McShay's latest mock draft has Lewan at #9 overall (#2 OL)
Todd McShay released another mock draft yesterday (LINK, $). In it, he has Lewan going #9 overall to San Diego. Here's what he had to say about Lewan:
The Chargers must protect QB Philip Rivers better. They hope the healthy return of LT Jared Gaither will fill one spot, but they would still need a right tackle in that scenario and Lewan would fit the bill. He has the length to be effective in pass protection, and he's a tenacious run-blocker who gets under the skin of defenders.
I don't know about you, but I know I would definitely pass up an opportunity to be a top-10 overall pick, a hefty signing bonus, and risk injury for a chance to improve my draft position by 7 or 8 spots. It would be an easy decision. No brainer. Wouldn't even have to ask me twice.
December 13th, 2012 at 10:52 AM ^
And Dee Milliner is solid. But I can't see them passing up Lewan if they had the chance to draft him.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:19 AM ^
Riley Rieff is the Lions' LT of the future. The immediate need is in the secondary.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:30 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^
The Lions will absolutely not draft Lewan unless he somehow dropped into the later rounds - which is not happening.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:40 PM ^
to take a chance on the Honey Badger
December 13th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^
as an undrafted free agent.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
Leave that one up to the Bengals.
December 13th, 2012 at 9:02 PM ^
NCST's Amerson?
December 13th, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^
I still remember in '08 when McShay felt up until three weeks before the draft that Andre Woodson would be a first round pick. Or the Jevan Snead situation. This guy blows.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:03 AM ^
Yes, because he's made mistakes before, he's obviously a crock.
Under that arguement, every single NFL front office also sucks at this, because they've all made big mistakes.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:17 AM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 11:37 AM ^
I think OP just made a mis-typed and the last paragraph was supposed to read, “...but I know I would definitely NOT pass up an opportunity to be a top-10 overall pick, a hefty signing bonus, and risk injury...” Wasn’t it?
Edit: beaten to post the wrong answer then. (Speaking of which, wonder how far Barkley is going to drop in comparison to last year?)
December 13th, 2012 at 12:34 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 10:59 AM ^
It'll be fun to see those guys play together again
December 13th, 2012 at 11:01 AM ^
Yes, but he was just put on IR, I think. However, that allowed old michigan lineman stephen schilling to be added back on the roster. So it's not all bad news I guess.
December 13th, 2012 at 1:46 PM ^
Molk to IR with thumb injury and Schilling back in, but as a back up on an already rag tag line. Interesting quote from Larry Foote before the game last Sunday:
From UT article:
Steelers linebacker Larry Foote, a Michigan man, asked
San Diego reporters for an update on three younger
Michigan men with the Chargers: Jonas Mouton and
Stephen Schilling, both drafted in 2011, and David Molk,
taken in 2012.
Foote was displeased to hear that Molk is on injured reserve, that
Mouton, selected 61st, sat out the '11 season and didn't make his
NFL debut until last Sunday, and that Schilling was cut before
the season and re-signed this week.
“Too much fun in the sun,” Foot said in jest. “They’re out
there surfing too much. Tell them I said get their butts in
the weight room and get healthy.”
December 13th, 2012 at 11:05 AM ^
How can you pass up a guaranteed pay-day like this? All the talk will be comparing Lewan to Jake Long -- which is good for Lewan, considering Long has been good in the NFL. Risk of injury, though possibly less for a sturdy OL than others, is still there. Top 10 pick is huge.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
The more I hear from Miami the more I get the feeling they aren't enamoured with Long. For whatever reason he is solid, but not the franchise LT they thought they were drafting at #1.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:49 AM ^
I think the feeling from Miami is that his recent injuries have robbed Long of some of the mobility that made him great, but that they fear that they'd still have to pay him big time LT money to keep him.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:07 PM ^
I'm not sure about Miami's feeling towards Long, but he's certainly well-regarded elsewhere:
NFL.com Top 10 NFL Left Tackles of All-Time - Jake Long #10
ESPN.com / Scouts Inc. 2012 Top Tackles in the NFL - Jake Long #1
December 13th, 2012 at 12:25 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 11:06 AM ^
I think with the new contract scale out of the draft, it's an easier call to leave. In 2010, there was a 30 million difference in guaranteed money between #1 and #10 and a 50 million difference in contracts. In 2012 the difference in contracts between those spots was about 10 million. Significant, but a fraction of the old difference.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^
Taylor is considered a pretty intellegent guy. As a pretty intellegent guy I'm guessing that he has about a 0.00% chance of saying no to the money that the #9 pick in the NFL draft got last year:
"Former Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly agreed to terms with theCarolina Panthers on Thursday night, two weeks after the team made him the No. 9 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Kuechly's four-year deal will pay him $12.578 million total, including a $7.58 million signing bonus."
December 13th, 2012 at 11:14 AM ^
There are things worth more than millions of dollars going to someone I don't know, most importantly, my happiness in UM football. He should stay.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:29 AM ^
Hell yes man - I like the way you are thinking. And why stop at fooball? I cannot wait to see what a senior Trey Burke is going to do on the floor too.
About time somebody said what we all are thinking. Screw the athletes personal best interest - whats in it for ME. And my viewing pleasure watching Michigan football will be much higher with Taylor at left tackle than without.
Welcome back Taylor.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:23 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 11:39 AM ^
The question is whether Taylor Lewan is willing to give up millions of dollars and risk injury for another shot at the Rose Bowl. I don't envy his decision.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^
Jevan
Snead
December 13th, 2012 at 11:47 AM ^
We'll always have the twosie and TL's photobombing of the Lambda Lambda Lamb pic. I miss him already.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:54 AM ^
If the Lions lose to Arizona this weekend, Te'o would be a possibility.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 12:11 PM ^
To a successful and healthy career in the NFL.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:32 PM ^
I really want Lewan to stay, but staying is not the smart move; going pro is the smart move. He has nothing left to prove in college. He is going to make lots of money. He should leave.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^
Plus, won't he finish his degree this year? I thought I heard that somewhere, and if true, gives him absolutely no reason to stay another year.
December 13th, 2012 at 7:30 PM ^
It's one thing if you're projected in the 2nd or 3rd round (possibly even late first round) to come back, but if you're projected Top 10 you can only improve your draft stock so much. Get while the getting's good.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:47 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
Good for him /fuckkkkk
December 13th, 2012 at 1:31 PM ^
I doubt the Lions take by need again. The moves they make (and don't make) leave me baffled. We had needs across the board and they went after virtually nobody during free agency-palooza after the lockout. They needed OLine, LBs, and Secondary up the wazzoo the last 2 years yet they drafted backups early, needs late (and in bulk,) went after none in FA, (even though several good ones were available, even local CB Brandon Carr) and then proceeded to release several before and during the season. There were good linemen, LBs, and secondary players available late in the last 2 drafts even, like Molk, Mike Brewster, Marcus Cannon, Steve Schilling, Herzlich, Vontaze Burfict, Sterling Moore, Alfonzo Dennard... Not longshot players, but guys with potential to be good backups and maybe challenge for starting spots. Maybe I was biased towards those picks, but they turned out all right for how late they were drafted. Still can't believe some of the guys we passed on at positions of need to take Nick Fairley. We could've taken any one of the great OT prospects that year, and drafted any one of Hightower, Mercilus, Nick Perry, Upshaw, Harrison Smith, or Janoris Jenkins with our 2012 pick. I was speechless when we took Broyles this year and passed on Lavonte David, or some of the solid Linemen still on the board. I just don't get the Lions.
December 13th, 2012 at 3:18 PM ^
Yeah, for the last few years, especially coming out of last year's playoff run, I was in "I trust Mayhew" mode because of the great things that they'd done. And truly, it's obvious that the Lions have significant talent; they haven't made the plays this year to win the games that they should have won, but they have the talent needed to finish in the playoff hunt, if not the winning attitude.
But certain games this year, like Tennessee, have shown me that Mayhew has serious talent evaluation problems, and I'm convinced that the coaching staff has serious game preparation problems. It's disappointing to see this team flounder like this, but they're clearly no worse than a .500 team, and they've instead gone the way of the 2011 Bucs.
December 13th, 2012 at 4:15 PM ^
... he was reputed to be going in the top 3; falling to the Lions seemed like a godsend at the time. Teams are built from a QB and then the lines outward, and if your front three or four can stuff linemen in the run game and rush the passer without significant blitzes, you are well on your way to defensive success.
The problem was with whoever evaluated players and didn't pick up on (or discounted) the factors that caused him to drop in the first place. Those guys have horrible success rates anyway, so it's not surprising; just saddening.
December 13th, 2012 at 4:08 PM ^
because of salary cap space. They have no cap to sign players they would like to sign. They had to restructure Stafford, KVB, Burleson and Suh contract in order to get enough money to extend Megatron's contract.
Lions are in cap hell because of Millen's incompetence. Several failed draft picks especially at 1st round killed the Lions because they were operating under the old CBA rule. They wont' go after a lot of FA because of it again. They will let go a lot of starters whose contracts are up after this season. They will have to make tough decisions going forward. They will invest on drafting young players and groom them to take over the spot and discard veterans. They have to do it because they have 3 massive contracts with Stafford, Suh and Megatron taking up half of the cap space.
You mentioned OT, they drafted Riley Rieff to be the OT of the future to replace Backus once he retires. They drafted Broyles to become an eventual replacement for Burleson. In the light of Titus Young, it's a wise draft choice.
Nick Fairley was a top 5 talent who happen to fall to their lap and pairing both Fairley and Suh wasn't a bad idea. I am one of the few who love the pick because of the talent he possess at DT. Having two disruptive DTs is huge. The biggest problem is the DE are average and have no burst to threaten the edge. I expect the Lions to take a DE to replace Avril and KVB and the DE class is so strong that they probably will take 2 in the draft.
December 13th, 2012 at 5:53 PM ^
Millen's terrible drafts have nothing to do with the Lions cap problems, unless you think that drafting Megatron was a mistake. All his bad #1 draft choices disappeared off the Lions cap the season after they were cut (teams take a cap hit for the entirety of the remainder of the signing bonus in the year a player is cut, otherwise, NFL contracts are not guaranteed). They're in cap hell because they have three players drafted 1, 2 and 2 in under the old CBA rules, which drove high draft pick rookie contracts through the roof.
December 13th, 2012 at 9:58 PM ^
December 13th, 2012 at 3:18 PM ^
Lions need to use all picks on defense. Starting with Te'o to shore up the MLB spot.
December 13th, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^