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The official 2018 nfl draft thread

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/li...k-Ragnow/936cac5a-4df0-489b-97ce-5209ade7097b
Detroit Lions draft center Frank Ragnow.
Lions.com

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/li...k-Ragnow/a4a18b84-c566-4bf7-9929-3ac9a10c21e4
A CLOSER LOOK: Center Frank Ragnow.
Lions.com

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/li...s-o-line/63df8dbd-8184-48b1-ae3c-e26b084f6bc7
Quinn relentless in improving Lions' o-line.
Lions.com

http://www.detroitlions.com/media-center/video/recent-videos.html
Webvideos on Frank Ragnow.
Lions.com

https://lionswire.usatoday.com/2018...th-praise-after-selection-of-ol-frank-ragnow/
PFF showers Lions with praise after selection of OL Frank Ragnow.
LionsWire
 
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Initial reaction was not very good for the Ragnow pick. But seeing the bengals wanted him one pick later and that other teams were high on him coming in sounds good to me. Plus pff as much as I don?t like them sometimes rated him as their top offensive lineman before injury, he also has a resume of awards in the SEC. So I?ll take it.
 
Hard to get excited or upset for draft picks anymore because you don't really know. Let's be real, nobody here watched any of Ragnow to form a personal opinion on the guy.

Yes it's nice that PFF rates him high, but the others rated at his level the past few years were a undrafted guy and a 7th rounder, neither of which have done much in the NFL.

We can hope he is the answer and he solidifies the line, but he's a draft pick, so who knows. It's hard to imagine he could be worse than Swanson though
 
After the initial shock, I really like the Ragnow pick. He's as good of a center as has come out in the last few years. High side he's an All Pro most years, low side he's still the best center we've had here since the 90s. It's the non glamorous type of pick you see organizations like New England and Pittsburgh make.

If our O line is healthy, we have 4 potential pro bowlers on it, that's a huge upgrade in talent and the O line was one of the worst in the NFL last season.

All that being said, people keep quoting PFF grades, I was under the impression that no one took Pro Football Focus seriously and their system for grading is a joke. Still, the proof for Ragnow is on film, he was a dominant college center playing in a conference with elite future NFL DTs everywhere.
 
tonyballs said:
He's not a reach when your Center and LG position last yr was a laughing stock. This kid will either win the LG/C spot with ease. The other goes to Glasgow, who we all probably see at C.
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I understand. And after a day has gone by and I have digested it, I am not AS upset as I once was.

However, this team has spent a TON of high level resources on O-linemen in the last few years (Lang, Wagner, Decker, Tomlinson, Glasgow). They cannot keep trotting out these guys in the backfield. They HAVE to get an RB in the next 2 rounds, there's no more tip-toeing around it. If you have to trade up to get Guice or Chubb, do it.
 
dubbsco said:
I understand. And after a day has gone by and I have digested it, I am not AS upset as I once was.

However, this team has spent a TON of high level resources on O-linemen in the last few years (Lang, Wagner, Decker, Tomlinson, Glasgow). They cannot keep trotting out these guys in the backfield. They HAVE to get an RB in the next 2 rounds, there's no more tip-toeing around it. If you have to trade up to get Guice or Chubb, do it.
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I think the staff feels that they are set at RB with Blount, Riddick, and Abdullah so they most definitely won't be trading up. They may want to upgrade Abdullah and if a back they love falls to them they'll take him, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't take one until Saturday.

3rd and short has been a joke for the Lions for a couple years, adding Blount and Ragnow immediately helps that. We lost several games the last few years because we were putrid on 3rd and 1.
 
johnny2x2x said:
I think the staff feels that they are set at RB with Blount, Riddick, and Abdullah so they most definitely won't be trading up. They may want to upgrade Abdullah and if a back they love falls to them they'll take him, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't take one until Saturday.

3rd and short has been a joke for the Lions for a couple years, adding Blount and Ragnow immediately helps that. We lost several games the last few years because we were putrid on 3rd and 1.
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I sure hope they don't feel that way. Abdullah's time is up, he has proven in three seasons that he is nothing more than a functional RB. Riddick is not an RB, he's a slot guy that gets moved around in the backfield. Blount has a TON of mileage on his legs, you can't give him a ton of snaps.

The Lions need a guy that is a legitimate threat in the backfield. They have to stop trying to piece together a starter from spare parts.
 
tomdalton22 said:
If the staff thinks that way, they are wrong.
Click to expand...

It's the Patriot way, never really draft a feature back and keep cycling through retreads who are known commodities. Blount fits that perfectly and they'll find another retread next year.

Wondering how far Landry might drop, would be something to get him still. Thought he was the perfect fit, but the injury concerns dropped him.
 
johnny2x2x said:
It's the Patriot way, never really draft a feature back and keep cycling through retreads who are known commodities. Blount fits that perfectly and they'll find another retread next year.

Wondering how far Landry might drop, would be something to get him still. Thought he was the perfect fit, but the injury concerns dropped him.
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The Patriot way centers around having one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game.

The Lions can't do that. The majority of teams in the NFL have a guy that is a threat in the backfield. The Lions don't. There's no reason to try and piece this thing together anymore with silly string. Lots of good RBs are left. Take one. Enough of the charade.
 
johnny2x2x said:
It's the Patriot way, never really draft a feature back and keep cycling through retreads who are known commodities. Blount fits that perfectly and they'll find another retread next year.

Wondering how far Landry might drop, would be something to get him still. Thought he was the perfect fit, but the injury concerns dropped him.
Click to expand...

Pats literally just took a RB in Round 1 with Sony Michel
 
Blount is not going to be a feature back I think. I bet they rotate AA, Riddick, Green, Washington,and Zenner. ( whoever makes the team) Blount gets all the carries inside the 5 and on third and two or shorter plus a few other here and there. His last three years two with New England and the last with the Eagles he carried the ball 165, 299, and 173 last year. I say we keep him between 150-175 carries and we are golden .if a back falls to us we really like then take him but there will be a lot of defensive players left so I say take the best defensive linemen left with out next pick.
 
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Expect the unexpected. Players from small college, Division II III players the rest of the picks, and a possible running back by committee.

Patriots have drafted like that for years. They pick players who fit the schemes, not necessarily a 'name' player.

Part of the reason rushing was last year was so many OL combinations from injuries, backups not even good for depth, now depth on both lines improving and getting there, This starting OL is going to be tough in protecting on passing and the holes will be more plentiful running up the gut, so even if they don't get a RB, the rb's they have should improve on last season numbers.

D-Line, LB, S, rb rest of draft?
 
tomdalton22 said:
If the staff thinks that way, they are wrong.
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I?m not sure about that. There is a lot to like about that trio. Listen, we all want to blame the running backs for the poor production, and some of the fault certainly lies with them. However, look at the tape as well. Abdul is having to fight guys 2 yards in the backfield consistently. Very few running lanes. Look at what a good offensive did for Todd Gurley. He was fucking terrible two years ago and dominated last year. He had 500 more yards on 1.....yes 1....more carry.

Did he magically get better or did the line improve? I think it?s a bit ignorant to blame all of our problems on the running backs.

That?s said....give me Guice in the 2nd!
 
boogerlovejoy said:
I?m not sure about that. There is a lot to like about that trio. Listen, we all want to blame the running backs for the poor production, and some of the fault certainly lies with them. However, look at the tape as well. Abdul is having to fight guys 2 yards in the backfield consistently. Very few running lanes. Look at what a good offensive did for Todd Gurley. He was fucking terrible two years ago and dominated last year. He had 500 more yards on 1.....yes 1....more carry.

Did he magically get better or did the line improve? I think it?s a bit ignorant to blame all of our problems on the running backs.

That?s said....give me Guice in the 2nd!
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Good post, but I don't think Guice makes it through the first 5 picks of the 2nd round.
 
https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2018...ive-line-ras-mathbomb-frank-ragnow-2018-draft
Bob Quinn turned Lions offensive line into wildly athletic unit in just 3 years.
The guys lining up in front of Matthew Stafford in 2018 are a qualitatively different group from the past three years. Thanks to Kent Lee Platte?s RAS measure, we have quantitative proof.
POD

The Lions? projected starting offensive line now looks like this:

Taylor Decker, 7.15 current RAS
Frank Ragnow, 9.98 current RAS
Graham Glasgow, 7.99 current RAS
T.J. Lang, 9.53 current RAS
Rick Wagner, 4.96 current RAS
That is an average RAS of 7.922, which would have ranked second in the league against the 2015 league-wide scores in Kent?s original article. Now consider the depth behind these players:

Brian Mihalik, 9.96 current RAS
Wesley Johnson, 9.58 current RAS
Corey Robinson, 6.83 current RAS
Joe Dahl, 8.84 current RAS
 
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