2011 NFL Draft Thread

[DrRay11]

There's a difference between drafting solely based on need and ignoring those needs entirely. I like the leshoure pick and the move up to get him. I think that we could have moved down in the second and still got Young plus another pick or two. There were several good LB's left in the later rounds if you don't like Greg Jones. I really like Sturdivant who is fast as heck and went in the early 6th rd. I also don't like the Hogue pick when Ziemba was still on the board and is touted as a solid starter at RT in most scouting reports. I also like the safety Lefeged who runs a 4.42 and is just under 6' and 210 lbs. We need a 4.4 guy in nickle packages. he went undrafted so hopefully we can pick him up. i also wouldn't have minded picking up Mcelroy as he is a real steal in the 7th (or 5th or 6th for that matter) and I have zero confidence in ANY of our QBs staying healthy.

I still give the draft a C. We still need a LB (or 2) an OL, and a CB thru trade or FA.

I like Lefeged a little, also, and wouldn't mind picking him up.

Ziemba is fucking terrible if you watched his senior bowl practices. Lead feet. He will have to play guard to have any chance in the league.

The OL was top ten in pass protection last year. The problem is that Backus still has his mental lapses where people go right by him. Hopefully none of those get our QB killed this year.

Who were the good LBs left late in the draft that would fit our system? Keep in mind the profile: An inch or two over six feet, 240-250 pounds, 4.6ish speed. Play either right or left, not strong or weak.

[micknugget]

I like Lefeged a little, also, and wouldn't mind picking him up.

Ziemba is fucking terrible if you watched his senior bowl practices. Lead feet. He will have to play guard to have any chance in the league.

The OL was top ten in pass protection last year. The problem is that Backus still has his mental lapses where people go right by him. Hopefully none of those get our QB killed this year.

Who were the good LBs left late in the draft that would fit our system? Keep in mind the profile: An inch or two over six feet, 240-250 pounds, 4.6ish speed. Play either right or left, not strong or weak.

I really liked Martez Wilson. He's 6'4" and runs a 4.42 40. He went #72 (3rd rd.) and was projected as a late 1st/early 2nd rd pick.

Mason Foster was another guy at 6'1"+ who went 84th and was ranked on some reports as the #1 ILB.

Chris Carter at 6'1"+ runs the 40 in 4.58 and went in the 5th rd. at 162.

Quan Sturdivant (4.55 and 6'1") went 171st (6th rd.).

I would have liked us to spend a future pick to get one of these guys (Carter or Sturdivant) or in hindsight, i bet we could have traded down a few spots in the 2nd, still got Young, and maybe picked up a 3rd (or a 4th and then trade up nto the 3rd) to get Wilson or Foster. Of course this is all in hindsight.

It looks like all of the experts agree, the Lions did well in the draft, got very good value for their picks but ignored some glaring needs that will have to be addressed or the team will struggle.

[DrRay11]

Forgot to mention they have to be good in pass coverage, too ... Sturdivant and Chris Carter are eliminated then. Mason Foster is a solid prospect, I may have liked to see him in the late 3rd or after. LeShoure, for example, I have graded as about 8.5 RB, where Foster is about a 7.5 LB. If they were rated the same, they may have chosen to take the position of need. Mayhew and Schwartz has said that, among a group of similarly talented prospects, they would take need. But I didn't see any situations where that was the case.

I had Martez Wilson rated as my no. 1 LB for this scheme, but apparently he has a neck issue and I understand that this regime is very risk-averse (Mayhew calls it "calculated risk").

[micknugget]

Forgot to mention they have to be good in pass coverage, too ... Sturdivant and Chris Carter are eliminated then. Mason Foster is a solid prospect, I may have liked to see him in the late 3rd or after. LeShoure, for example, I have graded as about 8.5 RB, where Foster is about a 7.5 LB. If they were rated the same, they may have chosen to take the position of need. Mayhew and Schwartz has said that, among a group of similarly talented prospects, they would take need. But I didn't see any situations where that was the case.

I had Martez Wilson rated as my no. 1 LB for this scheme, but apparently he has a neck issue and I understand that this regime is very risk-averse (Mayhew calls it "calculated risk").

For 5th round and later picks, Sturdivant and Carter are very good values and would have helped. You're not going to get everything you want in the 5th-7th rds but you can at least get players who can play and develop into better players. I also still think that Wilson would be worth the risk.

[DrRay11]

Doug Hogue might be everything they wanted. Time will tell. Most of us hadn't heard of DeAndre Levy hadn't heard of him when he was drafted, either. Let's wait and see if Doug Hogue can be that type of pick, too, before saying we should have drafted Carter and Sturdivant just because we've heard of them.

[micknugget]

Having Hogue AND one of the other guys is my point. If the Lions were ever going to trade a 2012 pick or two (3rd-7th round) for picks in this draft, you would think that this would be the year based on need and the lockout which will shorten FA and doesn't allow signing of undrafted players yet. We need more than one LB, especially if both are projects.

[DrRay11]

We don't need more than one LB if Tulloch is signed. He'd surely start, IMO, with the other spot going to the winner of Palmer/Carpenter.

I do expect us to sign at least one OLB in free agency, be it Tulloch or whomever.