NFC Notes: Brad Holmes, Jordan Morgan, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

Lions GM Brad Holmes explained how they evaluate prospects for comparison and noted they try not to refer to prospects by rounds because they are either a starter or backup on the roster.

“Sometimes I might say, ‘We’ve got a second-round grade,’ because that’s kind of what makes sense, but the reason we kind of stay away from the whole ’rounds’ thing is that when they come on your roster, they’re either a starter, they’re either a backup,” Holmes said, via Jeff Risdon of the Lions Wire. “They’re not a ’round’ anymore. It’s not a fourth-round receiver, it’s not a sixth-round safety. He’s either a backup or he’s a high-end backup – that’s what it is. It’s vertically by position from the top to the bottom.”

“It’s really more so – the grade will reflect what the upside and the role is, and then that’s where you kind of get the separation and gaps. Really, it’s actually cooler to look at it horizontally than it is to look at it vertically. You do so much work over the whole year that by the time you get to around to March, you have a good feel of how it looks vertically. But sometimes you’ve got to look at it horizontally with different positions, and then that’s when you can truly kind of get a sense of, ‘How good is this draft?'”

Packers

Packers first-round OT Jordan Morgan looks to fill in at left tackle following the departure of longtime LT David Bakhtiari. Despite concerns about his arm length and ability to play left tackle, Morgan is confident his game will translate to the next level.

“I get that a lot, the short arms stuff,” Morgan said, via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. “It’s like, obviously you haven’t watched film. I mean I use them pretty well. I move people off the ball. I pass protect really well, protect the quarterback, I mean see the stats. It doesn’t bother me. I’m just gonna prove everybody wrong.”

“I just didn’t care about arm length. I mean I didn’t really think it was a big deal coming into college and hearing about it. They put me at left tackle, they thought I was a great left tackle, and sure enough I was.”

Vikings

Mike Sando of The Athletic cites an anonymous NFL executive who does not think it was wise for the Vikings to trade up as much as they did, including acquiring an additional first-round pick and moving up for OLB Dallas Turner. 

“I can buy trading some future picks if you are going to be contending and you are going to get a potential starter,” one executive said. “But the Vikings are not even close to contending. What they did, or even what the Bears did in giving up a (2025) fourth (for a fifth this year), I would not be doing that if I were those teams.”