Chicago Bears
Brock Vereen, Secondary, Minnesota: With Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings aging, the Chicago Bears nabbed what they hope will be their future starting cornerback when they selected Kyle Fuller with the 14th selection. The team may have gotten an extra Christmas bonus to add to their secondary though when they selected former Gopher Brock Vereen later on in the draft. The Bears were in desperate need of secondary help with lack of talent and youth, specifically at the safety position, owning one of the worst tandems in the league. Luckily for them, Vereen has experience at both safety positions, as well as inside and outside cornerback, making him a swiss army knife in the secondary. The Bears may have found a steal in the fourth round, as Vereen (brother to Shane) will be the odds on favorite to take over as starting safety much sooner than later, making him a big time breakout candidate.
Detroit Lions
Caraun Reid, Defensive Tackle, Princeton: On paper the Lions defensive line is dandy as candy, people inside the circle could tell you otherwise. While still productive, with three-first round picks the unit has yet to live up to the large expectations set by coaches and the fan base. Nick Fairley could be on his way out of Detroit with his inconsistent play and a contract that expires at the end of this year, leaving a void to be filled next to Ndamukong Suh and Ezekiel Ansah.
After getting a live look at Reid during Senior Bowl week, it was hard not to be impressed with his strong and stout frame, while showing impressive quickness. The Lions may already know how good Reid can be and may already have short and long term plans for him, resulting in significant playing time right off the bat. For a mid-round pick, Reid will be in a position to have a huge impact for the team for a very long time. However, in the intermediate, look for Reid to steal Fairley’s playing time as the organization attempts to weed him out of the starting lineup.
Green Bay Packers
Colt Lyerla, Tight End, Oregon: Even after adding four-weapons at offensive-skill positions during the draft, the Green Bay Packers biggest rookie may be an undrafted free agent. While Lyerla went undrafted it wasn’t due to lack of talent, but after multiple run-ins with the law due to cocaine possession he quickly disappeared from draft boards.
Turn on the film though and you will see an extremely versatile player who has what it takes to make an impact. Knowing the Packers offense, Lyerla is in a great position to show off his all around skill set at H-Back, tight end, and wide out. Then when you take into account the loss of James Jones and Greg Jennings in consecutive years, its clear their will be new opportunities for whoever wants to take it. Don’t count out Lyerla as being a big part of this teams offense in 2014.
Minnesota Vikings
Antone Exum, Safety, Virginia Tech: The Vikings are in the process of finding a starting safety to play opposite of Harrison Smith for the next upcoming years, and Antone Exum could be their guy. Exum flies all over the backend of the field with athleticism and quickness, while displaying great vision for the ball once in the air. Teaming him up with Smith could be the dangerous combination the defense has been looking for in a new pass happy league.
Exum fell to the sixth round on draft weekend due to an injury plagued college career however, when healthy he was just as good if not better than teammate Kyle Fuller, who was taken in the first round. Exum will compete with other safeties Robert Blanton and Andrew Sendejo for the starting job, and while the other two have more experience, Exum's athletic ability is a football field ahead of his competition.
If he can beat them out, Exum could have an extremely productive rookie season under new head coach Mike Zimmer, who is known for being able to mold young secondary prospects into impact players.