Mayhew is about to do something real crazy.

[TrustMeIamRight]

Well, I'm a "show me" type of guy. Caldwell not getting much attention around the league and getting fired doesn't mean he wont do the job here. Thats to be seen. Personally, I think the team is going to respond to him this year.

I guess you're indicating that if they dont draft defense with their top two picks, they wont win the division, nor win the SB. I guess. Theres a lot of teams in the league that ride their offense, with average defenses. Hell, GB was terrible on defense for a few years.

To me, at the end of the day, you draft the best player possible.

Lionstop,

I do not think Detroit will win their division if they trade away picks to draft a WR. We are in a division where we will face Marshall/Jeffrey twice and Cobb/Nelson twice. We couldn't win the division last year when Cutler and Rodgers missed a ton of time -- adding a WR isn't going to help us out, unless we are going to try and win shootouts.

Detroit needs to upgrade defensively. Until they do -- we are going to see the same type of results we've seen over the past couple years. They may get into the playoffs, but IMO, if they face a team with a good QB -- it will end up the same way it did when we played NO.

That is just my opinion though. Everyone has their own. For me, if the Lions don't invest in the defense -- they will continue to be a middle of the road team. I also think they have one of the most talented offenses without drafting Watkins -- Drafting him will make the offense better, but it still won't be in the same category as the teams with elite offenses and an elite QB throwing them the ball (like Denver, like GB, like NO). I think Stafford is a quality QB, but he isn't going to be confused for Brees, Manning, Rodgers, etc.

 

[jdwills126]

Soon? Yes. By the end of this year? No, imo.

Also imo, Josh Gordon is the 2nd best WR in the league right now. He's a faster Green and a healthier Jones...

And one strike away from being a CFL star!

Luv his talent but the Browns GM must cringe every time his phone rings late at night.

I am not sure a 1st and a second get top 5. Thats what Detroit will need to lock Watkins.

For the sake of argument lets say it is a 1st and second I would be hard pressed to trade Barr and Adams for Watkins. Or Gilbert and Bryant for Watkins. I like the idea of trading down and building the roster as Detroit has limited depth at a few positions.

 

[tpaulus_2]

And one strike away from being a CFL star!

Luv his talent but the Browns GM must cringe every time his phone rings late at night.

Can't argue that at all. He's a blast to watch though- shades of Randy Moss deep down the sideline just running past the CB and hauling in bombs...

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Can't argue that at all. He's a blast to watch though- shades of Randy Moss deep down the sideline just running past the CB and hauling in bombs...

I love Josh Gordon, but he is nowhere near as fast as Moss, but he is much more physical than Moss.

Moss ran in the 4.25-4.35 range. Gordon was a guy they thought would run in the high 4.3's to mid 4.4's, but at his pro day, he ran a 4.52.

Maybe it had to do with the fact he hadn't played football though in a little while and wasn't in top shape yet?!? Cleveland definitely got themselves a steal with a 3rd rounder on him if he can keep his nose clean.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

For the sake of argument lets say it is a 1st and second I would be hard pressed to trade Barr and Adams for Watkins. Or Gilbert and Bryant for Watkins. I like the idea of trading down and building the roster as Detroit has limited depth at a few positions.

 

[lionstop1]

I wouldn't trade for him if I had a Evans and VanNoy.

 

[Microwahevo]

I wouldn't trade for him if I had a Evans and VanNoy.

I would be happy as a pig in shit if we could land them in rounds 1 & 2

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

I wouldn't trade for him if I had a Evans and VanNoy.

So it isn't just Watkins you want -- it is one of the top two WRs? I wouldn't be terribly upset if they took Evans at #10, but I'd still rather see them upgrade defensively. Van Noy would be a good fit.

I'd love to see the Lions go Donald at #10 and Van Noy at #45. Maybe deal Fairley for a pick (not sure of what we could get, maybe a 3rd?) -- if they get a 3rd, they could use one 3rd to fill the 3rd WR spot and maybe the other 3rd to find the replacement for Raiola.

 

[tpaulus_2]

So it isn't just Watkins you want -- it is one of the top two WRs? I wouldn't be terribly upset if they took Evans at #10, but I'd still rather see them upgrade defensively. Van Noy would be a good fit.

I'd love to see the Lions go Donald at #10 and Van Noy at #45. Maybe deal Fairley for a pick (not sure of what we could get, maybe a 3rd?) -- if they get a 3rd, they could use one 3rd to fill the 3rd WR spot and maybe the other 3rd to find the replacement for Raiola.

You just described my dream draft. Donald, Van Noy, Lattimer

 

[lionstop1]

I'm not a fan of Donald at all. If Mack is gone and they go defense, I'll take Gilbert. My top four choices are Watkins, Evans, Mack and Gilbert in that order.

I'm really not sure what to do with the DT position, but if they took Donald, that basically means Fairley is gone for sure. I would hold off on DT unless he was absolutely the BPA.

My ideal situation:

Go up and take Watkins and give up the 1st, 2nd and another future pick or the original 4th. The offense is set for years and the Lions could be fielding the best offense in the league. Come back in the 3rd and find that defender who slid- perferably a pass-rushing OLB, CB or DT. In the 4th, get the back-up QB, C and CB.

From this, Im looking at aquiring one of the elite prospects on offense, a situational pass-rusher (upgrade to Palmer) and my depth at spots that need it.

 

[jayfan]

As far as a 1st and 2nd round pick not being a lot -- I'm going to have to disagree with you. Detroit would have two picks out of the top 45 players. By trading away their 2nd round pick -- they won't draft again until pick 76. If Detroit was one player from taking the step to the next level and challenging for the Super Bowl -- I'd completely understand the move. Adding Watkins won't even make them the favorite to win their own division.

Detroit has not only multiple holes to fill, but they are paper thin in depth at multiple positions too. IMO, they don't have the personnel to be trading away picks to move up, especially for a WR, when you have a tremendous pair of them already and the draft is so deep at the WR position.

It just seem crazy to me.

Fully agree with everything said here. (save for the line about Tate and tremendous. He's solid, though.)

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

I'm really not sure what to do with the DT position, but if they took Donald, that basically means Fairley is gone for sure. I would hold off on DT unless he was absolutely the BPA.

This is why I get confused in regards to talking about drafting a 'replacement' for Calvin Johnson. At 28, he probably has another 4-5 years of putting up #1 WR stats. While on defense, at the one position that is a strength for the unit, DT, we have Fairley and Suh, and both are in the last year of the contract, so we could be without both of them next year (which is a very realistic possibility, as Suh may not want to play here and Fairley will most definitely test the FA market after Detroit turned down his 5th year option).

What about a replacement for Houston? Or a replacement for Palmer? Or a replacement for Ihedbigo? Or a replacement for Willie Young?

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

the Lions could be fielding the best offense in the league

I love Stafford, he is the best QB the Lions have had in decades. He isn't in the same class as the elite QB's though, as they make the players around them better.

We could draft Watkins, but Denver will still be the best offense in the league. Same goes with the offenses led by Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.

I could agree that Detroit would have one the best WR corp if they drafted Watkins, though Atlanta would have an argument with Julio Jones, Roddy White and Harry Douglas.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Fully agree with everything said here. (save for the line about Tate and tremendous. He's solid, though.)

I wasn't meaning to say Tate was tremendous -- when I said a tremendous pair, I was grouping CJ and Tate together. When you can pair the best WR in football with a guy who led the league in YAC and has some of the best hands in the NFL -- they complement each other very well.

 

[TBBishop]

This is why I get confused in regards to talking about drafting a 'replacement' for Calvin Johnson. At 28, he probably has another 4-5 years of putting up #1 WR stats. While on defense, at the one position that is a strength for the unit, DT, we have Fairley and Suh, and both are in the last year of the contract, so we could be without both of them next year (which is a very realistic possibility, as Suh may not want to play here and Fairley will most definitely test the FA market after Detroit turned down his 5th year option).

What about a replacement for Houston? Or a replacement for Palmer? Or a replacement for Ihedbigo? Or a replacement for Willie Young?

I believe that we'll only get a couple more years of amazement from Calvin. His knees are awful and the only thing worse than bad knees for an athlete is a bad back. I see Calvin unfortunatetly falling off big time in his early 30s. I wouldn't be opposed to staying put at 10 and taking a replacement for Suh/Fairley there because I do believe that one or both of them will be gone next season. But I do think Watkins is a special talent and if we can get our hands on him and not overpay we need to do it.

 

[gandydancer]

I wasn't meaning to say Tate was tremendous -- when I said a tremendous pair, I was grouping CJ and Tate together. When you can pair the best WR in football with a guy who led the league in YAC and has some of the best hands in the NFL -- they complement each other very well.

He will either make Stafford look good, or Stafford is going to take away the "best drop rate" in NFL from Tate.

 

[lionstop1]

I guess "replacement" is a pretty strong word to use. I'll continue to say that they probably want to help CJ on the field as much as possible as well as Stafford. What they want to do on offense may require another guy like Watkins. There's plenty of reason why they would want him.

Maybe they already have an idea about what they are going to do at DT for the future. Its not like they dont talk about these things.That doesnt mean you just run out and draft Donald if he isnt the BPA.

As for Houston, I think the team will keep him for at least two more years as long as he plays well this year. As I stated earlier, it wont be too hard to replace Palmer.

Ihedigbo will give the Lions a little time to find another guy. Replacing Young will be hard but maybe they have a plan.

Lions wont find all these needs at once anyway. If the Lions move up, Im going to assume that they dont like some of the players as much as we do and they feel trading up is the better option. They've ran through a million scenerios by now and should have a good idea about what they can gain from this draft.

 

[lionstop1]

TrustmeImright,

How is it that Stafford hasn't made any of his guys better? I think he has but not to the extent of a Manning or Brees.

 

[lionstop1]

The Lions shouldn't sell the farm for Watkins but if they can put together something that works to where they will lose a chance at one player or so, they should do it. When Mayhew said that you place value on a situation when you're picking tenth and you have an opportunity to get a top five player, I completely agree. I see it as the Lions thinking they might get the second best prospect in the draft.

It should mean something if Watkins can be the 2nd best player in a draft like this. He is widely known as a special talent and i bet Detroit isn't the only team willing to move up for him. Im not sure why anyone wouldn't like the idea of adding an elite talent to an offense that already has CJ.

 

[Valion78]

My question is what does Watkins bring to the offense exactly? Is he a threat all over the field or just close to the LOS? Seems like most highlights I've seen are him catching screen type of passes and taking them to the house. Can he be a productive deep and medium threat? I'm not a college football junkie so I really don't know. Should we really trade away a valuable pick just to get him?