“We draft based…

“We draft based on best player available, not on positional needs”

This quote resides in the minds of all executives in the NFL to this day. The Detroit Lions front office has taken this approach in the last decade with mixed results. They drafted WR Calvin Johnson after having taken a WR in 3 of the previous 4 drafts. Those 3 wide receivers are out of the league while Calvin Johnson broke the NFL record for most receiving yards in a season. 

This year figures to be much of the same. Even with a need on the offensive line, the Lions will not waiver at drafting a cornerback such as Dee Milliner from Alabama with the #5 pick because he is the best available player regardless of position. This will become even more noticeable in the 2nd round where most sites have the Lions going DE Demontre Moore from Texas A&M instead of one of the top 10 offensive lineman because again Moore is the better player regardless of position.

Tune in this Thursday, April 25th at 7:30PM for the first round of the NFL draft and see what route the Lions take in rebuilding their perennial playoff team!

Detroit Lions Mock 2013 Draft

The Lions currently hold 8 draft picks in the 2013 NFL draft. 3 of their picks are in the top 65 overall, while they have 5 picks on the second day. Here is what we believe they will do with each pick.

1st Round (#5 overall): CB Dee Milliner (Alabama). Here is the only draft pick we believe is a guarantee for the Lions if he falls in their lap.
2nd Round (#36 overall): OT Menelik Watson (Florida State). We believe the Lions attempt to shore up their offensive line after the top lineman are gone before pick #5 in the first round. They take a first round talent early in the 2nd round here.
3rd Round (#65 overall): CB David Amerson (North Carolina State). A steal of a pick for the Lions here as Amerson is one of the top CB available and was a projected 1st round pick last year.
4th Round (#132 overall): CB Tyrann Mathieu (LSU). It’s not a secret that the Lions secondary was horrible last year. Mathieu is a high risk/high reward pick as his skills on the field are great but his off-field troubles could de-rail his career. A 4th round pick has no guaranteed money and is a good risk for the Lions here.
5th Round (#137 overall): DE William Gholston (Michigan State). The Lions stay in their own backyard and take the replacement to DE Cliff Avril in Gholston. He is a physical freak of nature and can come in and play a role as a rookie.
6th Round (#171 overall): TE Dion Sims (Michigan State). The Lions make it back to back Spartans in their selection of SIms. A good talent with a great build, he can come in and be the 3rd TE this year and replace Scheffler after next year.
7th Round (#211 overall): S Robert Lester (Alabama). Another future draft pick to be used to groom a safety to take over for Louis Delmas incase he is lost to free-agency next year.

 

Let us know what you think of this draft and how it fits the Lions!

Dee Milliner

Detroit Lions target with #5 pick.

Tyrann Mathieu

The Lions are one of many teams in need of a cornerback in the upcoming draft. The sexy pick and the most commonly selected player to fit with the Lions is CB Dee Milliner (Alabama University) who is projected by many analysts to go #5 to the Lions in the first round. (We projected him in the same spot). The player that a lot of people are beginning to take notice of as a comeback story is CB Tyrann Mathieu formerly of LSU. He was kicked off the team in 2012 after numerous failed drug tests. The year before, he was a top CB in college football as well as finishing 5th in the Heisman Trophy voting as a defensive back.

We as a public are suckers for a comeback story though. After having admitted to prior drug problems, he spent the last year to get clean and get his career back on track. He tested great at last months NFL combine of the top players and is considered a top prospect if not for his personal problems and being a little shorter than what is deemed to be acceptable. If the Lions are able to get a player of his caliber to play the slot defensive back position or the nickleback corner spot, it would be a great fit. He is already slipped in mock drafts but if we can get him in the 3rd round, he’s a gamble worth taking due to his high reward possibility. With the proper coaching and ability to handle his off the field issues, we believe he can be a starting caliber cornerback in the NFL within 3 years and in the 3rd round would be a steal.

Draft Security

As word has leaked out about the incident at the Boston Marathon yesterday afternoon, the NFL draft security will be bolstered. According to the AP, the league will be adding more security to Radio City Hall in downtown New York City for the weekend of April 28 to make sure that no incidents occur. While commissioner Roger Goddell has come out and stated that this event is not prone to any sort of attacks, he is not taking any chances and wants to make sure that the fans are fully protected as well as team officials and those in charge. “We will not hold back on security and will go as far as we need to. We need to insure that nothing will be because of lack of security at the NFL Draft.”

NFL Mock Draft

With the NFL draft being so close, its time for the mock draft!

1) Kansas City Chiefs : OT Luke Joeckel

2) Jacksonville Jaguars: DT Shariff Floyd

3) Oakland Riaders: OT Eric Fisher

4) Philadelphia Eagles: DE Dion Jordan

5) Detroit Lions: CB Dee Milliner

6) Miami Dolphins: OT Lane Johnson

7) Arizona Cardinals: QB Geno Smith

8) Buffalo Bills: QB Ryan Nassib

9) New York Jets: NT Star Lotuleiei

10) Tennessee Titans: DE Ezekiel Ansah

11) San Diego Chargers: G Chance Warmack

12) Cleveland Browns: CB Xavier Rhodes

13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: TE Tyler Eifert

14) New Orleans Saints: DE Berkevious Mingo

15) Carolina Panthers: DT Sheldon Richardson

16) St.Louis Rams: S Kenny Vaccaro

17) Pittsburgh Steelers: OLB Jarvis Jones

18) Dallas Cowboys: G D.J. Fluker

19) New York Giants: G Jonathan Cooper

20) Chicago Bears: WR Cordelle Patterson

21) Cincinnati Bengals: Alec Ogletree

22) St.Louis Rams: WR Tavon Austin

23) Minnesota Vikings: LB Manti T’eo

24) Indianapolis Colts: DE Datonte Jones

25) Minnesota Vikings: WR DeAndre Hopkins

26) Green Packers: DT Sylvester Williams

27) Houston Texans: WR Justin Hunter

28) Denver Broncos: DE Bjorn Werner

29) New England Patriots: S Matt Elam

30) Atlanta Falcons: CB Desmond Trufant

31) San Francisco 49ers: S Jonathan Cyprien

32) Baltimore Ravens: WR Keenan Allen

 

These picks are as of the current needs of teams and might change due to trades prior to the draft! Let the debating begin!!!

Upgrades

The word is out already. The Lions were able to talk a few of their key players into taking a pay cut for the upcoming year. Key core players such as QB Matthew Stafford, DT Ndamukong Suh and WR Calvin Johnson were all able to rework their contracts in order to be able to save the Lions an estimated 11 million dollars for the upcoming year as well as over 40 million in the next 3 years. (Associated Press) reports that they were able to defer a lot of their salaries for the 2012 season into signing bonuses to be able to save money for the team against the cap.

These key changes have allowed the Lions to continue winning the off-season by allowing them to be in the running for WR Darrius Heyward Bey (former Raiders 1st round pick). This would be a great upgrade for a team that lost WR Titus Young earlier in the off-season (released due to attitude issues) and is in desperate need for another wide receiver to compliment Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson and Ryan Broyles (who missed last few games due to injury). The key thing for the Lions in terms of Heyward Bey is the speed aspect. He ran a 4.35 in the 40 yard dash and would add a speed receiver to the Lions to pair up with the receivers and tight ends (along with newly acquired HB Reggie Bush) to make Stafford happy for years to come.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Lions this week as talks are heating up with the projected pick for the Lions at #5 now switching to the defensive side of the ball. (AP broke news of Lions LB Justin Durant being signed by the Cowboys at the time of this post).

Key Signings

The Detroit Lions were able to sign a few of their own free agents as well as filling in some basic needs with free agents from other teams. The decision to resign CB Chris Houston to a 5 year deal was a decision deemed necessary by management to allow the team to focus on a different position in the upcoming draft. The Lions also decided to sign S Glover Quin (previously with the Houston Texans), as well as HB Reggie Bush (of the Miami Dolphins, previously a 2nd overall pick). The Reggie Bush signing was key to give the team a compliment to HB Mikel Leshoure who was drafted in 2011 to be a compliment to HB Jahvid Best. The injury bug though has threatened to end the career of Best by the age of 25 (numerous concussions). This led to the signing of Bush who is the same style of running back. Another key signing by the Lions in the last week was DE Jason Jones (previously with Seattle) who played college at Eastern Michigan. He fits the scheme on defense because of his previous time with coach Jim Schwartz in Tennessee. This was a key signing due to the fact that the Lions lost DE Cliff Avril to Seattle earlier in the day (He signed for 2 years/$15 million).

Some people view the re-signing of S Louis Delmas whom the Lions drafted from Western Michigan a mere 4 years ago but has been injured most of his career, as a key re-signing for the defense. He is a legitimate play-maker on the defense when healthy and can make the defensive calls due to his experience in the scheme. He was resigned for only a 1 year deal (to make sure he is back to full health).

These signings were deemed necessary by most people within the organization but also allows the team to draft either on the offensive line or a linebacker in the upcoming entry draft of college players. The Lions have been linked to OT Eric Fisher from Central Michigan, CB Dee Millner from Alabama and even OLB Jarvis Jones from Georgia with the #5 overall pick in the draft.

Stay tuned for more updates on the draft with the LionsDen!