2012 NFL Draft Grades: Packers and Teams That Made Great Defensive Picks

The NFL has become a passing league, but defense is still the common denominator among all Super Bowl-winning teams.

The New York Giants had a good offense last season, but they won the Super Bowl by playing great defense against some talented passing offenses throughout the playoffs.

You cannot win in pro football without a strong defense, so let's look at three teams that drafted very well defensively this year.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers ranked dead last in football last season in pass defense, allowing an average of 300 yards through the air per game.

To better their pass defense, they added versatile USC star Nick Perry, who can rush the passer effectively as a defensive end or as an outside linebacker. He and former USC linebacker Clay Mathews will be a very good tandem in the middle of the Packers defense for a long time.

Drafting Perry in the first round was a great move by the Packers, and taking Jerel Worthy in the second round was a great value, too. The Michigan State star was one of the better defensive tackles in this class and is a player who can excel at nose tackle for the Packers.

Green Bay did a nice job through the draft of rebuilding the defense that let it down in the playoffs last season against the Giants.

New England Patriots

The Patriots needed to draft two players who could start in a pass-rushing mold right away, and with Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones and Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower, they did just that.

Head coach Bill Belichick found two players he liked and traded up twice to get both of them in the first round.

The Patriots did not rush the quarterback consistently last season and had injuries to key players along the defensive line.

With Jones and Hightower, New England added two athletic playmakers who will strengthen its defense next season.

St. Louis Rams

The Rams acquired a lot of picks for this year's draft and future ones by trading their No. 2 overall selection, but they made the most of their picks in 2012.

In the first round, the Rams took LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers, and in the second round they chose cornerback Janoris Jenkins from North Alabama. Jenkins has a lot of character issues and off-the-field concerns, but the former Florida Gators star is an immense talent who will be a perennial Pro Bowl player if he stays out of trouble.

The Rams did a nice job of improving a young defense through this draft.