Denard was two picks away from being a Lion
I know this was mentioned later in the Jaguar thread, but gosh darnit:
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/04/report_detroit_lions_told_dena.html#incart_river
When Detroit traded away their upcoming pick after Denard was drafted two spots ahead of theirs, I had a gut feeling that they were ready to pick Robinson and weren't prepared when he went off the board. Then they drafted Theo Riddick, who projects at a similar position, and I pretty much knew I was so close to having a dream come true.
I'm happy that he got drafted, especially in his home state, but you can tell he looks a little befuddled from the video clip when he's drafted. Also, my TV gets a lot more Lions games than Jacksonville.
Shoot.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:45 PM ^
Not too sure the Jaguars are a better team to be on, I was hoping he was going to go to a contender. He is probably lucky that Al Davis is no longer alive, or else he would have been a Raider, simply because he can run and is a freak athlete.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^
they had the opportunity to draft him at #132, and then gamble that Devin Taylor would be available five slots later at #137. Their decision to take Taylor at the earlier pick is an indication of what their priorities were.
Not being a Lions fan I don't regret at all that the Lions pass on drafting any Wolverine, but it's unfortunate for Denard that he ended up with one of the few franchises in the league that are actually worse than the Lions.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:17 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
The Jaguars have a history of some success and I have a lot more faith in them developing an underrated (draft wise) college player as they did with MJD.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^
I would have watched Lions games only to see Denard play again.
But as a Denard fan, I'm glad he's not a Lion.
And it's good to see him achieve his dream of becoming an NFL player.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:18 AM ^
And watching the Lions just to see Denard play is one of the reasons the Lions should have taken him. If he makes the team at all and there's a chance he might touch the ball 2 or 3 times per game, how many extra ticktets and tv sets tuned to the Lions would that account for?
April 28th, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^
that does not make up for the Lions ruining Denard's career like many Lions skill players before him.
Denard should thanking someone above for the Lions or the Browns not selecting him.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 10:49 AM ^
Try 50 years of futility and incompetent ownership. Ford assumed total control of the franchise prior to the 1964 season.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:45 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Playing for the Lions, it would probably be much shorter. Look at the other running backs we've drafted in recent history.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^
Though I'm a Lions fan, it's best for Denard (and the Lions) not to have him here. He needed to get away from the state and go somewhere where he won't feel the same level of pressure. He has enough to worry about in making a team, adjusting to a new position, etc. He doesn't need our local press/fans adding even more expectation to his performance. He also doesn't need the curse of the Ford family upon him. He had a great run in A2, now lets enjoy a new QB in Michigan Stadium...and keep our fingers crossed for Denard back in his home state.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 11:57 AM ^
On the other hand, having so many people pestering the coaches to keep/play him might have actually helped him progress. Hard to say which would have had more of an impact, though, and we won't know now. Just disappointed it's Jacksonville/LA.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:11 AM ^
As Lions fans I'm not sure that most of you are unbiased observers here. The Lions have their issues, sure, but they have a pretty explosive offense. The Jaguars have gotten steadily worse over the last several years and are now an abyssmal team in a division with the Texans and Colts, who both seem like they are on the upswing for the foreseeable future. Jacksonville is almost the last place I wanted to see Denard end up.
April 28th, 2013 at 12:21 PM ^
and as a self-loathing Lions fan, the Lions are by far the last franchise I wanted to draft Lion. I refuse to have any hope in the Lions until the Fords relinquish ownership.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
I'm confident that Denard will earn a roster spot, as I'm not sure if Maurice Jones-Drew has an effective backup, but with Denard and Sanders both bringing the same things to the table, Denard will really have to earn his spot.
April 28th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^
Sanders will be a kick returner/ slot receiver and Denard will play RB.
April 28th, 2013 at 12:13 PM ^
I see Sanders as a punt returner more than a kick returner. I think Denard can be a decent kick returner if he can work out how to catch the ball.
April 28th, 2013 at 12:13 PM ^
Of course one pundit's opinion is worth... Well, I don't know enough about any of them, but since the only two I read ranked Jacksonville's draft (with a new GM) among the top, here's one opinion (Will Brinson, CBSSports.com):
Jaguars: Jacksonville and new GM Dave Caldwell came into this draft with a plethora of needs. They could've gone in almost any direction in terms of their addition of talent, but I like the move to avoid going in on a quarterback and instead giving Blaine Gabbert the type of surrounding cast that forces him to either perform or pack up his bags. Luke Joeckel should provide big protection for Gabbert on the right side with Eugene Monroe on the left, and the combo of Ace Sanders and Denard Robinson is straight spicy. It gives, as Sanders pointed out, the Jaguars "weapons for days."
They add the full tweet from Ace Sanders:
We got weapons for days!! I gotta call my boy denard!!! That's like family! Im real excited
April 28th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
I'm more upset the Lions didn't take Ace. We really needed a KR/PR.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:26 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^
Congrats Denard! You will always be the man.
IMO this is better for our recruiting than say he came to Detroit. Having him back on the 6 oclock news every night in Florida is not a bad thing. Admittedly JAX is not the ideal for media exposure but Florida dude Florida.
I'm tired of all the negativity on this board about the Lions. They are an NFL team. There are only 32, and due to parity in the league, there is no reason they cannot be successful. Yes, they have been disappointing over the last 50 years, but that has nothing really to do with the future. They have a roster with talent, experienced coaches, and young players who are now maturing and learning how to play in the NFL. I expect success in the near future.
And really, how many teams in the league are really that "better" than the Lions, in terms of sustained success in the recent past and into the future? I can list only a few who are clearly the class of the league: New England, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, San Francisco (and they were a mess until Harbaugh), maybe the NY Giants. How about this list? Buffalo, Jacksonville, NY Jets, Miami, Arizona, Cincinnati, Oakland. We get to see the Lions firsthand, but it's not like that list looks much better. Point is, lots of teams struggle for a time period with hiring and firing coaches, GMs, and missing the playoffs. A streak of good luck and consistency of coaches and system should help them get back to the playoffs.
I guess I get it. Everyone wants to loudly profess how much they hate watching the team, how they will never win, etc. They are just lowering expectations as a defense mechanism, so if the team does do well they can be happy, but if they lose, they just shrug it off and can say "yeah, I expected that." People did the same thing during this basketball season. If I had a dollar for every board post here during the MSU/Wisco/PSU/Indiana games that said "this team won't make it out of the first round of the tournamet" I would be rich. If that works for you as a fan, that's good, I guess. Personally though, I prefer to be a little more optimistic. I'm realistic, but it's no fun as a fan if I'm expecting the worst at all times.
All the teams you just listed have had success relatively recently. The Lions have 1 playoff game in 50 years! Despite having the best RB in NFL history, we have sucked more than anyone. The Lions also do a terrible job of developing talent or keeping players motivated and focused. Calvin might be the exception to that if he can continue his success.
Yea my bad. I meant to say one win.
In 1988, plenty of Lions fans said, "Yes, they have been disappointing over the last 25 years, but that has nothing really to do with the future."
There's nothing wrong with being optimistic; the Steelers were a perennial sad-sack franchise under the Rooney family's ownership, but then Art Rooney Sr. took the advice of Don Shula and hired Chuck Noll (Shula's DC) to be head coach starting in 1969. Jim Schwartz has yet to show that he's of that caliber, but it took Noll six seasons to get the Steelers in their first Super Bowl so it's not a foregone conclusion that Schwartz can't get it done.
I stopped really caring about the Lions about 30 years ago not because it's a way to protect my psyche, but because consistent ineptitude isn't entertaining to me. Would you purchase expensive tickets to see a musician if his performances were consistently full of missing notes, playing off-key, and showing up drunk?
"I stopped really caring about the Lions about 30 years"
You gave up on them longer than I've been alive.
There've been plenty of other NFL franchises who've been as crappy as the Lions at various times in their existence, but none of them have gone as long as the Lions have without even sniffing a league title. My annual skepticism about them isn't based on thin air.
The late 80's and early 90's were pretty good years. We were a consistent playoff team with the best runningback, one of the best WRs and a very explosive offense. You had to have a little hope then.
Contrary to report, Lions GM Martin Mayhew said there was no plan to take Denard Robinson in the fifth round before Jacksonville snagged him
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) April 28, 2013
make his way to the Lions in the future as a FA. Jacksonville is not a bad place to start for Denard.