Ah, the NFC West. You've been the laughingstock of the NFL for a few years now, and last season a 7-9 team won the division. Did the 2011 NFL Draft do anything to improve these mediocre squads? Lets break it down, starting with the division champs, the Seattle Seahawks.
Seattle Seahawks: The 'Hawks wanted to improve their porous offensive line, drafting OT James Carpenter and OG John Moffitt. These guys are both good picks for this team, and will give their QB more time to make decisions. After that, they picked up three guys for the secondary, a wide receiver and a linebacker. All in all, pretty good draft for Seattle. Grade: B-
St. Louis Rams: "Sam Bradford needs weapons. We must supply him with the goods," was the mantra of the 2011 draft by management. DE Robert Quinn was the obvious choice in the first round, but then the Rams grabbed TE Lance Kendricks (who torches teams), WR Austin Pettis and WR Greg Salas. Those three should give Bradford some more options as he looks to bring the Rams back to the playoffs. Great job by St. Louis. Grade: A-
San Francisco 49ers: Aldon Smith was a risky pick by the Niners in the first round. I'm not sure I like any of their picks, other than Colin Kaepernick (he looks like he could be decent). Chris Culliver is not a good pick in the third round, and none of their other draft choices appear to have the right tools to be great. Harbaugh better know what he's doing over there. Grade: D
Arizona Cardinals: Shore up the secondary? Check. Get a few more offensive weapons? Check. Grab a potential stud linebacker? Check. Draft a franchise quarterback? Fail. Arizona better have lined up a good QB to come in and play under center, or this team will win 5 games again in 2011. Grade: B+ (C- if John Skelton is Arizona's QB).