OT: Eric Ebron Opinions
Definitely meant 55 years. They have won, as you may know, zero playoff games in the last 5 years.
I don't hate the pick, but I thought moving up to take Watkins should have been their play
Not for the price. Holy crap, not for that price.
Fuller, Dennard, Donald, or Shazier all would have been way better picks. Who the hell takes a one-dimensional TE at #10? You grab those kind of guys in the later rounds.
I think Eric Ebron is a great talent, but there seems to be enough talent at the TE position. There were other positions to address, and I hope the Lions made some good decisions in the next two days. This draft seems very deep.
No, the Lions don't need a CB. Neither Justin Gilbert or Darqueze Dennard would have been improvements over Chris Houston or Darius Slay. Slay just finished his rookie season--years where most CBs struggle. I think I'll wait to see what happens this year before writing him off.
Frankly, I'll take Ebron over a CB.
And if you watched the Lions you would know that their pass rush struggled mightily at times--particularly from the DE spot. Ansah showed promise, but he needs more than one move. Plus, he is more of a power rusher. What the Lions need is a speed rusher that they once had in Cliff Avril. They need someone to be a disruptive force from DE or OLB.
What they also need is a safety. Dix or Pryor would have great fits. The question is whether they are worth the #10 pick. If not, could they have traded down? This is what none of us know.
I don't mind that. I'm of the opinion that teams have had half a year to set up these draft boards and they ought to know who sits where on their board, especially in the top half of the first round. The ten minutes are for trades and gamesmanship.
It's pretty apprent people don't actually pay attention to anything that is going on with the Lions. There is a reason they signed Tate and drafted Ebron, and that reason being their receiving corps was hot garbage last year. Outside of Calvin, it's all trash. Calvin is simply so good that he covers up for a lot of problem areas in the Lions passing attack.
The Lions 2d best reciver was Reggie Bush. Their 3rd best receiver was Joique Bell.
On a team whose strength is supposed to be its downfield passing attack, having your runningback and your back up runningback as your 2nd and 3rd best options at receiver is awful.
Nate Burelson was not very good and he's no longer with the franchise. Kris Durham should never be considered anything more than a 4th or 5th wideout.
The Lions desperatey need horses in their receiving corps. Adding Golden Tate and Eric Ebron helps out tremendously. It also takes a ton of pressure off CJ, because let's face it, he's been really banged up the last few years despite being a monster. He can't keep carrying the entire passing game on his back.
The Lions want to build a Saints style passing attack, and having Kris Durham as your number 2 option on the outside is embarrassing. That's why they got Golden. It's why they drafted Ebron.
Hell, I wouldn't be opposed to taking a WR with either their 2nd or 3rd round pick if someone falls.
They've drafted a ton of corners the last few years. That's a position that takes time to develop, and they like the guys that they have.
Right now their biggest need is to find a pass rusher, either at DE or OLB.
The last thing they needed was to throw yet another high pick at corner and just have 5 or 6 young guys splitting playing time while with nobody developing like they should.
Same old lions.
Let the clusterfuck continue!
The announcement of Ebron made me throw my remote across the room into a bunch of pillows that I put there just in case. We need defensive help in the secondary and these morons get a damn TE. Typical Lions.
Now after the initial disappointment I kind of get why hey did it. Calvin could possibly get hurt an given the lack of receiving help prior to this year he isn't going to get better. The addition of Tate somewhat alleviates that notion, but even still the threat looms if it's just Tate and Bush as primary targets.
Paddlehands isn't a reliable enough target to go to and make a big play (why we resigned him is beyond me) and Fauria could still use some seasoning. The dimension of Ebron allows another target incase Calvin goes down and we need a big play threat.
He reminds me instead of a Antonio Gates like player rather then a Jimmy Graham, not to say he is as good as Gates but that's his style of play. His roles though will be the same as a mismatch for both OLB and DB alike (I don't think it's a coincidence that both Packers and Bears got DB help after our selection when both need help in other areas).
Also, as much as I like Fuller as a prospect if I'm honest with myself Ebron is better. The Lions went BPA and got a guy that serves a purpose on the team and is good player. There are plenty of DBs and OLBs and such to choose from later and we get our guy then.
Ebron may or may not have been the best player left available. People had him pretty high up and the Lions jumped on him, so obviously he must at least be a pretty serious prospect. However, I'm struggling a bit to see how he exactly fits in here.
The offense was the biggest problem late in the season last year, but to me, that was much more on Stafford than on anything the receivers, tight ends, and running backs did. Yes, there were plenty of drops, but the inaccurate passes and interceptions crippled the offense. Even if you do believe the drops killed the team, I'm not sure Ebron is your guy considering he is considered to have dropped a lot of balls in college.
As more of a general observation, it also looks like a lot of guys are going to be battling for snaps on the field this year. With Stafford, Calvin, and the line, that gives you 4 positions left to rotate. The Lions made an effort in free agency to bring in not only Tate, but also Bush last year. On top of that, you have Bell (who some believe has been better than Bush) and you just resigned Pettigrew. You are certainly going to draft another WR in this draft and you have guys like Broyles as well. That's a good deal of depth.
Now, you put Ebron into the mix as well. Everybody always says you can't have enough weapons, but it seems likely that you're going to either have a big time player or a high draft pick sitting on the bench pretty often next year. Personally, I'm not crazy about that and especially not for a "the time is now" mindset, but at least there's talent, I guess.
For me, if you were making a luxury pick, I would have rather seen it at a different position than tight end. If you look back recently, there haven't been many tight ends taken in the 1st Round and especially not as a Top 20 picks (Ebron was #10). In fact, Cinci and Detroit occupy all 4 tight end picks since 2008 and Detroit made the only Top 20 picks (Ebron & Pettigrew) since 2006. Ebron was also the first Top 10 pick since 2006. This at least partially makes me feel like I would have rather had a guy at a different position. Heck, maybe even Lewan.
FWIW, it's been said he's the best TE prospect since Vernon Davis. Whether that ends up being the case or not, I have no idea.
I don't think it's a bad pick. The other NFC North teams can't be too happy about the Lions picking up another offensive weapon and it's one more mismatch for opposing defenses to have to deal with. They've got a few guys now that can get yardage after the catch. This team should be really good at moving the ball between the 20's.
Does he play defense?
But I don't hate it, either. Lombardi's offense in New Orleans used a lot of 2 TE sets, and now hopefully Pettigrew can focus more on blocking, since he is actually good there. I still wish they had traded down and gone defense, though.
I am still trying to figure out whether Russ Thomas is running this draft from the grave or if WCF is running it from his de facto nursing home.
If WCF is running this draft it's from the same place Russ Thomas is.
If I'm not mistaken, the last TE taken in the top 10 was Vernon Davis. If Ebron is even close to his talent level it's a great pick.
They seem like similar players - Very fast for a TE (or very big and strong for a WR). Matchup nightmare. Davis can be frustrating at times, but he's a dynamic playmaker. Let's hope this guy's a similar talent.
TE is kind of the "it" position on offense in the NFL these days, and the Pats, Falcons, Saints and Niners prove the value if the right player is used properly.
Johnson, Tate, Bush Ebron, Fauria and even Pettigrew - that could be a devastating offensive attack. It's also good to give Stafford big targets.
probably their best player. They got a good deal when they traded him, too.
In terms of how people felt when the pick was made, Suh was a wildly popular one. Undoubtedly the most-liked pick. Most OL picks were popular too (Reiff, Backus) - the exception being Cherilus, though it wasn't because of the position, it's because there were other more highly-rated tackles available.
then Ebron is a nice pick; judging from highlights I've seen, he's a pretty dynamic receiver who is capable of making some spectacular grabs.
If you believe that you have to have a great defense to get to the Super Bowl, then the pick is questionable.
I was meh on Roy, as I felt we shouldn't be taking another WR, but since Rogers is so terrible, we do still kinda need him.
I completely list my shit with the Mike Williams pick. I'm not even gonna elaborate, but it was aweful.
I wasn't thrilled with Ernie Simms, but had no issue since we didn't do anything asinine.
Calvin Johnson was the pick that was actually a no brainier. I didn't care about our other rec. because they were aweful or gone, and Calvin was the Durant of this draft. That much better than everyone else.
I hated Gohsder because we traded down to avoid taking future pro bowlers to pile up picks and get Gohsder. Wtf?
Stafford I liked, pettigrew I hated because, who takes a right end with a first round pick when their defense is covered with needs, and yiur franchise qb could really use line help? Apparently us....twice
I loved the Suh pick. That one was obvious at the time, but my most hated pick we've made this far was trading up and giving up picks on a deep draft to get.....Jahvid Best. I argued with everyone I know that this was stupid. Guess who's won a lot of beer from those arguments.
Fairley I was critical of..... I may be proven wrong here, but I think the fact that any lineman who's played with Suh has been decent....I still say that pick was wasted.
I thought the Reif pick was solid, and still do... We shall see.
Ansah... Didn't like pick..still don't...see fairley explanation.
Ebron??? I think this fits in with how much u hated the Rogers pick, and the Best pick, but with a player who isn't as bad.