Bears
Bears WR Devin Duvernay said he opted to sign with Chicago after seeing what HC Ben Johnson was building within the facility.
“Ben Johnson and the vision he has and what he’s trying to build is what excites me,” Duvernay said, via the team’s website. “He wants people that work, that are about the team, that want to be successful and that see his vision clearly. Talking with him, he just seems very focused, very dialed in, and as a player, that’s definitely what you want to see in a coach.”
Johnson said he’s excited about the speed element that Duvernay adds to the offense and special teams units.
“He’s got timed speed,” Johnson said. “He’s a low 4.4, 4.3 guy. He was with [Bears pass game coordinator] Press Taylor last year in Jacksonville and we’re really encouraged with what we saw on tape.”
Lions
The Lions added three free-agent CBs, including D.J. Reed, which puts 2024 second-round pick Ennis Rakestraw‘s role in question. Detroit HC Dan Campbell clarified they are not pessimistic about Rakestraw despite the additions, and he discussed the expectation that Rakestraw will improve.
“I would anticipate this guy takes another step up, man”, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s website. “We’re not down on him. We’re not disappointed. We expect him to go in there and compete, man. There is nothing set in stone. You draft guys where you do and you sign guys according to what you think they’re going to be for you, but the best man is going to play. So, he’s very much in that mix.”
Lions GM Brad Holmes echoed Campbell’s excitement for Rakestraw but admitted they couldn’t be forced to depend on him after an injury-filled rookie year.
“We’re still excited about Rakestraw, but unfortunately, he had injuries, and he wasn’t healthy enough to provide us a little bit more clarity in terms of where he was gonna be, so, I didn’t think it was going to be rational for us to depend on him,” Holmes added.
Packers
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said the team will look to bolster their linebacker depth in the draft.
“I think we played three linebackers more this past year than I expected us to,” Gutekunst said, via the team’s website. “I think if there’s anything coming out of this past year … we maybe need more bodies than we had.”
Gutekunst said that LB Isaiah McDuffie embodies what it meant to be a Packer and didn’t want to let him walk in free agency.
“As we were talking, that made a lot of sense to bring him back,” Gutekunst said. “He’s just a glue guy, does everything the right way and again, when you have a player of his caliber who’s been an elite (special) teams player and really performed very well every time you put him on the field on defense, it just made sense.”
Gutekunst also has high hopes for LB Ty’Ron Hopper to get more opportunities and make a second-year jump in his second year.
“Obviously he didn’t get as many opportunities as he probably would’ve liked but I think certainly that will come,” Gutekunst said. “I thought in practice throughout the year he continued to develop. Every time he got an opportunity, whether it was preseason or towards the end of the year, I thought he produced and showed what we were looking for.”
The post NFC Notes: Devin Duvernay, Ennis Rakestraw, Bears, Lions, Packers Draft Buzz appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.