It was nerve racking with that first pick. You at first want Patrick Peterson to fall to maybe where you can trade up and get him. Then your holding your breathe with literally every pick the Prince doesn't get drafted. The Vikings pick Christian Ponder I think we all were so joyous. That's the QB we will be going up against and that was their terrible first round selection. Prince still on the board. Supposedly they were trying to trade down which made sense. The pick came in rather early and I'm sure they were trying to get rid of the pick while the Vikings were on the clock and they might of known by then that there wasn't a trade to be had. I still don't know what to think about it. I think a DT needs to be traded. Don't get me wrong Corey Williams is a good player, but he was offsides so many times. Corey Williams might not be worth a high draft pick, but he is worth a good player. Fairley is a 3 technique, so he fits the scheme, and Suh is a 1 technique. I think it has to help in free agency getting a LB. If I was LB and especially a 4-3 type LB. You know your pretty much going to start and boy your going to be filling a huge hole to put this team over the top. I know you have all heard and had the thought Suh and Fairley will have their reign for a while. Fairley needs to work his butt off and prove he is more than a one year wonder.
Titus Young
What was heard a lot was he is a DeSean Jackson like WR, but he didn't run that 4.3 (he ran a 4.4). He is not DeSean Jackson. It will be a long time till there is another DeSean Jackson. People rated him wrong in the second round including me where he got drafted. If these two were coming out of college at the same time I would have mistakenly taken Titus over Jackson. The reason is Titus has strong hands and really concentrates on the ball while he catches it. He does a good job of not running before catching it. I was afraid Jackson would be like Troy Williamson. Titus doesn't worry me there, he just has such a small frame. Titus fills a need for us at WR and fills it perfectly. Burleson is still the two receiver, but I think you will mainly see Burleson in the slot in 3 wide or more sets. Sadly guys like Akeem Ayers, Aaron Williams, and Bruce Carter were picked just a few picks front of us. Looking back I would say we were just a few picks to high. This might have been the right pick. Martez Wilson really slid down. We wouldn't have had a chance at him in round 3. With hindsight that is good to know.
Mikel Leshoure
My top RB in this class. He runs high, but apparently so did Peterson. This is great value pick and boy is he special. Best and Leshoure are great complements to each other. They are both feature back type guys that should take punishment of each other. I think you could see sets with them both in and send Best out wide. Sets in the shotgun could definitely include them both. It would be a 2 RB 3 wide shotgun set. One of our TEs is not getting on the field. What I love about this set most is you really have to respect the inside handoff, but a LB on Best is already a tough matchup. You fake the handoff inside to freeze the LB and Best is running out to the pass and he already has a few steps on the LB. Could also send Best out wide were someone would have to slide and really respect him and then run it at that LB who is already out position. If you get man coverage, Mikel Leshoure is picking up good yards. Mikel isn't the best blocker in the world, but I think he can get there. He should eventually be able to help with blitz packages. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, this guy is a great threat. I think the best thing about this offense now is if someone goes down there is already a starter to fill in. Last year if CJ was out of a play it was tough. If he is out you run 2 WR sets with 2 TEs or 1 TE 2 RBs. If Best is hurt Mikel can fill in. I'm not saying Titus is a fill in #1 starter for CJ. What I am saying is Pettigrew comes in as a starter at TE. It restricts your sets, but they are all still good sets. Someone is getting a breather. We were always able to rotate the TE position. Now we can rotate WR or TE with a RB. This should keep guys fresh. My biggest complaint is that we are overloaded at the skill positions that they all can't get in, but someone will always be fresh. I contemplate say trading Heller, but I actually say no here. Heller is a good goal line TE who can catch the ball. I do think 4 wide sets would include a TE wide, probably Scheffler. Special RB we got here.
Douglas Hogue
Interesting pick here. Jones, Herzlich (undrafted), Lawrence Wilson, and Quan Sturdivant still on the board. This guy got moved from RB the LB. Don't think of Ernie. Ernie is kind of an idiot and I think the Eagles are realizing that. He ran one of the fastest 40 times, looked excellent in the combine drills, and he catches the ball. He is a work in process. I don't think he necessarily fills a need, but he could start. He needs time before he will be good enough to fill that gap even if he is starting. I think playing him right away might be the best thing for him. This is the type of guy that will dramatically increase his skill set in year 2 in the NFL. He should definitely be a good special teams guy. In that situation I'm taking Jones, Herzlich, and then him. Speaking of Herzlich I wish the best for you, but boy you would look good in Honolulu blue and silver. Best of all you would have a great chance at seeing the field. Hopefully we can get Hogue coached, and hopefully he is excited to be in Detroit.
Johnny Culbreath
Didn't get this pick. Unless they think Fox is ready to backup and is ready to start next year. This would be there new project. If Fox is ready Hilliard sadly won't be back and they won't go after a tackle in free agency which would be nice. If they sign a free agent this guy is not going to make the team unless they are going to move him to guard. Lee Ziemba was on the board. I had him rated well above this guy. I would have loved this pick to have been Herzlich. Culbreath has potential so we will see. Not that many 7th rounders turn out the way it is.
Overall I give the Lions an A based on talent. Based on everyting I give them a C. They drafted the best players available, so how can you say they had a bad draft. They really didn't fill need areas, but maybe that was smart. Fairley was the first pick after he won the National Championship. We will see. We will be talking free agency next.
No comments:
Post a Comment