2014 Detroit Lions draft picks thoughts and comments........

[broncosmitty]

I'm coming 4 ya Smitty... it won't be long as I've tried twice now to get my draft grade analysis in..

R U EXCITED

 

[themuzzer]

He WAS a Dback, has been a defensive backs coach at several places (including those Sqwuaks you love to Sqwuawk aboot.) and has stated numerous times his focus is the secondary since he was hired. There were plenty on defensive backs I had my eyes on, that we passed up. But it doesn't change the fact Austin is a Dback specialist.

Sorry Smitty, But gonna have to put you in the TP group this time......You can tell me again how special he is with or DBs after say week 6.....He might be a master mind, but even I cant make rabbits fly or Whales live on the moon without oxgen and water.

He won't be able to fix the Secondary with arleady broken parts.

 

[jdwills126]

Ebron - Hated the pick! But no one left on the board would have made me happy. Lewan would have been my selection. And that would still have left me feeling like I didn't address a hole on the team. Dennard, Fuller, Dix, Pryor, and Beckham all would have been reaches and that would have been just as disappointing. I would love to know who would have been the pick if Evans was still on the board.

Van Noy - solid pick no problem as he fits a need. My selection would have been Joyner as that would have freed things up later in the draft but can't be disappointed in the guy.

Swanson - Need meets draft placement. He is the position I know for a fact needs replacing in the very near future.

Lawson - This is the Lions dilemma, all the good CB went earlier in the 4th. If they would have gone CB in the 1-2 it would have freed up the ability to take a Urban, Dozier, or QB. I would have loved to have seen Desir fall a few more spots. He would have made this a great pick and made the Van Noy pick even better.

Webster - Mayhew is swinging for the fences when he didn't have to. The Lions could have gotten a more DE ready guy IMO. Projects get drafted in the 6th and 7th round by teams needing to win now...not the 4th.

Reid - Why when you passed on Donald. The DT spot is not needing anyone. If Suh bolts and Fairly isn't resigned address it next year, I doubt Reid would be looked at as the answer anyway. I really thought Chris Smith would be the choice or AJ McCarron.

Jones - Good pick will compete for a roster spot and can return punts.

Freese - No problem with a kicker. Expected the Lions to draft one in the 7th.

If it wasn't about team needs the draft would have been a solid B to B+, But the Lions do have needs and issues and I think Mayhew is feeling the pressure about winning now. With team needs factored in I give them a C.

 

[lionstop1]

Personally, I would have rather the Lions just ignore the CB position all together after passing on all the top talent. I just don't see a reason to add another mid to late pick to a position overloaded with mid to late pick talent. Detroit has plenty of options to fill the nickel role -- they need someone to fill the #1 role.

Maybe they see him as possibly a valuable addition to the special teams?

There was still a lot of talent left to pick from there. Dakota Dozier is a guy some people talked about being drafted late 2nd round and could have been the replacement for Sims next year. Same with David Yankey. Ed Reynolds is another guy who slipped in the draft and would have given the Lions depth at the safety position. Aaron Murray or AJ McCarron would have given the Lions another option as the backjup QB.

Lawson just seemed like a wasted pick to me, as he doesn't fill any type of role other than possibly a backup to the slot CB and Detroit already has multiple guys to fill that role.

Totally agree with some of the guys you listed.

 

[jdwills126]

He WAS a Dback, has been a defensive backs coach at several places (including those Sqwuaks you love to Sqwuawk aboot.) and has stated numerous times his focus is the secondary since he was hired. There were plenty on defensive backs I had my eyes on, that we passed up. But it doesn't change the fact Austin is a Dback specialist.

Jim Schwartz was a D-Coordinator and Mayhew was a DB. Stilll didn't fix the pass coverage. Players play and you need good players to make a scheme work. I just don't think the Lions will be competitive with Houston, Mathias, Green, Bentley, and Slay.

 

[broncosmitty]

Sorry Smitty, But gonna have to put you in the TP group this time......You can tell me again how special he is with or DBs after say week 6.....He might be a master mind, but even I cant make rabbits fly or Whales live on the moon without oxgen and water.

He won't be able to fix the Secondary with arleady broken parts.

I didn't say shit about him fixing anything. Didn't say a got damn thing about him being special either. Certainly didn't say he's a mastermind. But.... He is a defensive back "specialist". Nowhere to go but up with the defensive backfield on this team. (No offense to GQ.)

 

[broncosmitty]

Ebron - Hated the pick! But no one left on the board would have made me happy. Lewan would have been my selection. And that would still have left me feeling like I didn't address a hole on the team. Dennard, Fuller, Dix, Pryor, and Beckham all would have been reaches and that would have been just as disappointing. I would love to know who would have been the pick if Evans was still on the board.

Van Noy - solid pick no problem as he fits a need. My selection would have been Joyner as that would have freed things up later in the draft but can't be disappointed in the guy.

Swanson - Need meets draft placement. He is the position I know for a fact needs replacing in the very near future.

Lawson - This is the Lions dilemma, all the good CB went earlier in the 4th. If they would have gone CB in the 1-2 it would have freed up the ability to take a Urban, Dozier, or QB. I would have loved to have seen Desir fall a few more spots. He would have made this a great pick and made the Van Noy pick even better.

Webster - Mayhew is swinging for the fences when he didn't have to. The Lionjs could have gotten a more DE ready guy IMO. Projects get drafted in the 6th and 7th round by teams needing to win now...not the 4th.

Reid - Why when you passed on Donald. The DT spot is not needing anyone. If Suh bolts and Fairly isn't resigned address it next year, I doubt Reid would be looked at as the answer anyway. I really thought Chris Smith would be the choice or AJ McCarron.

Jones - Good pick will compete for a roster spot and can return punts.

Freese - No problem with a kicker. Expected the Lions to draft one in the 7th.

If it wasn't about team needs the draft would have been a solid B to B+, But the Lions do have needs and issues and I think Mayhew is feeling the pressure about winning now. With team needs factored in I give them a C.

It bothers me that you don't hate Lewans guts. Just want you to know that JDW.

 

[themuzzer]

I didn't say shit about him fixing anything. Didn't say a got damn thing about him being special either. Certainly didn't say he's a mastermind. But.... He is a defensive back "specialist". Nowhere to go but up with the defensive backfield on this team. (No offense to GQ.)

Hehe, As long as your on record as saying he's a specialist, I'll keep you in the TP camp on this one.

He will be special alright.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Feel free to call me crazy here, but given that our DC is a defensive backs specialist, I'm betting there's a reason this particular kid was drafted, and I'm willing to bet it wasn't to be a back-up nickel back/ ST stud. Clearly this was a guy they liked and saw a role for to take him before they took Webster and risk missing the athletic DE they obviously coveted as well.

OK -- you are crazy. Mayhew, himself, stated they had to change their plans in the 4th round as they had a list of guys they wanted to get, but then 8 or 9 defensive backs were drafted ahead of their pick in the 4th round. So do I think they saw something in him? Yes. Do I think he was the guy the Lions had their eyes on for the 4th round? No. IMO, they made the pick in the 4th because 18 or 19 other cornerbacks were off the board already after the huge run in the 4th and they needed to address the position. If they didn't grab him in the 4th -- who knows what would be left in the 5th, as CB's were going fast and furious.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Nevin Lawson Draft Profile ? NFL.com

He ran a 4.42 at the combine per the CBS page I was using to look up prospects, so there's apparently some descrepency there. He also turned in a 4.38 at his pro day.

Nevin is 5'10". Your source says 5'9", mine says 5'10"- if you get to matter-of-factly state how tall he is based on what you read, so do I, I guess.

I think I'm going to lean on believing the NFL's official website over CBS. I posted his combine link for you.

 

[broncosmitty]

Hehe, As long as your on record as saying he's a specialist, I'll keep you in the TP camp on this one.

He will be special alright.

What the fug are you tallingbough? If I told you the sky is blue, would you tell me "No, it's cloudy?"

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

I've been wonderin' what BigLar's been up to this offseason....

I'm coming 4 ya Smitty... it won't be long as I've tried twice now to get my draft grade analysis in..

R U EXCITED

Trust me, this is the real short version.
1st rd TE Eric Ebron Grade B+
at 1st I was pissed. Should have been DT Donald or OT Martin, JMO. Then I read Lionstop1, micro, Tpaul's posts and realized, I was thinking in the trenches 1st as that's my 1st place to strengthen team, always. I now comprehend how versatile he'll become in this offense...There's no need 4 me to go about how he projects. Just read Lionstop, Micro's and Tpaul's assessment and that's where I stand, NOW, after the fact

2nd rd OLB Kyle VanNoy Grade B+
I've been on this train since January. He's better than what many project, IMO. He's disciplined, reads, reacts well, great instincts, always around the ball, has ball skills (int's, ff, pbu etc.). The 1 knock I'll put on him, is that he doesn't possess elite or great speed, like Shazier. VanNoy is Best thing since p***y, unless that's leaking something the color of anti-freeze, then not a good idea. Okay that was a stretch.

3rd rd C travis Swanson Grade C-
C Richburg and M. Martin both being draft now, Mayhew reached IMO, fearing that a run on C's might occur before he drafts next at #133 due to giving up #111 in trade up 4 2nd rd. There's a lot of negatives I could state on Swanson (20 reps 225) versus UNC C Bodine (42 reps 225). Bodine is country strong and is better at anchoring, vision, violent hands, initial punch, and aggressiveness. I've got more, it'd be a waste. More value drafting FSU FS Brooks, UNC DE K. Martin or Miss WR Moncrief here or trade down, get another pick and draft Bodine. Bodine ranked #94, Swanson #175 by some and Bodine drafted at our original #111 pick, which went to Seattle in trade up then Cincy.

4th rd CB Nevin Lawson
Another pick I was pissed at 1st. I think this kid has the potential to unseat Bentley in the nickel, after having watched 4-5 videos on him. Bentley has always been that PI, Holding, Illegal Contact, waiting to happen. This kid has some hands issues to but not like Bentley does now.

4th rd DE Larry Webster Grade C-
He has all the measurable and I've been high in him for more than a month since the comp picks came out. I just hope he can provide that flame-throwing edge rush skills that he showed in college. He's small school so a lot of development has to come but his measurables are nearly identical to Clowney's.

5th rd DT Caraun Reid Grade C+
Another kid I've been high on since January and actually since last year when Princeton teammate Campanaro was drafted. He has been compared ot Sammie Lee Hill which is a good thing, JMO. I like his aggressiveness, violent hands, burst, explosiveness, work ethic, extremely smart. I think he comes in and provides depth to the DT spot and quite possibly can take over next year. Would have preferred DT Donald at #10 tho. Great value as a 5th rd pick when he could've gone late 3rd to early 4th

6th rd WR TJ Jones Grade C+
Reminds me of Bama's Kevin Norwood. Always fights for position, great hands, very good route running, comes back to the qb when plays break down. He's not a speedy guy but I see him unseating P. Edwards and Ogletree's roster spot if he can handle the transition. Golden Domer WR's have transitioned well to NFL, so far

7th rd PK Nate Freese Grade B
Mayhew drafted what he wanted versus attempting to sign as UDFA. He was rock solid 70/81 FG's career but doesn't possess a real strong leg from 50+

 

[jdwills126]

It bothers me that you don't hate Lewans guts. Just want you to know that JDW.

I think he was a good player on a bad team. I also think he made a lot of stupid decisions off the field but not career ruining decisions. I would have taken Matthews or Robinson before Lewan. He was just the only guy that had a top 10 grade still left if you believe the scouts which I do not. He plays a critical position on the line and to have him and Reiff with Waddle as insurance it would make me feel better about the line now and into the future. But again I wouldn't love the pick I would tolerate it better. Mack>Watkins> Barr>Evans

I take all the feelings out of the pick. I think lewan is a DB but if he can play not get arrested or get caught smoking illegal shit I am ok with him.

It's not as if he is the TE from WMU that played for the Lions that will remain nameless because of his poor social skills.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

^^^ 5th rd analysis


should have read "Princeton teammate DT/DE Mike Catapano" not campanaro

 

[lionstop1]

Ebron - Hated the pick! But no one left on the board would have made me happy. Lewan would have been my selection. And that would still have left me feeling like I didn't address a hole on the team. Dennard, Fuller, Dix, Pryor, and Beckham all would have been reaches and that would have been just as disappointing. I would love to know who would have been the pick if Evans was still on the board.

Van Noy - solid pick no problem as he fits a need. My selection would have been Joyner as that would have freed things up later in the draft but can't be disappointed in the guy.

Swanson - Need meets draft placement. He is the position I know for a fact needs replacing in the very near future.

Lawson - This is the Lions dilemma, all the good CB went earlier in the 4th. If they would have gone CB in the 1-2 it would have freed up the ability to take a Urban, Dozier, or QB. I would have loved to have seen Desir fall a few more spots. He would have made this a great pick and made the Van Noy pick even better.

Webster - Mayhew is swinging for the fences when he didn't have to. The Lions could have gotten a more DE ready guy IMO. Projects get drafted in the 6th and 7th round by teams needing to win now...not the 4th.

Reid - Why when you passed on Donald. The DT spot is not needing anyone. If Suh bolts and Fairly isn't resigned address it next year, I doubt Reid would be looked at as the answer anyway. I really thought Chris Smith would be the choice or AJ McCarron.

Jones - Good pick will compete for a roster spot and can return punts.

Freese - No problem with a kicker. Expected the Lions to draft one in the 7th.

If it wasn't about team needs the draft would have been a solid B to B+, But the Lions do have needs and issues and I think Mayhew is feeling the pressure about winning now. With team needs factored in I give them a C.

The Lions had Ebron rated the second best offensive player in the draft, plus they promised him that he would be the pick. Therefore, Ebron probably wouldve still been taken over Evans.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

The Lions had Ebron rated the second best offensive player in the draft, plus they promised him that he would be the pick. Therefore, Ebron probably wouldve still been taken over Evans.

What else would you expect Mayhew to say? He just drafted the guy. Is he going to say, well, Ebron was the consolation prize because none of our efforts trying to trade up came to fruition and Watkins and Evans were off the board before we picked.

Can you post the article where Ebron states the Lions promised to draft him? I'd just really like to read that. And yes -- I believe you he said that, I just find it humorous a GM would say this and I want to read the entire article.

 

[broncosmitty]

What else would you expect Mayhew to say? He just drafted the guy. Is he going to say, well, Ebron was the consolation prize because none of our efforts trying to trade up came to fruition and Watkins and Evans were off the board before we picked.

Can you post the article where Ebron states the Lions promised to draft him? I'd just really like to read that. And yes -- I believe you he said that, I just find it humorous a GM would say this and I want to read the entire article.

They could have said they thought he was the best offensive player left on the board. And nothing more. Got the impression they would not have drafted Evans or any lineman over Ebron. I assume they would have passed on Bortles had they had the chance. Which would have bothered me tbh. But doesn't matter.

 

[Microwahevo]

What else would you expect Mayhew to say? He just drafted the guy. Is he going to say, well, Ebron was the consolation prize because none of our efforts trying to trade up came to fruition and Watkins and Evans were off the board before we picked.

Can you post the article where Ebron states the Lions promised to draft him? I'd just really like to read that. And yes -- I believe you he said that, I just find it humorous a GM would say this and I want to read the entire article.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2014/05/eric_ebron_nfl_draft_lapointe.html

You know, for all the negative stats you love to research and copy and paste, one would think you could google the very thing you're asking about. This is twice you've questioned lionstop. We get it, you hate the a Ebron pick. But maybe you could start believing what he has to say? Damn man.

 

[Old Lion]

What else would you expect Mayhew to say? He just drafted the guy. Is he going to say, well, Ebron was the consolation prize because none of our efforts trying to trade up came to fruition and Watkins and Evans were off the board before we picked.

Can you post the article where Ebron states the Lions promised to draft him? I'd just really like to read that. And yes -- I believe you he said that, I just find it humorous a GM would say this and I want to read the entire article.

I doubt the Lions would have taken Evans. I know I did not like him at all. Looks like a plotter to me. He will not win a ton of those jump balls against NFL corners like he did in college. Never got any separation at that level so how is he going to do it at this one. I think he is a case of a guy who plays much slower than his 40 time. Glad he was gone.

 

[lionstop1]

What else would you expect Mayhew to say? He just drafted the guy. Is he going to say, well, Ebron was the consolation prize because none of our efforts trying to trade up came to fruition and Watkins and Evans were off the board before we picked.

Can you post the article where Ebron states the Lions promised to draft him? I'd just really like to read that. And yes -- I believe you he said that, I just find it humorous a GM would say this and I want to read the entire article.

Im not sure why some of you think Mayhew continues to lie to the fans? For what? I dont believe everything I hear but I wouldnt doubt a whole lot of what he has said. He said he tried to move up bit they didnt find a deal that was good enough. The Watkins thing was very real.

When it came to Evans, the fans and the media were under the assumption that he was high or their list too. Is it that hard to believe that Ebron was high on their list?