And with the Seventh pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions.....?

[Gulf of Brazil]

Detroit Lions 2021 NFL Draft recap: Draft class superlatives - Pride Of Detroit

Favorite Lions pick​

Alex Reno - Amon-Ra St. Brown. The more I watch this kid, the more I think he might not only be the biggest steal for the Lions, but maybe the biggest steal of the draft. The Lions will get immediate contributions from him because of how weak their receiving corps is, but also because St. Brown is just that good. I love how detail-oriented he is as a route runner, and the Lions desperately need quick separation from their receivers. St. Brown can bring that and much more.

Andrew Kato - Amon-Ra St. Brown. I was already pumped by the first two days of the draft but was left wondering like everybody else where the needed wide receiver was. I agree with Alex (and John Whiticar) that St. Brown is likely to see the field a lot in his first season, especially from the slot. Obviously comps to pro players are speculative, but if any of the people making claims about him looking like Golden Tate are even remotely close to reality, that would be fantastic. I miss Golden Tate so much, and St. Brown was built to do this thang.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

Detroit Lions 2021 NFL Draft recap: Draft class superlatives - Pride Of Detroit

Favorite Lions pick​

Ryan Mathews - Derrick Barnes. The stones on Holmes to make a pick at 112 and then trade all the way up to 113 to take a guy he wanted is just a masterstroke of draft strategy.

Here’s a post-draft piece from The Athletic detailing one scout's thoughts on Barnes:

“The Lions’ fourth-round selection of linebacker Derrick Barnes was termed ‘a steal’ by one veteran evaluator. He thinks Barnes, who moved to inside linebacker from outside linebacker in 2020, has first-round talent as an inside linebacker and is a better prospect than 2017 Lions first-round pick Jarrad Davis was. ‘The combine had bad grades on him, and people didn’t know about him until late,’ he said. ‘But he’s big, fast and tough.’”

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

My kind of player
Committed AF to the game

Detroit Lions 2021 NFL Draft recap: Draft class superlatives - Pride Of Detroit

Most excited to see in training camp​

Chris - Amon-Ra St. Brown. The man is just a damn gamer. He was working out at midnight after Day 2 of the draft. He’s got a hell of a competitive family, he’s exceptionally smart and has great work ethic. He plays physical and tough. It’s a large wide receiver room, and he’s the most intriguing.

BB_72: Yep, His brother is former ND WR Equanimeous St. Brown currently with the Packers

Ryan - Amon-Ra St. Brown. I think he’s got a real chance of being the team’s starting slot receiver from the first day he steps on the field, so I want to see him make good on becoming an immediate impact player.

Best value pick​

Jeremy - Amon-Ra St. Brown. While the Lions missed out on the first couple tiers of wide receivers in this draft, grabbing the versatile USC receiver in the fourth was great value.

Reno - Amon-Ra St. Brown. Again, this was my favorite pick because of the value, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t double down on how much I love this pick. St. Brown is someone that I thought would have went much earlier than the 112th pick. He should see plenty of targets as a rookie and it wouldn’t surprise me if he won the starting slot job right off the rip.

 

[jayfan]

Allison, to me, is more of a what have you done for me lately guy. I know he had a couple years with Rodgers but that was then and he didn't stick. Allison has the pro experience and that's about it right at the moment.

Cephus does play outside but he also had slot duties as well even though it was minimal. I don't see Cephus staying on the final 53.

Did you mean Allison in the bold?

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

two publications that believe Melifonwu's best might come at Safety moving forward

Ifeatu Melifonwu CB Syracuse - Draft Player Profile | The Draft Network

The most notable room for Melifonwu to grow is in terms of his route anticipation skills and becoming a touch more consistent with coverage spacing. I would understand the idea that his best fit at the next level could come at safety or even as a big nickel that is somewhat of a positionless sub-package defender. Melifonwu has the potential to develop into a terrific starter as he becomes more consistent and solidifies his technique.


Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB, Syracuse - NFL Draft Player Profile | PFN (profootballnetwork.com)

Negatives: Must improve his backpedal, as he’s neither quick nor fluid moving in reverse. Loses the receiver he’s supposed to be covering on occasion. Shows hesitation in his game.

Analysis: Melifonwu is a physical specimen who flashes ability but must improve the details of his position. Better facing the action, he may ultimately move inside to safety and comes with a large upside.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

Did you mean Allison in the bold?

Yes, I did.
I have no clue as to why I typed Cephus.
It was meant to be Geronimo Allison

But, It's quite possible Cephus is not on the final roster as well.

Depending on what vet WR gets the upcoming axe after the draft, I could inevitably see one or two Vet WR being signed before actual reg season starts.

I think any one of the three UDFA have as much of a chance being on the final roster as much as Cephus
I like Cephus but if someone beats him out of a starting spot then so be it.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

Did you mean Allison in the bold?

good eye btw

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

The Detroit Lions 2021 draft class was among the most valuable in the NFL - Pride Of Detroit

Still, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes kept mentioning that word—value—when it came to his decisions to select the players he did over the weekend

Here’s him talking about taking second-round pick Levin Onwuzurike:

“Toward the end of Thursday, we were just trying to see if there were ways to maybe go back up and get him. Even earlier today – the guys in the draft room did a heck of a job about keeping me tempered to practice a little bit more patience, because he’s one that was highly sought after.”

And third-round pick Ifeatu Melifonwu:

“He was actually standing out (on our draft board), I wouldn’t say like a sore thumb, but he was standing out significantly. So, from a value standpoint, from the cream of the position, let’s just go and just trust our board, trust the process, all the work that we put in and really feel good about the value you get.”

And fourth-round pick Amon-Ra St. Brown:

“He was a guy that actually we strongly considered yesterday to consider. But obviously as we talked about the value where we had Iffy (Ifeatu Melifonwu) was pretty high. But he was a guy that I slept on overnight and was really, really excited to be able to come off with.”

And seventh-round pick Jermar Jefferson:

“When we made the trade and got (Pick) 257, I believe it was. I didn’t really think that he would still be on the board. So, we were very, very happy about him.”

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

The Detroit Lions 2021 draft class was among the most valuable in the NFL - Pride Of Detroit

Round 1: OT Penei Sewell​

Consensus big board ranking: 3
Lions draft selection spot: 7

Round 2: DT Levi Onwuzurike​

Consensus big board ranking: 43
Lions draft selection spot: 41

Round 3: NT Alim McNeill​

Consensus big board ranking: 80
Lions draft selection spot: 72

Round 3: CB Ifeatu Melifonwu​

Consensus big board ranking: 56
Lions draft selection spot: 101

Round 4: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown​

Consensus big board ranking: 69
Lions draft selection spot: 112

Round 4: LB Derrick Barnes​

Consensus big board ranking: 148
Lions draft selection spot: 113

Round 7: RB Jermar Jefferson​

Consensus big board ranking: 158
Lions draft selection spot: 257

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

The Detroit Lions 2021 draft class was among the most valuable in the NFL - Pride Of Detroit

Overall​

It looks as though the Lions got considerable value with every pick but one. So how does that compare to the rest of the league? Thankfully, all we need to do is go back to our friend Arif Hasan, who wrote a fascinating article about the overall value in each team’s draft class. His methodology, in as simple terms as possible, used the same consensus big board to determine value, and combined it with both positional value and team needs, spitting out an objective number for each draft class.

The results: the Lions got the sixth-highest return on investment in the class. Only the Bears, Chiefs, Broncos, Browns, and Bills fared better.

And this wasn’t the only study to find Detroit’s draft as extremely valuable. Benjamin Robinson of GrindingTheMocks.com also tried to calculate draft value by creating a metric called Draft Capital Over Expect—essentially measuring the value of the players received against the team’s draft capital going into Thursday. Here are those results:



The Lions ranked eighth in both charts.

So, overall, it looks pretty clear that the Lions got great perceived value in their 2021 draft class. But the draft’s true value won’t be known for some time.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

^^^^^^

Haven't seen/witnessed this in eons
not even the 2016 draft comes this close

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

all 22 video of Derrick Barnes
Last year was his first as a MIKE
It's highlights but damn the good is REALLY, REALLY GOOD

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

^^^^^^

He's explosive, fast with speed and diagnose skills, can wrap up even though he had two near slips of almost got away, speed and range to get sideline to sideline. If this kid can show this type of playmaking ability consistently then it's a win to move up

 

[Mebert]

The Detroit Lions 2021 draft class was among the most valuable in the NFL - Pride Of Detroit

Overall​

It looks as though the Lions got considerable value with every pick but one. So how does that compare to the rest of the league? Thankfully, all we need to do is go back to our friend Arif Hasan, who wrote a fascinating article about the overall value in each team’s draft class. His methodology, in as simple terms as possible, used the same consensus big board to determine value, and combined it with both positional value and team needs, spitting out an objective number for each draft class.

The results: the Lions got the sixth-highest return on investment in the class. Only the Bears, Chiefs, Broncos, Browns, and Bills fared better.

And this wasn’t the only study to find Detroit’s draft as extremely valuable. Benjamin Robinson of GrindingTheMocks.com also tried to calculate draft value by creating a metric called Draft Capital Over Expect—essentially measuring the value of the players received against the team’s draft capital going into Thursday. Here are those results:



The Lions ranked eighth in both charts.

So, overall, it looks pretty clear that the Lions got great perceived value in their 2021 draft class. But the draft’s true value won’t be known for some time.

The best part about this is Barnes was considered a reach on the consensus charts, but insiders seem to love him. So our value might even be better than this shows.

 

[Mebert]

maybe, but only because of having pro experience and I just don't see him on final roster.
We can have opposing opinions.

I think we both agree that he is nkt aong term solution. The UDFAs could pass him by for sure. Surrat or the kid from Notre Dame who got 100k and he could get bumped for sure.

 

[Old Lion]

two publications that believe Melifonwu's best might come at Safety moving forward

Ifeatu Melifonwu CB Syracuse - Draft Player Profile | The Draft Network

The most notable room for Melifonwu to grow is in terms of his route anticipation skills and becoming a touch more consistent with coverage spacing. I would understand the idea that his best fit at the next level could come at safety or even as a big nickel that is somewhat of a positionless sub-package defender. Melifonwu has the potential to develop into a terrific starter as he becomes more consistent and solidifies his technique.


Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB, Syracuse - NFL Draft Player Profile | PFN (profootballnetwork.com)

Negatives: Must improve his backpedal, as he’s neither quick nor fluid moving in reverse. Loses the receiver he’s supposed to be covering on occasion. Shows hesitation in his game.

Analysis: Melifonwu is a physical specimen who flashes ability but must improve the details of his position. Better facing the action, he may ultimately move inside to safety and comes with a large upside.

That is what I said Saturday. He may not look like a good CB but he looks like a very nice safety. Will also come in handy when playing against big WRs. Will Harris might not make it this year but most likely we carry 5 safeties for ST purposes.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

ya know, it's frickin' PFF but, I gotta copy and paste it

Fantasy Football: 12 rookies primed for fantasy breakouts with their new NFL teams in 2021 | Fantasy Football News, Rankings and Projections | PFF

PFF's Andrew Erickson examines 12 NFL rookies primed for fantasy football breakouts with their new teams in 2021.

www.pff.com

AMON-RA ST. BROWN, DETROIT LIONS​

Amon-Ra St. Brown could not have asked for a better landing spot when it comes to immediate opportunity. The Lions have a glaring hole at their slot WR position that ASB can immediately fill. St. Brown was most productive in college during the 2018-19 seasons when he operated as USC’s inside receiver.

The Lions have the most vacated targets and air yards available in their offense from 2020, meaning St. Brown can step in and command a significant target share.

Some might be concerned with investing in a passing offense led by Jared Goff, but the Lions’ porous defense ensures they will have to throw early and often. Goff also has a strong track record of supporting fantasy-relevant WRs — namely those featured in the slot like Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods.

I wasn’t the highest on St. Brown during the pre-draft process, but I can’t ignore a rookie a situation this favorable. PFF’s Kevin Cole labeled the Lions as the strongest opportunity for a rookie WR.

 

[Old Lion]

all 22 video of Derrick Barnes
Last year was his first as a MIKE
It's highlights but damn the good is REALLY, REALLY GOOD

Wow. This kid can play everywhere. He reads very well and once he has his hands on you its over. Can pass rush as well. He should beat out Tavai before the end of the year.

 

[Old Lion]

In hindsight they did a better job of filling the holes then I thought originally.

 

[Mebert]

In hindsight they did a better job of filling the holes then I thought originally.

When you need at least 2 of everything you can't miss!