Around the NFC North: 2024 Draft Class Review
Whole Lotta Yikes
By Mike Price
The Lions cut Terrion Arnold yesterday, and it has Twitter musing about whether the Lions' 2024 draft is the worst of all time. The 2023 Lions were one of the best Lions teams ever (hang the banner), and the draft started the quick descent into missing the playoffs last season and forcing the team into salary cap purgatory. But was it even the worst draft class among the inferior North teams that year?
Lions
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Round 1, Pick 24: CB Terrion Arnold (Alabama)
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Round 2, Pick 61: CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr. (Missouri)
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Round 4, Pick 126: T Giovanni Manu (University of British Columbia)
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Round 4, Pick 132: S Sione Vaki (Utah)
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Round 6, Pick 189: DI Mekhi Wingo (LSU)
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Round 6, Pick 210: G Christian Mahogany (Boston College)
Arnold getting cut is rough, but he was already a bust. The corner whom some thought Green Bay would take in the draft has never been close to a first-round level corner; in fact, last year he graded as the 97th best corner in the league. This whole deal with him getting arrested and now cut is probably a net negative for the Packers because they don't get to play against him anymore.
The team's next pick, Ennis Rakestraw, played in six games in his first season and none last year. The third-round pick, Giovanni Manu, has one career start.
Sione Vaki, who many, including me, thought was a fun pick at the time, hasn't really turned at running back or safety, but he was well-utilized on special teams. So they got that going for them, which is nice.
The verdict on this draft is bust, double injury-prone players, and then a slow special teams ace. Not great!
Vikings
- Round 1, Pick 10:
J.J. McCarthy, QB (Michigan) - Round 1, Pick 17:
Dallas Turner, OLB (Alabama) - Round 4, Pick 108:
Khyree Jackson, CB (Oregon) - Round 6, Pick 177:
Walter Rouse, T (Oklahoma) - Round 6, Pick 203:
Will Reichard, K (Alabama) - Round 7, Pick 230:
Michael Jurgens, OL (Wake Forest) - Round 7, Pick 232:
Levi Drake Rodriguez, DL (Texas A&M)
Annnnd the Vikings draft was worse.
JJ McCarthy was so bad as a starting QB that many believe the team had him fake an injury at one point so that they could start an even worse QB to show that McCarthy isn't the worst QB in NFL history. After far less than a season of starting time for McCarthy, the Vikings have turned the offense over to a QB shorter than me who has a statistically significant drop in play when certain video games come out. Very bad!
Dallas Turner was supposed to be the best edge rusher in the draft, at least according to the Vikings staff, and he has basically done jack squat in the NFL. The team leveraged the future with these two players and definitely swung and missed on one and may have on the other. Turner will have the chance to prove himself this season, as the team had to trade Jonathan Greenard, but I don't know how much he has shown so far that he can be worthy of a first-round pick.
Do we even need to talk about the other players? I guess the kicker is pretty good.
Bears
- Round 1, No. 1 Overall:
Caleb Williams, QB, USC - Round 1, No. 9 Overall:
Rome Odunze, WR, Washington - Round 3, No. 75 Overall:
Kiran Amegadjie, OT, Yale - Round 5, No. 122 Overall:
Tory Taylor, P, Iowa - Round 5, No. 144 Overall:
Austin Booker, DE, Kansas
Ok, even I can't claim that this was a bad draft - anytime you can get the clear best pass rusher on your team in the 5th round, it's at least an OK draft. Even if many people are saying that he's a dirty player.
Anyway, Caleb Williams is good, too. Right now, he's the third-best QB in the North, and by the end of the season, he could even be the second. He has some big gaps in his game, but also is one of the best QBs in the league during crunch time. Take what you can get with this franchise.
As far as the other three players, Rome Odunze is a bust (not even the best WR on the team), Kiran Amegadije is a bust, and Tory Taylor is a punter. Which is worse than being a bust.
I don't usually talk about the Packers much in this column, but it's worth mentioning that four players whom the Packers took in the 2024 draft: Jordan Morgan, Edgerrin Cooper, Javon Bullard and Evan Williams, have a shot at being in the top five players in the North from this draft class after the 2026 season. That doesn't even include Marshawn Lloyd. Pretty damn good draft class for the Gutester.
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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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Comments (5)
Zapato
June 30, 2026 at 11:15 am
During a time when "no news is good news" in the football world, I find your column particularly refreshing. What better way to spend your Tuesday morning then seeing what the lower 75% of the NFC North has/is/will do wrong.
The Bears still suck!
splitpea1
June 30, 2026 at 11:28 am
Lions: Yeah, that's pretty bad. Their CB room was woeful to begin with. The Packers need to be aggressive throwing the ball against them, as long as they mind the safeties.
Vikings: Obviously screwed up big time with QB selection, but Reichard is an All-Pro kicker. And while it may be a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison, consider that Dallas Turner had 8 sacks last season, a half a sack less than Van Ness has had for his entire career.
Bears: I wouldn't call Odunze a bust yet; he'll have plenty more opportunities now that D.J. Moore is gone.
Packers: Imagine if either Lloyd or Hopper emerge to become solid contributors; then this would turn out to be a great overall team-building draft.
Starrbrite
June 30, 2026 at 01:08 pm
Good post Split
dobber
June 30, 2026 at 01:16 pm
"So they got that going for them, which is nice. "
Gunga galunga
golfpacker61
June 30, 2026 at 01:19 pm
Well Mike, I will start with this idiotic comment, obviously you know absolutely nothing about the player.
"and Tory Taylor is a punter. Which is worse than being a bust."
Not that I was hoping GB would draft Taylor, but if you had just looked into the players accomplishments, you might not have stuck your foot in your mouth. Taylor was an All American at Iowa and was personally responsible for at least 10-12 wins for Kirk Ferentz in his time at Iowa. Iowa has had a bad run of terrible offenses and Ferentz relied soley on defense and kicking to win games. Taylor was so dominant that they even sold shirts that stated "Punting is Winning." to raise money for charity. Do your homework next time, he is a gamechanger at his position.
I don't feel sorry for the other North teams having bad draft classes, but all teams do. Of that Lions class, I wanted Christian Mahogany to be a Packer. And of the Viking class I wanted Khyree Jackson-CB (who sadly died in a car accident before ever playing) and Walter Rouse looked like a Packers O lineman. Booker was the only Bear draftee I had interest in.
Terrion Arnold and J J McCarthy show how even being heralded first round picks are no guarantee for success. Look at all the busts we had over the last 10 years including current under achiever LVN.
Regardless of these draft classes, the NFC North will be a dogfight in 2026 and GB is not getting much love from the pundits. I think one area we can shore up and take off the list of needs would be to sign Clowney so we have at least 1 proven NFL Edge rusher to start the year. He would give us a fighters chance to have a winning record by providing pass rush.