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Who Were the Winners in Each Conference?

Okay, okay so Detroit goes ahead and lays out for a quarterback with its number one overall pick, but after South Carolina kicker Ryan Succop, the last pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, going 256th overall to the Kansas City Chiefs to claim the Mr. Irrelevant Award, which teams did some of  the experts feel made out the best?

 NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper likes what the Green Bay Packers accomplished. Not only bolstering their defense with their top picks, B.J. Raji and Clay Matthews, but Kiper likes the talent of offensive lineman T.J. Lang and fullback Quinn Johnson as well. On the AFC side, Kiper gave the nod to the New York Jets citing a shrewd move to bag USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

 I agree that the Packers probably had the best draft of any team, but don’t think the Jets’ Sanchez will be the next Broadway Joe.

 Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson also gives the nod to the Green Bay Packers with their selection of key defenders BJ Raji and Clay Matthews.

 His AFC counterpart, Jason Cole,  liked what both the Patriots and Ravens did to bolster their roster. In trading down as well as collecting more picks for 2010, New England invigorates their squad with a much needed youth push.  

 Certainly the Patriots are overdue to develop younger players and they did well to address it.

 At America’s national paper, Larry Weisman of the USA Today feels the powers in the NFC East, the Giants and Eagles, really came out of it all very strong and in that case I think his “rich getting richer” call is certainly the case here. Weisman also likes the dozen picks New England came away with as a whole and feels the Buffalo Bills scored some key talent especially defensive end Aaron Maybin.

 Also a fan of what the Eagles did is CBSSports.com’s Pete Prisco  Prisco is particularly fond of the speed receiver Jeremy Maclin will bring to Philly’s attack.

 Fanhouse’s Tom Herrera  likes Baltimore in the AFC and the Packers in the NFC.

 A lot can happen before these rooks take the field in 2009, but on paper it looks like there were a few clear winners.

 How did your favorite team do in the 2009 NFL Draft? Tell us!