Draft Recap

[cheeno]

Mcdouche's draft recap for lions:

Detroit Lions


Best pick: DE Ziggy Ansah (No. 5 overall) -- The Lions, who had a need at offensive tackle and watched the top three at that position come off the board in the top five picks, didn't panic and give up the farm to move up a couple picks. At No. 5, they took the best available player in Ansah. Yes, there is some risk, but the potential reward is huge. I don't say that lightly, because I know what's at stake. Ansah made big strides over the course of the season, and he was the best player on the field during the Senior Bowl. His rise has been astronomical. He has the size, power, speed and athleticism teams covet. Put him alongside DTs Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh, and a year from now we could be talking about the best defensive front in the NFL. Honorable mention: I love the pick of guard Larry Warford in the third round.


Questionable pick: CB Darius Slay (No. 36 overall) -- A lot of people graded Slay higher than I did. He could develop into a good outside starter, but I think it's a gamble to draft him that early. He has only 13 starts at the FBS level, and doesn't have great natural instincts in run support. He has good cover skills and you can see the natural ability on tape, but you worry about him peeking in the backfield too often. He needs coaching in terms of his eyes and his undisciplined play. He could be a good pick, but the Lions may have reached further than their need at the position dictated.

http://detroitsportsforum.com/showthread.php?t=11394&highlight=slay

I said the exact same thing about slay here. But I am higher on him than Mcdouche.

 

[mhughes0021]

http://detroitsportsforum.com/showthread.php?t=11394&highlight=slay

I said the exact same thing about slay here. But I am higher on him than Mcdouche.

2 good players in 2 areas of need in the top 2 rounds you wont hear complaining from me. But its slightly scary how the "analysts" all say that both Ansah and Slay need a lot of coaching. slightly unnerving at the least lol. Coaches need to earn their money this year cause these guys need to be on the field.

 

[cheeno]

2 good players in 2 areas of need in the top 2 rounds you wont hear complaining from me. But its slightly scary how the "analysts" all say that both Ansah and Slay need a lot of coaching. slightly unnerving at the least lol. Coaches need to earn their money this year cause these guys need to be on the field.

Both super raw talents which is scary for sure. Ansah probably the least experienced player in the history of the NFL. At least will get to see them contribute/fail right away though.

 

[motown1958]

Both guys are raw but showed high football IQ as well as elite athleticism. So I really like the picks. No guy is going to come in and immediately be the best he will be. They all need coaching and I would rather have guys with the ability to be elite than guys who might just be good and technically sound. I like the Slay pick more now than I did at the time. I thought Amerson could have been the guy but he isnt as athletic and is a real big gambler so you would be looking at Alphonso 2.0. I Ansah is playing a position that technique is not that hard to teach but if you arent an athlete technique can only take you so far. Ansah is an all around athlete. In college he showed a lot of strength and playing in our stupid wide 9 his speed and arm strength will allow him to attack the backfield. Also he already has a killer spin move so he officially has more moves than Avril.

 

[thehippo73]

Not a college guy but this is what I see from our picks and how they fit:

Ziggy Ansah DE - Raw and inexperienced, freakish talent with outstanding measurables. Stout against the run with length to shed blockers and quick in pursuit. Not the fastest off the line but that may have been scheme (read then react), with us he will be all pass rush then play the run. For an inexperienced player he has great instincts and a motor that reminds me of KVB. When he doesn't get to the QB he gets in passing lanes and gets his hands up batting balls. Plug and play starter.

Darius Slay CB - Fast, good size with ball skills, coming off a knee injury that shouldn't be a long term concern. Plug and play starter.

Larry Warford G - Good size with skill and experience, not a pulling guard but should keep the pocket clean and allow Stafford to step up giving that extra second that was missing last year. Road grader type, should be able to average more than one yard running right this year. Plug and play starter.

Devin Taylor DE - great measurables, lots of experience. Not a starter but with the way we rotate the DL he should have an immediate impact and develop into a starter down the road.

Sam Martin P - Strong leg with ability to directional kick. Hopefully we never use him but he is an upgrade over what we had (not saying much). Immediate impact flipping field position.

Corey Fuller WR - Speed guy, not the best of hands or route runner. A project WR that probably won?t start but will come in and be a deep threat keeping safeties honest opening up the underneath for TE's/RB's. Limited impact but should see the field in a limited role.

Theo Riddick RB - 3rd down RB that can play the slot if needed. Not fast but not exactly slow, needs to develop and learn to pick up blitz's to see playing time. If he sees the field that means something bad happened. Project player not much of an immediate impact.

Michael Williams TE - Blocking TE that may eat his way to the OL (Jason Smith?). Good hands but zero speed. Impact in the passing game will be minimal, more of a short yardage/red zone receiver. Fills the Will Heller role, not an every down TE but will have an impact day 1 with his blocking.

Brandon Hepburn LB - ST project. Impact minimal if at all.

All in all we got 4 starters (DE, CB, G, P) 3 role players (WR, DE, TE) and 2 projects (RB, LB). Great draft considering the amount of holes we had to fill.

Ansah - Not thrilled with the pick but hope it turns out great. Too inexperienced for 5th pick.

Slay - Like the pick. I see him being a lot like Houston. Not a superstar but a damn good pro.

Warford - The more I read about this guy, the more I think this was the best pick we made.

Taylor - Hate this pick. This guy couldn't do anything with Clowney on the other side vs college kids.

Martin - Glad we got a punter. Would have liked Quinn Sharp since he would be a damn good back up kicker, so Such never has to kick again.

Fuller - Love this pick. Track athlete who can stretch the field with decent size.

Reddick - No need for this pick. Not a bad player. Can contribute on special teams.

Williams - Hopefully Heller 2.0, maybe better blocker.

Hepburn - Who? There were better players on the board.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Ansah - Not thrilled with the pick but hope it turns out great. Too inexperienced for 5th pick. Outside of trading down, it was the best pick IMO

Slay - Like the pick. I see him being a lot like Houston. Not a superstar but a damn good pro. Sure beats Bentley/Green

Warford - The more I read about this guy, the more I think this was the best pick we made. I agree

Taylor - Hate this pick. This guy couldn't do anything with Clowney on the other side vs college kids. I agree

Martin - Glad we got a punter. Would have liked Quinn Sharp since he would be a damn good back up kicker, so Such never has to kick again. Punter's should never be drafted

Fuller - Love this pick. Track athlete who can stretch the field with decent size. Practice squad

Reddick - No need for this pick. Not a bad player. Can contribute on special teams. Cut

Williams - Hopefully Heller 2.0, maybe better blocker. Cut

Hepburn - Who? There were better players on the board. Cut though I have to disagree on better players; If there were, they would have been taken already

My take on the draft.

 

[kdp80]

Honestly still bothers me that I watched day 3 of the draft 4 wasted picks on guys that wont see the field. the punter might, but who cares?

 

[tonyballs]

Honestly still bothers me that I watched day 3 of the draft 4 wasted picks on guys that wont see the field. the punter might, but who cares?

It wasnt a waste at all. All these players drafted could contribute....you cant make that call just yet...give it time, man

 

[motown1958]

It wasnt a waste at all. All these players drafted could contribute....you cant make that call just yet...give it time, man

Nah man everyone on this bored are a bunch of pessimist fortune tellers. Only pick I think was a waste is Riddick just because I dont think he is very good or in a position to contribute but I think all the other picks from that day have some upside.

 

[Mitchrapp]

How can you argue though. Its not like we have a history of late picks who contribute..

 

[motown1958]

We can argue because they havent played a down yet. Why would you rush to judgement on guys who havent played it just doesnt make sense no matter our track record.

 

[Mitchrapp]

We can argue because they havent played a down yet. Why would you rush to judgement on guys who havent played it just doesnt make sense no matter our track record.

That's not the point.

You have hope. But why, we have no history of guys who get drafted late who contribute.

Not just one or two years but as far as I can remember. Why is that any worse than what 'Hughes does..

 

[motown1958]

That's not the point.

You have hope. But why, we have no history of guys who get drafted late who contribute.

Not just one or two years but as far as I can remember. Why is that any worse than what 'Hughes does..

Because they are late round picks. a huge percent are garbage after the 4th round so it makes sense to draft guys with potential rather than need. He hates on guys that were effected by injury but at least could have added value. I would rather hope that we get another SLH than that they will all be DW.

 

[tonyballs]

That's not the point.

You have hope. But why, we have no history of guys who get drafted late who contribute.

Not just one or two years but as far as I can remember. Why is that any worse than what 'Hughes does..

Then go root for another fn team then. its that simple. if you dont have hope, you have nothing.

Id rather have hope for my team then pretend im a fn know-it-all and continually bash on our GM for every move he makes.

 

[motown1958]

then go root for another fn team then. Its that simple. If you dont have hope, you have nothing.

Id rather have hope for my team then pretend im a fn know-it-all and continually bash on our gm for every move he makes.

+100000000000

 

[Mitchrapp]

Then go root for another fn team then. its that simple. if you dont have hope, you have nothing.

Id rather have hope for my team then pretend im a fn know-it-all and continually bash on our GM for every move he makes.

Dude, you, LKP or the rest won't root for the Lions more than myself or Hughes. We're all fans. But saying that a GM is less than I have hoped is not being an anti-fan. Not having hope for a 6th round pick is not saying I'm an anti-fan.

I suppose you all had hope on Millen's draft .. Get real.

 

[Mitchrapp]

So Tony, how many times did you bash Millen? I bet more than a thousand.

 

[cheeno]

Then go root for another fn team then. its that simple. if you dont have hope, you have nothing.

Id rather have hope for my team then pretend im a fn know-it-all and continually bash on our GM for every move he makes.

Ah the old love it or leave it defense. Like Mitch said we all root for the same team just as hard. Where the criticism is warranted it's fair to bring it up on a message board where we discuss said team we are rooting for. I know some of us can take the criticsm a bit far where it ventures into unwarranted territory (not that others don't take it just as far in the opposite direction, cough LKP), but it doesn't make us any less of a fan.

 

[motown1958]

Dude comparing Mayhew to millen is asinine. Millen's picks were all supreme reaches that generally made no sense. I never agreed with most of his picks and couldnt figure out how he came to his conclusions. Mayhew makes picks based on actual research and strategy. Do they all work out no. He has been unlucky in some areas and may not have always addressed need if he didnt think the value was there. He sometimes gambles on guys he thinks can immediately help but fit where they are picked. To say that he is comparable to an idiot is rude. Also yes with millen I had hope but knowledge that it was worthless.

 

[cheeno]

Dude comparing Mayhew to millen is asinine. Millen's picks were all supreme reaches that generally made no sense. I never agreed with most of his picks and couldnt figure out how he came to his conclusions. Mayhew makes picks based on actual research and strategy. Do they all work out no. He has been unlucky in some areas and may not have always addressed need if he didnt think the value was there. He sometimes gambles on guys he thinks can immediately help but fit where they are picked. To say that he is comparable to an idiot is rude. Also yes with millen I had hope but knowledge that it was worthless.

Their overall w-l record isn't much different. I know, I know that was Millen's fault as well. :/