Mel Kiper's Draft Grades: Detroit Lions Winners, Seattle Seahawks Losers

Mel Kiper made quick work of his 2011 NFL Draft grades, revisiting all 254 picks and handing out evaluations on Saturday night. Kiper's grades fell in line with most of the other national pundits and the big winners and losers are about what anyone who saw the draft would expect. The Detroit Lions came away the biggest winner while the Seattle Seahawks received the sad trombone award in the 2011 NFL Draft.

While the Lions' picks were solid, Kiper, and many others, wondered if they addressed the glaring needs on the roster. To be clear, Detroit came away with plenty of steals and took the best available talent, but it's unclear whether the roster can succeed because of it. Still, the value picked up by the Lions in the draft was in a league of its own.

Detroit hit home runs all over in terms of value, but the question is whether the Lions did enough to help the talent level in a way that can further conceal weaknesses

To find the Seahawks, one most scroll all the way to the bottom of Kiper's grades, where it sits on its own as the lowest ranked draft class. Seattle received a D+ overall, the only team to accomplish such a feat. For some reason, the national pundits are still upset Seattle didn't take Andy Dalton, which is still perplexing to me. However, Kiper thinks he may know why.

By passing on Andy Dalton, the clear impression is that Seattle has other plans (or hopes to) at quarterback. Could it be Carson Palmer or Kevin Kolb? I hope the Seahawks have better plans for quarterback than they appeared to in terms of adding value here. Carpenter fits a need, but was a reach with better tackle available.

With the NFL lockout in place, we have no idea what Pete Carroll's plan may be, but the speculation will run rampant until the offseason truly begins. For now, perhaps the thought of Kolb or Palmer will help Seattle fans sleep a little bit easier, reducing the amount of Charlie Whitehurst related nightmares for Seahawks fans.

We'll be compiling all the post-draft notes in our 2011 NFL Draft recap StoryStream, including positional breakdowns, picks by conference, picks by school and more. Keep an eye on our post-draft StoryStream for interesting tidbits, facts, figures and all sorts of reaction. To find you favorite team, be sure to explore our 305 sports blogs for a local angle.