Pro Football Focus is one of the few places that will actual dole out some relatively harsh draft grades, which when taken in combination with the site’s evaluation methods makes it a reasonable source for snap judgments on such things.
A year ago, the Vikings received a grade of “A” from PFF after a haul that included Justin Jefferson in the first round. The rival Packers, on the other hand, were given a “D” grade — PFF’s lowest of that draft, but among seven teams that got a C+ or worse, compared to many places that won’t give out anything lower than a B.
One would think that from there, the gap would only be narrowed between the Vikings and Packers as the class played out. But in PFF’s recent re-grading exercise a little over a year later, we find that in fact things have gotten somehow both better for the Vikings and worse for the Packers — something I talked about on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
A year later, the Vikings have been upgraded to an A-plus, while the Packers have been downgraded to a D-minus.
Writes PFF of the Vikings’ haul: “Justin Jefferson is obvious after breaking the rookie receiving record, but Cameron Dantzler was quietly the second-highest-graded rookie corner after a strong second half of the season.”
Green Bay, on the other hand: “This draft class may have even longer-lasting ramifications than initially thought. Not only did none of the Packers’ three top-100 picks make any sort of impact in the playoffs en route to yet another NFC title game loss, but their first-round pick may ultimately push the reigning MVP out of Green Bay.”
The first round pick referenced, of course, is QB Jordan Love — the pick the Packers made at No. 26 overall (and traded up to do so) four picks after the Vikings took Jefferson.
While it will truly be impossible to give a final grade to the Packers’ draft until we know what Love becomes, the fact that his selection has angered Aaron Rodgers to the point that he reportedly wants out — and that not getting an immediate impact player at that spot or in the next two rounds potentially kept the Packers out of the Super Bowl given how close they were a year ago — sure doesn’t look good for Green Bay at the moment.