OT: Detroit Lions First Round Draft Choice
The Lions will select 10th overall in the upcoming 2014 NFL draft. What the Detroit Lions do with that pick will be very important because they have a few holes to fill. The right choice could help the Lions finally get back to the playoffs. When talking about the head coaching vacancies in the NFL, everyone says the Lions job is by far the best one. It will be important for the next coach to come in and start winning right away, because this Lions team is built to win now. This draft could be huge for the new coach, because of the talent and the players they could get to fill some of those holes.
The Detroit Lions need to address certain issues in the draft. I think the biggest needs are at wide receiver, defensive back, outside linebacker, and then offensive line. Most importantly, the Lions need to find someone productive to put opposite of Calvin Johnson. Johnson is a work horse, but he keeps taking a beating and eventually he will start missing more time than he already has. The next most important thing the Lions need to cover is a defensive back. The Lions went out and signed Glover Quin last off-season, which was probably their biggest free agency signing in a while. So the staff knows that they need help in the secondary. They can not just stop with the signing of Quin though, because they still need help in the backfield.
Link: http://www.motownfinest.com/
What do you guys think? Who should the Lions draft? Who is the best option? It would be nice if Sammy Watkins would drop to the Lions.
January 11th, 2014 at 9:54 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
There are ton of QB needy teams at top 5-10. There's Clowney, Barr, Mack, Matthews and Robinson who are likely top 10 picks. That's about 8-9 potential players taken before Watkins is considered.
If not Watkins, I want Eric Ebron. Freak athlete at TE who can line up at X, Y, Z and slot WR position.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:29 AM ^
I saw Ebron in UNC's bowl game. He looks to have Funchess skill/speed/versatility with legit NFL TE size. He would be a great pick, especially if Pettigrew walks. Watkins obviously should be close to, if not at, #1 on the Lions' board, but Ebron would be a 1a vs. 1b type of fall-back plan.
January 11th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^
Their is no way they can pass on Trey Burke if he's still there.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
HAHAHAhahaha..haha..ha....ehhhh..........shit.
Still too soon.
January 11th, 2014 at 11:23 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 11:36 AM ^
Sammy Watkins and if he doesn't drop to them there aren't really any other receivers or d-backs who deserve a Top 10 pick so trade back to someone who has multiple first rounds or a first and second and pick up your best available receiver and corner.
January 11th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
trading back for multiple awesome picks isn't as easy as a lot of people seem. Teams always try to lowball unless you are the Browns and want Kellen Winslow. I agree though...Watkins or TRY to get out of the pick
January 11th, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
There has to be value worth trading down or they'll stand pat and take a player.
January 11th, 2014 at 9:04 PM ^
Acquiring an extra pick = value.
January 11th, 2014 at 11:07 PM ^
If a team trade back 15 spots and get other team's 1st round plus their 7th round pick. Does that mean that they got value just because of one extra pick? No.
January 16th, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^
If the player the team wants is going to be available later in the first round with the acquired pick, then yes, that means they got value. This is why you always hear Kiper (who I think has his head very far up his own ass a good deal of the time, but I agree with him conceptually here) and others like him harping on teams for taking particular players "too early." If you want player X, and player X will be available with the 25th pick, then trade back to the 25th pick and pick up a little something extra. Value.
January 11th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 9:57 AM ^
I feel like for the past decade, I've been saying get a top notch DB. So...get a top notch DB. NFL is a passing league, but I feel good WRs are easier to find than good DBs. With Johnson, they don't need another top-10 draft pick type WR. They just need a good one. But they do need serious help in the secondary, and a top-10 type DB I feel is more worth it. Should be able to find a good WR early in the second round.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
I don't think CB or S are worth #10 overall pick in this year draft.
Lions have a lot of young players who are either in their 1st or 2nd year in the league. It's time to develop players especially Slay.
January 11th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
Evans from Texas A&M.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^
But that kid has NFL headache written all over him. And if he gets lazy with his frame, it's David Boston 2.0 with no return.
For a team with strong leadership, absolutely, but not for the Lions.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:29 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
I'll bet you would've mocked the Buzz Killingtons of the world who said, "don't take Titus Young, the guy's a head case."
I mean, sorry he didn't like your idea and all, I guess that was rough on you. It's not buzzkill though.
January 11th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
is he won't bully every CBs and he faded big time at the end of the season. IMO, Johnny Football made him because of his ability to extend plays. Evans is a stiff athlete who isn't a good route runner. He struggles to create separation, but he is fantastic at contested catches which makes up for it. Problem is it's hard to translate it into the NFL because NFL CBs are much more adept at knocking balls out of WRs hands.
IMO, he's one of the more overrated prospect who are hyped as a top 15 pick. He's a very good WR and is better off getting drafted at 2nd round where his true value lies.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^
LSU trotted out a freshman who just happened to be 6'1" on him and he basically did nothing against him. We have enough guys on the team who we've drafted simply because they're tall, we need a more complete pick at receiver.
January 12th, 2014 at 9:28 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 9:59 AM ^
Because this is the answer in every other thread, Norfleet.
and yes I know he is not in the draft, that is how badly the Lions do on draft day.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
The Lions got the PFF rookie of the year in the third round, their first round pick led all rookies in sacks, and they picked up two stars out of UDFA.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
i've been in a coma for two years and just came out of it.
are the Lions good now?
January 11th, 2014 at 11:31 AM ^
in over a decade. I think you can understand why people might be skeptical of the Lions drafting ability
January 11th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
was a good one as well. Got Stafford, Pettigrew, Delmas and Levy. Sammie Lee Hill was a contributor and signed with the Titans as a rotational DT.
2010 draft was solid only because they traded picks to land Sims, Williams and Houston. It was a bargain trade and all three contributed to the 2011 playoff team.
2011 draft was not a good one. Only Fairley panned out, but it depends on which Fairley will show up. The one who is dominant or the one who disappeared.
Still too early to tell on 2012 draft and 2013 draft, but 2013 draft looks to be a strong draft.
Say what you want about Mayhew, his draft record is no different than other GMs. He had good drafts and had some clunkers. Expecting GMs to hit on every single pick is unrealistic.
January 11th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
i get it, i get it -- Mayhew hasn't been horrible.
But as a Lions fan for about 30 years, it's going to take a lot more than a few good draft picks to convince me that the Lions have it all figured out.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
...but I think it's a deep draft for WRs this year, especially with Watkins and Lee coming out.
I said, take Lewan in round 1 (which could allow Reiff to move to RT) and Jordan Matthews out of Vandy in round 2. He's flying under the radar after being compared to Larry Fitzgerald all year.
You also have guys like L'Damian Washington from Mizzou or Shaq Evans from UCLA that will be available in the midrounds. If you're looking for a midround slot, Gallon could be your guy or Huff from Oregon or Reese from Baylor. It's a very solid WR draft IMO.
I would just go OL in round 1 because if you don't get a starter, there really isn't any point in drafting OL (for the Lions), they already have a bunch of solid backup types, a 3rd or 4th round guy isn't going to be much of an upgrade. They need to draft a C for the future, but that can be done in the later rounds.
I also don't see much depth on the OL if Reiff were to miss any time.
I'd go Lewan and know, okay, I'm good up front for awhile with two good YOUNG tackles.
Then I'd go WR (2nd), then CB (3rd), I believe they don't have a 4th rounder, then C (5th), then LB (6th), then S (7th), then WR again (7th)
January 11th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^
...but also Cyrus Kouandjio if he graded out better than Lewan and both are available.
I forgot to mention him as well since he's declared for the draft.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
I said draft a starting OT...knowing you have 2 solid YOUNG OTs.
It would in turn provide you with some depth if Reiff got hurt and it would push the current RT inside or to the bench as the first backup...which also gives you better depth.
But that's not why you do it, that's just a bonus. The reason you do it is to upgrade your OL and know you're set (except for C down the road) for the foreseeable future.
The reason the DL got so good is because they saw it through, the drafted DL until every position was filled and a bonus was that they got some quality depth and/or situational players.
Draft Lewan or Kouandjio at 10 and your OL looks very good for a long time. You're not looking for FAs or screwing with anything...you've got your guys to go in front of your QB. Now let's go fill other holes.
January 11th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
i would take best player available at WR, CB or LB. if none appear worthy of a #10 pick, then trade down a bit.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:41 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
If your draft pick sits on the bench, even for a year (a la Fairley) you are underutilizing them. Unless you're a super bowl contender that already has every positin address and can afford to 'develop' 1st rounders, this is a very stupid move.
I applaud looking beyond the knee-jerk "we need a WR" analysis and I agree WR is a deep position, but the Lions do appear pretty set along the OL. Drafting for depth or pushing aside a quality starter for a marginal improvement isn't smart. The Lions have big holes to fill at other positions, especially in the secondary. If an OL is truly the best player available by a wide margin, than they should take him, but otherwise they must consider team needs. First round picks (other than QBs) should be immediate starters.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 10:23 AM ^
Then draft a RT in Lewan or Kouandjio. Either or.
But Watkins isn't going to fall, and this is a really deep WR class. Take the elite OT now and then go get your WR since you have an Elite WR.
Hell, I wouldn't be opposed to the Lions taking TWO WRs in the 2nd and like 5th rounds. Get Matthews from Vandy in the 2nd and then get Gallon/Huff/Reese in the 5th to play the slot.
I think that may be overkill, but I wouldn't be screaming at my TV about it.
What the Lions SHOULDN'T do is say we need a WR first, DB second and OL 3rd and then wait until the 3rd round to draft an OL. That's not going to help them other than provide young depth. They don't need to be drafted for young depth in the 3rd round. That young depth isn't going to be any better than the backups they have now...he'll just be younger.
So even if you need a WR first, go get a starting OT, then come back and get a starting WR in the 2nd and a potential starting DB in the 3rd.
I wanted like hell for them to draft Brandon Boykin a couple years ago and he was a 4th round pick. I think you can find a similar DB in the 3rd round of this draft. Maybe Deion Belue from Bama or LaMarcus Joyner from FSU?
January 11th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
The offensive line this past season was much improved. I do not believe it was an issue and they looked to be set at RT with Waddle and Fox. Waddle graded out as one of the top RTs in the league last year. This was Reiff's first year at LT and I thought he was solid, but he will improve.
If you are looking at impact players that will get the team into the playoffs you have to look at the skill positions.
WR is the biggest need on this team. Outside of Calvin Johnson, they don't really have anyone that is reliable catching the ball. There is not much depth there. If you fix that problem by taking Watkins or Evans, this team is a playoff team. After the 1st pick, I would go defense the rest of the draft. If a db drops, trade back into the first round to get him.
I do tend to agree that if you could grab Gallon in a later round, I would do it, but I view him more as a possession receiver (like Welker) in the NFL. You still need a big fast WR for the otherside of the field.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
Lewan would be a waste of pick because Lions already have two young OT who will start for the next 7-10 years in Reiff and Waddle. Throw in Warford who has been arguably the best OG in the league this past season. OL is the last thing in Lions mind except future OC replacement for Riaola.
Lions #1 need is WR. Durham and Burleson isn't cutting it at outside WR. Broyles future is murky with 2 knee injuries. Only CJ and Jeremy Ross who are worth keeping. They need to draft at minimum 2 WRs. One at 1st two rounds and another at later rounds at 4th or 6th round.
January 11th, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
Yost must not watch many Lions games.(Can't say I blame him)
I also agree about WR being he #1 need. They need at least one, if not two, receivers. I'd also look at TE, OLB, and CB.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
For some reason, late round TEs seem to have great value. I surely wouldn't mind if the Lions go after one later in the draft.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
but, don't take a cornerback.
I argue over and over that the rules favor offense and that shut down corners are useless in the modern NFL.
I want a wideout to tandem with calvin like the bears use jeffery and marshall...
jdon
January 11th, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^
The majority, if not all, super bowl contending teams have at least one 1st round pick at CB (or a guy who should have been)