Bleacher Bums Forum

Super Bowl champs even stronger on offense

Dennis Dillon
The picks are in -- all 254 -- from the NFL Draft. No one knows when there will be an on-field sighting for these lads. Unfortunately, that decision is in the hands of the courts instead of coaches.

But you want instant analysis. Here are five teams we believe helped themselves the most.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa’s youth movement continues to look promising. To complement their young playmakers on offense, the Bucs added pass rushers in DEs Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers, and a productive MLB in Mason Foster.

“I think we have a system in place,” coach Raheem Morris said. “Our whole deal is about playing fast, playing hard, playing smart and playing together.”

Green Bay Packers. Is it possible their already potent offense could become even more dynamic? It is if WR-KR Randall Cobb, RB Alex Green and TE D.J. Williams perform up to expectations. Williams, last year’s Mackey Award winner, and Jermichael Finley could give the Super Bowl champs a productive tandem much like New England’s young duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Detroit Lions. Coach Jim Schwartz’s team had only five selections, but it made the most of them. WR Titus Young and RB Mikel Leshoure add more firepower. Nick Fairley, paired with Ndamukong Suh, last year’s defensive rookie of the year, gives the Lions two formidable tackles.

“What you want to do is match the players’ talent with what you’re going to ask them to do,” Schwartz told ESPN, “and also have the discipline to take the best player on the board that fits that.”

New England Patriots. They didn’t take many marquee players, but the Patriots plucked nine prospects, including Ryan Mallett, the potential successor to Tom Brady. And the forward-looking Patriots did enough dealing to get themselves two picks in each of the first two rounds next year.