

Arnold was getting pre-draft comps to Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson. That’s bad news for Chicago.

Minnesota Vikings: B-

This is a tough grade to give. On the one hand, as I expected in my mock drafts, the Vikings got their quarterback without giving away their extra first-round pick, which they then used to select arguably the best defender in this class. That’s the good news for Vikings fans.

The bad news is what these deals cost them. They only traded up one spot to get JJ McCarthy, but the deal with the Jaguars hurt. They gave up a fifth-rounder this year, plus third- and fourth-round picks in 2025. Currently, they have just three picks next year: a first-rounder and two fifth-rounders. That’s bad.

The Vikings vastly improved their defensive line and added who they hope is their quarterback of the future, but the cost may be painful when it comes to filling out the rest of the roster.

Green Bay Packers: C

The Packers’ draft selection didn’t inspire much excitement. Jordan Morgan (OL, Arizona) is a good prospect and should certainly help the offensive line. But I still thought that Green Bay’s secondary is a much bigger issue than their trenches, and Cooper DeJean was sitting right there for the taking.

DeJean is still available as Round 2 approaches, so maybe the Packers can still get him. If they do, this pick will feel much better.

Chicago Bears: A+

Remember little Ralphie’s teacher from A Christmas Story adding several additional plusses to his A+ grade in a daydream? Yeah, that’s how I felt when grading Chicago’s first-round picks.

The Bears ended their night not only drafting the best quarterback prospect to enter the league since Andrew Luck, they also got him a stud wide receiver, Rome Odunze, with whom he can grow alongside for years to come.

For weeks now, analysts and experts have all said Williams and Odunze would be the best outcome for the Bears, and that’s exactly what happened. The new teammates teased this outcome earlier this week when they took their picture together when arriving in Detroit for the NFL draft.

They still have to prove it on the field, but on paper, the Bears have just given themselves the most talented offensive grouping in their franchise history. This is the easiest A+ grade you’ll ever see.

What grade would you give each NFC North team for their first-round picks? Create a free user account and share opinion in our comments section.