As teams get ready for the scouting combine next week, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com previews the top priority the Vikings‘ scouts will have going into Indianapolis. He believes the team will draft to improve their defensive line, and sees the team targeting Louis Nix of Notre Dame, Ra’Shede Hageman of Minnesota, and Kony Ealy of Missouri. Here are some other notes from around the NFC North:
- While Goessling has the team using the draft to bolster their defensive line, he has not forgotten about the Vikings‘ free agents. He wrote about the possibility of using the franchise tag on Jared Allen or the transition tag on Everson Griffen, although notes that it is more likely the team pursues a long term deal with Griffen.
- The Packers have enough cap room to use their franchise tag sometime in the next two weeks, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Silverstein sees the team using either the franchise or transition tag to help retain one of two players: cornerback Sam Shields or defensive linemen B.J. Raji.
- The Bears are unlikely to utilize their franchise tag, writes Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. Jay Cutler would have been the only logical candidate for the designation, and the team agreed to a contract extension with him earlier this offseason.
I like how these so called draft experts like Bleacher Report mock Justin Gilbert at 15 but with no mention of the fact he tore his ACL and likely won’t be ready to start the season and may need to start off on the PUP list for the first 6 weeks. Someone else at Bleacher Report reported on the injuy at the Sr Bowl and indicated that he may not be draftableas a result, which is even more asanine in the other direction.
Bleacher Report is good for breaking news and stuff, their actual articles by their people, and mock drafts make little to no sense at all.