Training Camp News

[brewer229]

Healthy but no need to risk further injury with achilles. Plus he's not a gunner. Tate was in the slot a ton too. Calvin played some slot. Caldwell said Broyles and Tate play the same spot. Ross and Fuller get the active roster spots. This doesn't mean Broyles is a bad player, Tate is just better. Broyles is not a deep threat like Fuller nor a ST player with coverage ability like Ross.

Lions learned their lesson and gave Broyles some rest after injury. Now with Jones healthy and Moore added, Broyles could be expendable. Again this does not mean Broyles sucks.

It's pretty simple. Go away clueless misinformed Lions fan.

It does mean it was a bad pick. They got essentially zero production from a 2nd rounder. No matter how you slice it, it is a bad pick.

If our team is medically clearing players before they are ready then that is a huge issue. I highly doubt that is happening. Being medically cleared to play means the risk of re-injuring is not there. He was healthy. If he was good enough to play he would of played. He didn't play in 2014 because of a talent issue, not because of a medical issue.

Pretty simple.

 

[LKP]

They kept an extra Olinemen active (Reynolds) and Dlinemen (Tapp/Taylorand Flu) often. They lost Whitehead on special teams due to Tulloch injury. They kept 5 running back/full back active due to Winn and Collins ST value.

They could keep 5 WRs active this year more often. Depends on if they need Ross in coverage and if they find another returner. If Ross is not needed, Moore/Broyles/Jones(whoever wins that spot) could be more active.

 

[LKP]

It does mean it was a bad pick. They got essentially zero production from a 2nd rounder. No matter how you slice it, it is a bad pick.

If our team is medically clearing players before they are ready then that is a huge issue. I highly doubt that is happening. Being medically cleared to play means the risk of re-injuring is not there. He was healthy. If he was good enough to play he would of played. He didn't play in 2014 because of a talent issue, not because of a medical issue.

Pretty simple.

He was hurt many times. It wasn't a bad pick. Mayhew's judge of Broyles talent was good. The judgment was fine, the bad luck stunk.

Broyles was cleared but injury risk is higher earlier. Thus they let him rest more in 2014 especially considering the ST implications with Ross.

Broyles, Young, LeShoure, Best were not bad picks. Never will be. Injury is just bad luck sometimes.

 

[LKP]

And regardless if they were or weren't some bad picks, Mayhew has built a GREAT roster for 2015 and had a great roster in 2014.

 

[LKP]

And Mayhew made the right choice on Ebron too.

Calvin/Tate/Ebron and Ngata is better than Calvin/Tate/unknown TE (maybe no Van Noy/Swanson due to taking a TE) and Donald. We wouldn't pull the trigger on Ngata if we had Donald.

 

[brewer229]

And Mayhew made the right choice on Ebron too.

Calvin/Tate/Ebron and Ngata is better than Calvin/Tate/unknown TE (maybe no Van Noy/Swanson due to taking a TE) and Donald. We wouldn't pull the trigger on Ngata if we had Donald.

Ah. Since we are talking hypothetical.

What's better Calvin/Tate/Ebron and Ngata

or

Calvin/Tate/Julius Thomas and Donald?

You could of gotten Thomas for the same cap hit as Ngata in 2015 if they wanted.

 

[LKP]

Calvin Tate ebron and ngata is better combo

 

[jdeb]

Titus was a good pick too. Can't expect someone to be that insane. Concussion may have caused that too.

LeShoure got hurt and it slowed him. Decent pick at the time late extra Round 2 using Round3/4

Derrick Williams was a bad one. Coaches didn't know how to use him properly though. But added Burleson in 2010 so I'm good with that.

Titus was a horrible pick as it was well known he had some off-the-field and on-field behavioral issues. The Lions decided to roll the dice because of his big play potential... they hopefully learned their lesson from that.

Leshoure was a huge stretch at 57th pick. It was also well known he tended to act more like Barry Sanders in the backfield than Earl Campbell. Poor route running, blocking, and vision were all well known. Again, Mayhew acted like he was smarter than everyone else and got burned again.

Irregardless of what Ebron does this year, that was a mistake as well. You don't waste that pick on a tight end, period. There is not enough production potential in year one due to play book complexity and next level talent difference. Mayhew should have had the foresight that his chances of signing Suh were not good, everyone knew it except him. Most experts were stunned that he didn't draft Donald, I remember the blasting he got on XM NFL radio for a few days following the draft.

I will say this about Mayhew, it does appear he learned from his mistakes and did not stretch in this years draft. The mistakes are many but you can pretty much say that about all of the GM's. The best ones minimize them.

 

[LKP]

Titus, LeShoure were the right value and fit a need. Good picks at the time. Young's insanity and LeShoure's achilles injury were unknowns.

Ebron is a great pick. 3rd weapon. Filled a big need and was BPA. Ngata and Calvin/Tate/Ebron is the best possible combo. Aaron Donald isn't a double team guy. Quinn is the guy you double.

 

[tomdalton22]

Titus, LeShoure were the right value and fit a need. Good picks at the time. Young's insanity and LeShoure's achilles injury were unknowns.

Ebron is a great pick. 3rd weapon. Filled a big need and was BPA. Ngata and Calvin/Tate/Ebron is the best possible combo. Aaron Donald isn't a double team guy. Quinn is the guy you double.

BPA...according to who?

 

[LKP]

BPA...according to who?

Many scouts and GMs and media experts.

http://www.draftcountdown.com/archive/2014/2014-Top-Overall.php

 

[LKP]

"People ask me to compare him to Vernon Davis. He's not as quick or as twitchy as Davis, but he's a better athlete with better hands. Everything this kid does is easy. He is one of best athletes I've seen at that size. When you combine him with (the Lions' other tight ends) Joseph Fauria and Brandon Pettigrew, all of a sudden Matthew Stafford has a lot of weapons on that offense." -- Mike Mayock

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000346744/article/2014-nfl-draft-mike-mayocks-top-100-prospects

 

[tomdalton22]

"People ask me to compare him to Vernon Davis. He's not as quick or as twitchy as Davis, but he's a better athlete with better hands. Everything this kid does is easy. He is one of best athletes I've seen at that size. When you combine him with (the Lions' other tight ends) Joseph Fauria and Brandon Pettigrew, all of a sudden Matthew Stafford has a lot of weapons on that offense." -- Mike Mayock

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000346744/article/2014-nfl-draft-mike-mayocks-top-100-prospects

"I give (general manager) Ray Farmer and (head coach) Mike Pettine a lot of credit. There's hope for the city of Cleveland. Johnny Manziel is going to bring his electrification to the city of Cleveland. The Browns have Brian Hoyer, and he was playing pretty well until he got hurt. Hoyer can be the bridge if the Browns need a bridge. I think, because of Manziel's style, that he can play Day 1. This kid can make plays with his arm and legs until he learns how to be a pocket quarterback." -- Mike Mayock

 

[LKP]

"I give (general manager) Ray Farmer and (head coach) Mike Pettine a lot of credit. There's hope for the city of Cleveland. Johnny Manziel is going to bring his electrification to the city of Cleveland. The Browns have Brian Hoyer, and he was playing pretty well until he got hurt. Hoyer can be the bridge if the Browns need a bridge. I think, because of Manziel's style, that he can play Day 1. This kid can make plays with his arm and legs until he learns how to be a pocket quarterback." -- Mike Mayock

So this proves we can throw out the media since Mayock is regarded as the best. Thanks for playing though.

 

[tomdalton22]

So this proves we can throw out the media since Mayock is regarded as the best. Thanks for playing though.

You brought him into the conversation when you quoted him about Ebron.

 

[tomdalton22]

Bill Polian on Ebron

And Polian didn't opt for subtlety after McShay picked North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron for the Steelers at No. 15 overall.

"He's a Pittsburgh Steeler and he doesn't block. That doesn't compute," Polian, a six-time NFL Executive of the Year, said of Ebron. "I don't think he's ready to play in the NFL right now. I think he's too immature. I don't think his feet are firmly planted on the ground. Yeah, he has ability but that only gets you so far."

Ebron may be one of the more polarizing players in the draft.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder is the best tight end in the draft and an undeniable talent. Ebron, who caught 62 passes for 973 yards in his final season at North Carolina, has the size and athleticism to create mismatches.

And he is part of the new wave of tight ends who have become such a commodity because of their ability to put stress on opposing defenses.

Ebron would give quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a tall target, and he would add a pass-catcher to a group that doesn't have a reliable one after veteran Heath Miller.

But as a blocker he can most diplomatically be described as a work in progress.

Or, as McShay said recently, “He’s a buffet blocker if you will. He kind of picks and chooses when he wants to get interested. But what he does well it’s just hard to find guys that can do it at the level that he does as far as stretching the field vertically and creating after the catch.”

 

[LKP]

Polian isn't a tight end guy. He's a ride a Caldwell built Peyton guy.

 

[tonyballs]

Glad we passed up on a guy like Lavonte David for Broyles.

31 other teams also passed on David. Some even twice. This is a moronic statement but good on ya.

 

[cheeno]

31 other teams also passed on David. Some even twice. This is a moronic statement but good on ya.

Rather than burn scarecrow. Tell me why Ryan Broyles scientific name isn't bustamus maximus.

 

[dubbsco]

Ugh, if I hear that "31 other teams passed on him too" crap one more time regarding the draft, I'll freak out. Who gives a shit what the other teams did? How about the Lions get a 2nd round pick right once in their history? Have the foresight to find someone that other teams couldn't? Instead, it's excuse city.