Makes sense – this is a Packers’ blog, after all.

But there are three other teams in the NFC North, of course, and we’re going to kick off our draft week coverage – seriously, [...]]]> The last few weeks at OBOD have been dedicated entirely to discussing the upcoming draft as it pertains to the Green Bay Packers.

Makes sense – this is a Packers’ blog, after all.

But there are three other teams in the NFC North, of course, and we’re going to kick off our draft week coverage – seriously, the draft is three days away…holy crap – by taking a look at what those teams could/should do Thursday through Saturday to improve themselves.

(Quick note: I’ll be rolling out a Packers version of this on Wednesday.)

Chicago Bears

Day one: Have everyone over at head coach Lovie Smith’s house to watch game four of Blackhawks/Predators. Study the Blackhawks. Take notes on how to use the draft to build a competitive team, as the Blackhawks did. Feel free to watch game three of Bulls/Cavs during the commercial breaks. Keep Jay Cutler away from the open bar, though.

Day two: During the early part of the evening (i.e., the second round), you can go with either Cubs/Brewers or White Sox/Mariners. Again, you have no picks here and baseball is a good way to pass the time. Personally, I’d go with the Cubs/Brewers game – Adam’s right, I am a closet Brewers fan - but the choice is yours. Once the third round gets rolling later in the night, get excited – you finally get to draft someone!

But who should you draft? Well, you’re lucky in the sense that you’ve got clearly defined needs (offensive line, cornerback and wide receiver). I’d go with an offensive lineman; Cutler’s your biggest asset going forward and you need to protect him much better than you did last season. Ole Miss’ John Jerry should be on the board at pick No. 75 and he’d be a nice fit. He’s an old-school mauler type at 6-feet, 5-inches and 332 pounds. He played right tackle in college, but is likely a guard in the pros. Either way, he’d provide immediate relief to that group.

Day three: I’d hold off on a wide receiver in round four. You’ve got some young talent there (Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett and Devin Aromashodu) and you should give those guys one more year to see if any of them can turn into a true No. 1 wideout. You need to snag a safety or corner. If you go the safety route, I’d look long and hard at Florida’s Major Wright. He’s raw, but his speed, recovery time and zone skills make him a nice fit for your Cover-2 scheme. As for a corner, UCLA’s Alterraun Verner would work nicely. He’s small (5-feet, 10-inches) and a bit slow, but he’s got great ball skills and knows how to play the zone.

In the fifth round, take either a corner or safety (whichever spot you didn’t address in round four). Round out your draft by taking a wide receiver in the sixth round and a developmental quarterback in the seventh.

Detroit Lions

Day one: First, let me say that – for the first time in my life, seemingly – there appears to be a legitimate plan in place in Detroit, one that doesn’t rely on drafting wide receivers. That bodes well for the future.

I’ve had you taking Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh with the No. 2 pick in each of my mock drafts and I’ll stick with that. He’s a dual-purpose difference-maker and could be a force for the next decade. Suh, Corey Williams and Sammie Hill give you a nice three-man rotation at d-tackle. Those guys, along with Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch, will give you a greatly improved d-line next season.

Day two: You have almost no corners. That must be fixed (and for God’s sake, stay away from Pacman!). Alabama’s Kareem Jackson was dominant in a pro-style defense. He brings a real swagger with him and he can play – and make an impact – right away. Take him in the second round. He’ll be around for a long time. 

Now it’s round three and your truly bad offensive line can no longer be ignored. Trading for Rob Sims cleaned things up at the left guard spot. But left tackle Jeff Backus has never been anything special and he turns 33 in September. Luckily for you, your future left tackle resides in-state: Hillsdale’s Jared Veldheer. He’s 6-feet, 8-inches, 312 pounds and boasts the athleticism of a tight end. He could cover Matthew Stafford for the rest of Stafford’s career once he steps in. Some say he needs a year; I think he could be ready by mid-season.

Day three: I like running back Kevin Smith, but more as a dual-option back. You need a true smash-mouth runner to compliment him. He’s a major gamble, no question about it, but Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount would fill that role perfectly. He’d bring great value as a fourth-rounder and I think Jim Schwartz can keep him in line.

Round out your draft with more corner and o-line depth and grab a safety somewhere in there, too, if you can.

Minnesota Vikings

Day one: Before we begin, I just want to reiterate that I hate you.

Okay, with that out of the way, I think you need a corner more than anything. Antoine Winfield is getting older and Cedric Griffin could miss the first six weeks (torn ACL). But I’m just not sure the value will be there. It’s a deep draft at that spot, anyways. Defensive tackle Pat Williams is still very good, but he turns 38 in October. You need to find his eventual replacement. Alabama’s Terrence Cody is a gamble because of his weight troubles, but when you put on the tape, this guy dominates. Cody, Kevin Williams and Jared Allen could be a scary threesome for the next eight-to-10 years.

Day two: We’ve reached the second round and it’s now time to take a corner. Wake Forest’s Brandon Ghee has tremendous speed and is an excellent tackler (he reminds me of Winfield in that sense). His ball skills are a work in progress, but could improve with good coaching.

In the third round, you must fill the void left by Chester Taylor’s departure and find a backup for Adrian Peterson. USC’s Joe McKnight would be a good fit. He’s not an every down runner, but that’s not a big deal – you’ve already got one of those. McKnight has great speed and vision (particularly outside the tackles) and is a very good pass catcher.

Day three: Left guard Steve Hutchinson is an elite player, obviously, but he turns 33 in November. Your other guard, Anthony Herrera, is average. In other words, you could use some depth there. One guy I love as a fourth-rounder is Arkansas’ Mitch Petrus. He’s raw (just converted to guard two years ago), but he’s got the athleticism of a fullback/tight end (the spots he played before his conversion). Plus, he tied the combine record with 45 bench press reps – simply astounding.

I’d round out my draft by looking for depth at safety, outside linebacker and wide receiver.

So there’s my two cents on what the other three NFC North teams should do in the draft.

I can’t wait until later in the week when they take me up on exactly none of it.

-Chris Lempesis

Now, with the weekend drawing to an end, it seemed like a good time to provide an updated look (and, as always, give some thoughts on it all). After all, it’s hard [...]]]> Friday morning, I provided a brief look at what the other three NFC North teams had been doing in free agency up to that point.

Now, with the weekend drawing to an end, it seemed like a good time to provide an updated look (and, as always, give some thoughts on it all). After all, it’s hard to find a division that was busier than the NFC North.

Chicago Bears - In terms of activity and dollars spent, the Bears have been the unquestioned kings of free agency thus far. On Friday alone, they dished out roughly $121 million to three players: defensive end Julius Peppers (six years, $91 million with $42 million in guaranteed money), running back Chester Taylor (four years, $12.5 million with $7 million in guaranteed money) and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna (five years, $17 million with $6 million in guaranteed money).

When you consider just how much pressure is on general manager Jerry Angelo and head coach Lovie Smith to win – and win now – the highly active approach was likely necessary (especially when you consider Chicago doesn’t pick until the third round this year).

If I’m a Bears fan (thank God I’m not), I like the Taylor and Manumaleuna signings. Taylor turns 31 in September, yes, but he’s only had season in which he carried the ball over 200 times (2006, when he ran for 1,216 yards in his first year in Minnesota). He’s got much more tread left on his tires than the average back that age. His role declined in Minnesota after 2006 due to the presence of that Peterson fella, but he’s still a crafty, tough runner who brings extra value as a pass catcher. Matt Forte is just not a No. 1 back and the Bears, as a team, were 29th in rushing yards per game last season (a paltry 93.3). Taylor will boost that number.

Manumaleuna – hate typing that name already – is a pure blocking tight end at 295 pounds. He should help in protecting Jay Cutler as he’s basically an offensive lineman. Plus, the Bears can now look into trading Greg Olson or Desmond Clark for added draft picks as new offensive coordinator Mike Martz really doesn’t use the tight end all that much.

If I’m a Bears fan (again, thank God I’m not), I’m not on board with the Peppers signing. Sure, he’s a freak of nature, physically, and can take over games. But those things only happen when HE wants them to and far too often, Peppers just doesn’t want them to. He takes plays/games/seasons off. Now that he’s paid in full, something he’s wanted for a long time, you have to wonder if “Bad Peppers” shows up even more now.

I kind of get why the Bears did it – their secondary stinks and Brian Urlacher’s body is breaking down, leaving Lance Briggs as their only real player in the final two levels of the defense. They’re hoping Peppers’ presence can cover for some of those weaknesses. I’m just not on board with it if I’m a fan. As a Packers fan, here’s how I know the Bears made a bad move: When the Vikings got Jared Allen, I thought, “Oh, no – this guy dominates week in and week out.” When Peppers signed Friday, I thought, “Eh, that guy only shows up about half the time, anyways, and they STILL gave him $42 million in guaranteed money.” See the difference?

Detroit Lions - The Lions have been almost as busy as the Bears. They’ve signed defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (four years, $26 million) and wide receiver Nate Burleson (five years, $25 million with $11 million in guaranteed money) and also traded for defensive tackle Corey Williams and cornerback Chris Houston.

In my Friday morning post, I pretty much bashed Detroit for these moves – it just traded for Houston on Sunday afternoon – although I did like the Vanden Bosch signing. After I stood back and looked at it, though, I have to say I think the Lions, shockingly, did a decent job here.

Detroit needed to upgrade its defensive line in a major way; Cliff Avril led the team in sacks last season with just 5.5. Vanden Bosch, as I said Friday, is not the player he once was. But he’s still a hard-working player who you have to account for. Williams was a major flop in Cleveland as he was never cut out to be a 3-4 end. He’ll move back to tackle now, though, where he had seven sacks in each of his last two years in Green Bay. If Jim Schwartz can keep him motivated and get him in a rotation, he’ll provide a boost. With those two – and, say, Gerald McCoy, who we have them taking in our latest mock draft – the Lions will get to the quarterback much more this season.

Detroit clearly overpaid for Burleson, but he did have 63 catches for 812 yards for Seattle last year, so he’ll be a major upgrade over Bryant Johnson and take some heat off Calvin Johnson. Houston never lived up to his second-round pick status in Atlanta, but he still has some talent. And considering all Detroit gave up was a sixth round pick – plus swapping fifth rounders with the Falcons – Houston isn’t much of a gamble.

Minnesota Vikings – The Vikings have been very quiet thus far. A lot of that is likely due to the fact that, as one of the final four teams in the playoffs, Minnesota can’t sign any restricted free agents and can only sign unrestricted ones if it loses one of its own (plus, the first-year salaries on the two players have to match up).

Well, the Vikings have two openings now as they lost Taylor on Friday and guard/tackle Artis Hicks on Sunday (signed a three-year contract with the Washington Redskins). While they still have Peterson, Taylor’s loss leaves a big hole. He was so good as a third down back/pass catcher. Peterson can probably take over the third down role, but he is not a pass catcher. Plus, if he gets hurt, Minnesota basically now has no one behind him. The Vikings will need to address that situation soon.

Hicks, while primarily a backup, provided great depth because of his versatility. Like Taylor, his departure leaves Minnesota thin in the event something happens to a starting o-lineman. Last season, Taylor made $3.1 million and Hicks made just under $1 million, so the Vikings should be able to find decent players at those positions for those prices. But, surprisingly, there seems to be no sense of urgency coming from the organization. The Vikings don’t seem to even have any interest in anyone. Perhaps someone should tell them they were just one bad Judas pass away from a possible trip to the Super Bowl.

Wait, we’re Packers fans – nevermind. Nobody say anything.

-Chris Lempesis