So, before I go off on the Lions too much.

Was there a LB available when drafted our first 3 picks that would not have been a reach?

Just wondering if they might have FA plans for that spot? It's the weakest position on our team and not drafting is baffling.

Prince was avail at 1 but he still dropped quite a bit, right? So he would have been a reach at 13?

thx havent been following.

#fail

back to sifting through meaningless teams for Lions news. :)

I got you. Prince was a reach, some pundits thought he was worthy, but from what I read, Jimmy Smith was a better corner and he went 27th. So Fairley was a great value pick. There were LBs available, but I guess we have to assume they were not very high on the Lion's draft board.

Hot damn, a Varsity sighting.

I got you. Prince was a reach, some pundits thought he was worthy, but from what I read, Jimmy Smith was a better corner and he went 27th. So Fairley was a great value pick. There were LBs available, but I guess we have to assume they were not very high on the Lion's draft board.


I guess they have plans for a FA LB. We need at least one, BAD!

What killed us was a bunch of Cb/LBs going like35-40 before our 2nd pick (44) I'm talking Ayers, dowling, reed, aaron williams, carter...). I feel that at least a few of those guys that went were on our board and when they got taken, they weren't going to reach for a lesser talent just to fill a need.

I'm fairly confident we wouldn't have taken Ayers, who doesn't fit the "fast" part of what we look for (and would have to look for) in a high round LB. Ayers' strength was controlling/redirecting blockers and not getting washed out easily. The LBs in this system have to be able to get off the blocks and be strong tacklers, though, because the defensive line does not always get the runner on the way to the quarterback (which is their priority).

Bruce Carter may have been a possibility, but Hogue is a lot like Carter athletically and if he is an intelligent player and learner, he could turn out to be a great pick. I expect him to immediately contribute on special teams.

Dowling (zone skills), Brandon Harris (zone skills, short) and Reed don't fit our system or what we are looking for. Aaron Williams looks like Amari Spievey.

We needed a true number 1 cornerback. If we resign Houston, all of our other needs at CB are filled. We didn't get a true number 1 from Peterson, Prince (maybe), or Jimmy Smith (if he keeps his head straight), so there was no need to draft a CB for the sake of drafting one. We have Aaron Berry, Alphonso Smith, and Prince Miller as our young, fast, playmaking, developmental depth. I expect us to retain Vasher and Houston.

We have Palmer, Carpenter, Levy, and now Doug Hogue as sure roster makes at LB (in my opinion). Caleb Campbell is an interesting player we have as he fits our mold (6-3, 250, 4.5 forty), but whether or not he can better pick up the game at his age, an age at which he should be entering his prime, is in question. Follett may or may not play next year due to his injury, and I expect us to pick a vet LB up in free agency.

Based upon our draft and what we still have to add, I would expect us to target a premier CB like Jonathan Joseph (Nnamdi will probably be too much $$) and a solid LB (there should be a few available).

Other than those two FA pickups we should make, I think our defense is going to be set up pretty well.

I'll tell you what, I know you all hate O$U, but if Bobby Carpenter plays like he did the last few games of last year, he's going to be a very effective starting OLB.

Knowing these as our true defensive "needs":


True number 1 CB (Prince may not have been to the staff, J. Smith has character concerns, Fairley is a better talent than both)
Outside linebacker who is big, fast, good tackler

I think we made the right picks.

The philosophy on our offensive line is something I will have to research a little bit more. I think we need to improve/plan for RG, C, and LT pretty soon here.

Jason Fox may be the answer at LT. Aside from being short on strength, which is fairly simple to gain, I like his pass pro skills at LT.

Johnny Culbreath is supposedly a huge (6-5, 322), very athletic OT/G. Remains to be seen.

Hilliard was pretty effective in his few games last year. Also don't know a ton about him.

I do not have faith in Cherilus.

My worry with Cherilus is if he'll ever be healthy. These microfracture surgeries seem to be so hit or miss. I thought he played very well last year when healthy.

My worry with Cherilus is if he'll ever be healthy. These microfracture surgeries seem to be so hit or miss. I thought he played very well last year when healthy.

Yeah, he was great in pass protection last year. Run game, not so much. I would have more faith of him if not for the microfracture, no doubt.

I'm fairly confident we wouldn't have taken Ayers, who doesn't fit the "fast" part of what we look for (and would have to look for) in a high round LB. Ayers' strength was controlling/redirecting blockers and not getting washed out easily. The LBs in this system have to be able to get off the blocks and be strong tacklers, though, because the defensive line does not always get the runner on the way to the quarterback (which is their priority).

Bruce Carter may have been a possibility, but Hogue is a lot like Carter athletically and if he is an intelligent player and learner, he could turn out to be a great pick. I expect him to immediately contribute on special teams.

Dowling (zone skills), Brandon Harris (zone skills, short) and Reed don't fit our system or what we are looking for. Aaron Williams looks like Amari Spievey.

We needed a true number 1 cornerback. If we resign Houston, all of our other needs at CB are filled. We didn't get a true number 1 from Peterson, Prince (maybe), or Jimmy Smith (if he keeps his head straight), so there was no need to draft a CB for the sake of drafting one. We have Aaron Berry, Alphonso Smith, and Prince Miller as our young, fast, playmaking, developmental depth. I expect us to retain Vasher and Houston.

We have Palmer, Carpenter, Levy, and now Doug Hogue as sure roster makes at LB (in my opinion). Caleb Campbell is an interesting player we have as he fits our mold (6-3, 250, 4.5 forty), but whether or not he can better pick up the game at his age, an age at which he should be entering his prime, is in question. Follett may or may not play next year due to his injury, and I expect us to pick a vet LB up in free agency.

Based upon our draft and what we still have to add, I would expect us to target a premier CB like Jonathan Joseph (Nnamdi will probably be too much $$) and a solid LB (there should be a few available).

Other than those two FA pickups we should make, I think our defense is going to be set up pretty well.

I'll tell you what, I know you all hate O$U, but if Bobby Carpenter plays like he did the last few games of last year, he's going to be a very effective starting OLB.

Knowing these as our true defensive "needs":



True number 1 CB (Prince may not have been to the staff, J. Smith has character concerns, Fairley is a better talent than both)
Outside linebacker who is big, fast, good tackler


I think we made the right picks.

The philosophy on our offensive line is something I will have to research a little bit more. I think we need to improve/plan for RG, C, and LT pretty soon here.

Jason Fox may be the answer at LT. Aside from being short on strength, which is fairly simple to gain, I like his pass pro skills at LT.

Johnny Culbreath is supposedly a huge (6-5, 322), very athletic OT/G. Remains to be seen.

Hilliard was pretty effective in his few games last year. Also don't know a ton about him.

I do not have faith in Cherilus.

This is all spot on guys. I knew all that about Ayers, Dowling, Harris, Etc, i was just testing DrRay and once again he passed with flying colors. He keeps this up and I might have to make him my assistant some day!

You guys, I am hearing about Stephen Tulloch since the Titans drafted a couple LBs.

However, I don't know how he'd fit here. Since he's pretty slow, I think he'd have to become our MLB with Levy moving back outside. We shall see. I wish free agency could get started already.

There are going to be some really good LBs in the draft next year, by contrast. This is an exciting time to be a Lions fan, whether or not Stafford proves to be made of glass or not.

You guys, I am hearing about Stephen Tulloch since the Titans drafted a couple LBs.

However, I don't know how he'd fit here. Since he's pretty slow, I think he'd have to become our MLB with Levy moving back outside. We shall see. I wish free agency could get started already.

Yeah, seriously. I really want to know who we can get to come play corner.

With the push we're going to get from the front 4, we need to be able to cover RBs with our LBs. If we would get a couple good cover LBs, with our pass rush and they will turn a good CB into a really good CB.

But if the opposing teams QB can dump the ball off to RBs in 3ish seconds, it neutralizes our pash rush.

A good corner is great, but start with a starting LB and 1 more for depth. We had a ton of inuries there last year.

Carpenter was really good in pass pro last year. Levy was good, too, and Palmer was okay.

But I agree, 1 starting LB and maybe one for depth (probably backup MLB, possibly resign Landon Johnson for that).

I was saying Carpenter was really good in pass coverage at the end of last year if you remember that. But, as you said, its not enuf. We need at least 2 really good lbs. And they need to be able to cover the pass.

I still wish Levy would move outside. I know thats not in their plans, but wish he would. He can go from sideline to sideling, but would like to sign an inside guy.

If we sign Tulloch, it's probably better for him to play inside and Levy play outside than vice versa.

With the push we're going to get from the front 4, we need to be able to cover RBs with our LBs. If we would get a couple good cover LBs, with our pass rush and they will turn a good CB into a really good CB.

But if the opposing teams QB can dump the ball off to RBs in 3ish seconds, it neutralizes our pash rush.

A good corner is great, but start with a starting LB and 1 more for depth. We had a ton of inuries there last year.

I do agree with this, but I must add that if you know you are getting a good push from the front four, thus not allowing downfield routes to develop, you can then cheat a safety to help cover the back on some downs, helping to neutralize those dumpoffs.

Vinny: high football IQ/accumen.

Vinny: high football IQ/accumen.

+1

Thanks guys. Just trying to help. Let me know if you have any more questions.

I'm thinkin Drew Stanton will be back on the roster again, or at least, the chances are higher now that MM wasn't able to take a QB in the draft.

If you remember the players were pretty high on him. MM doesn't like him cuz Drew isn't his guy, but he played damn good last year. Helluva lot better than our 2nd string QB. That dude is butt cheese.

^ Not joking.

I'm thinkin Drew Stanton will be back on the roster again, or at least, the chances are higher now that MM wasn't able to take a QB in the draft.

If you remember the players were pretty high on him. MM doesn't like him cuz Drew isn't his guy, but he played damn good last year. Helluva lot better than our 2nd string QB. That dude is butt cheese.

^ Not joking.

Yep, I do think Drew will most likely be back. Good question. Next?

I'll tell you what, I know you all hate O$U, but if Bobby Carpenter plays like he did the last few games of last year, he's going to be a very effective starting OLB.

Now a very long time ago, I was psyched when we took Spielman in the 2nd round and he was second only to Barry Sanders as my favorite Lion.

Kiper's Take on the Lions...

Detroit Lions
Top needs: CB, OLB, OT, DE

Summary: Detroit hit home runs all over in terms of value, but the question is whether the Lions did enough to help the talent level in a way that can further conceal weaknesses. For example, Fairley at No. 13 is perhaps the steal of the draft -- imagine what the Lions can do up front now -- but will the pass rush now be so good that it can mask the personnel issues that dot the secondary?
Leshoure adds more potency at running back, but can this offensive line open enough holes?
The Lions should be concerned about how well they can block in both the run and passing games, and didn't get an offensive lineman until No. 209 overall. Matthew Stafford's health is such a huge concern.
But even after those questions, the value was oustanding. Fairley, Young, Leshoure and even Hogue could have gone earlier. Is it possible to love a Detroit draft when the Lions didn't add major help at cornerback or offensive tackle? Ask me after free agency, I guess.

Thanks for that. ^