During the NFL Draft process, every team is trying to improve their team both for the now and for the long-term by using a hybrid of “best player available” on their board and addressing clear team needs.
But for some teams, the NFL Draft can be their chance to reshape their teams’ identity. And for these seven teams, it not only was a vessel to add talent to their roster, but a major step in upgrading, altering, and transforming their teams’ future.
The Bears entered the 2024 NFL Draft process with an obvious choice at first overall in Caleb Williams, their new franchise quarterback, and many questions beyond that. And even before draft weekend, it was fairly clear what their plan was: Build this team to win ASAP with Williams at the helm.
The team traded their fourth round pick for Keenan Allen and their fifth round pick for Ryan Bates, to further bolster the offense. Then they opted not trade down from the ninth overall pick (to acquire more draft capital) and instead picked Williams’s favorite receiver in the draft in Rome Odunze.
Add in that they added OL depth in Kiran Amedijie and the first punter off the board in Tory Taylor, and they’ve clearly done everything they could to give Caleb Williams and their offense every chance to be a top-half of the league unit in his rookie season.
Washington, under new GM Adam Peters, was slated to take a quarterback at No. 2 overall, but determining what identity he wanted this team to be was still to be determined. Based on his draft selections, it’s clear he values impact playmakers over size and clear positional value.
After taking maybe the most dynamic quarterback in the draft in Jayden Daniels, he followed it up with a dynamic yet undersized interior defensive lineman Johnny Newton, Tyrann Mathieu clone yet scheme limited nickel Mike Sainristill, and versatile yet non-traditional tight end Ben Sinnott in the second round.
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/seven-teams-revealed-identity-with-2024-nfl-draft-jets-all-in-on-aaron-rodgers-bears-in-win-now-mode-more/
Author : Eric Galko
Publish date : 2024-05-20 12:09:57
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