The 2017 NFL Draft is in the books, and I have to say, while I don't see any of the glaring mistakes you might see in a Mayhew or Millen draft, I don't see much to get excited about either. Davis was a good pick I thought, but Foster was available at the time and will likely be a better player. Maybe. We missed out on Mixon and then took a CB that seems to have pretty limited upside. We traded back in round 3 and missed on some guys I thought could've been day 1 starters...
I haven't scouted these players personally, I'm relying on their measurables, their game tape & stats, and what others have written about them. So any draft critique has to come with this caveat - the Lions front office knows these players WAY better than I do. That said, I don't need to have personal scouting knowledge of every player to question draft strategy. Also, if questions about a player's abilities are being asked by writers who DO have firsthand scouting knowledge, it's legit for me to bring those up as well.
I already covered the Jarrad Davis pick, so I won't go in depth here. It did remind me a little of the 2010 Draft though, when we took Suh over McCoy. If you hop in the wayback machine, the debate at the time of the 2010 draft was whether Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy would be the better prospect at DT. It was generally accepted that Suh was the better player, but McCoy was supposed to be a better pass rushing DT and maybe less of a headache. When Suh eventually left the Lions in free agency for more money, I thought at the time that while he was the better player, the Lions would have been better off had they drafted McCoy instead. So with that in mind, I'm ok with the Davis pick over Foster. Davis might be not quite as good a player as Foster (on the other hand, he might turn out better), but I think he'll be less of a headache.
With that out of the way, let's look at the rest of the Lions' draft. You should be able to spot a common theme in my evaluations.
Round 2, pick #53
Teez Tabor - CB, Florida
6'1", 199 lbs, 4.62 40-yd dash
That 40-time is glacially slow for a 2nd round corner, but it's possible that a nagging hamstring injury slowed him down a little. Even assuming the best, he's still a slower CB and would get burned if we put him on the island outside. Tabor is pretty good in coverage though, and has a lot of INTs and pass breakups to show for it. He's projected as a zone CB, which is pretty useful in our defense, but he's not a great tackler. Here's what I thought when we took Tabor - "WHY DIDN'T WE TAKE JOURDAN LEWIS???" I know Lewis has a domestic case and that's definitely a concern, but Lewis could be an outside corner. He's got elite speed and coverage ability. He's a little smaller, but he's a much better player than Tabor. And while Tabor doesn't currently have a case, he's got history (suspensions for failed drug tests and an altercation with a teammate). I would love to have gotten either Mixon or DeMarcus Walker here, but they had just been picked. It was weird to me to see Quinn go for a guy who's probably never going to be higher than a #3 CB.
Round 3, pick #96 (traded back with NE)
Kenny Golladay - WR, Northern Illinois
6'4", 218 lbs, 4.50 40-yd dash
Golladay is a big dude who isn't slow, but he isn't going to run away from anyone either (in the video from the OSU game, he's pretty well covered most of the time). A problem the Lions receivers had last year was getting separation, and I don't see how this guy will fix that. So while WR was a need, I'm against picking a WR here, and I'm not crazy about trading back either. The trade gave us New England's 4th & 6th round picks, which is a decent haul for moving back 11 picks in round 3. But look at who was available that we missed out on - RB Kareem Hunt, RB D'Onta Foreman, CB Jourdan Lewis (who we probably weren't drafting after taking a CB in round 2, but still), S John Johnson, and DT Montravius Adams. We may be fine with Golladay, but I think we could've done better if we'd stayed put and gotten one of the 2 RBs or a defensive player.
Round 4, pick #124 (from NE)
Jalen Reeves-Maybin - LB, Tennessee
6'0", 230 lbs, 4.66 40-yd dash
I've got no issues with this one. LB was still a need, even after taking Davis in round 1. He's also our 2nd "Jalen", since Teez Tabor's first name is Jalen. Anyway, JRM missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, but the year before was a pretty good one. He's fast, can cover, and he's a good tackler. He needs to add about 10 lbs of muscle and probably won't start right away, but I like the pick.
Round 4, pick #128
Michael Roberts - TE, Toledo
6'4", 270 lbs, 4.86 40-yd dash
This. This is how you draft a tight end. I love everything about this pick - who we got, the potential of the player, the skill set he already has, and especially WHERE we got him. This is why you don't spend your top pick on a TE. The guy can catch, he's big, and he projects as a quality blocking TE in the NFL. He isn't going to run away from anybody, but his size is perfect for red zone and short yardage situations. He'll go up and get it for you. Jake Butt was available, but he's supposed to miss all of the upcoming season with his ACL injury. I have no issues with picking Roberts over Jake Butt here.
Round 5, pick #165
Jamal Agnew - CB, San Diego
5'10", 185 lbs, 4.32 40-yd dash
Not a bad 5th round pick. He's got elite speed and can return punts, so that may be where he starts out. He'll need to add some muscle to play slot corner.
Round 6, pick #205
Jeremiah Ledbetter - DE, Arkansas
6'3", 280 lbs, 4.84 40-yd dash
Not especially quick or disruptive in the passing game, getting only 5.5 sacks last year and 7.5 TFL. I wish they'd addressed the edge rush earlier in the draft, although it's not like the other picks were taken in spite of need. DeMarcus Walker would've been a great pick in rd 2, but he went 2 picks ahead of the Lions. We passed on a 6'7" DE from Villanova, who looks promising, and Jordan Willis out of K State probably would have started for us out of the gate (Teez Tabor will be the #3 CB at best). So, Ledbetter isn't a bad pick for the 6th round, but I wish we'd addressed the edge rush earlier.
Round 6, pick #215 (from NE)
Brad Kaaya - QB, Miami
6'4", 214 lbs, 4.90 40-yd dash
At this point in the draft, you're looking for good players regardless of need. Did we NEED a QB? No, we're presumably reupping with Stafford and Ruddock is now our #2. But Kaaya, while limited, was a steal here and should develop into a quality backup. These are the types of guys you can develop and then trade if the opportunity presents itself.
Round 7, pick #250
Pat O'Connor - DE, Eastern Michigan
6'4", 277 lbs, 4.81 40-yd dash
Decent 7th rounder, what can I say? I know next to nothing about the guy. His stats are ok, not great, he has short arms and isn't super strong or athletic... Fine I guess?
And here's your UDFA tracker from Pride of Detroit, in case you're a total degenerate, like myself.
Overall, I can't say I know enough about these players to excoriate Quinn for this draft, nor can I praise his drafting acumen. Early on in the draft I thought he passed on some players with higher upside (in a couple cases, MUCH higher), but they would have come with some headaches. I'm okay with the 1st round pick, less than thrilled with the 2nd & 3rd round moves, I love what he did in round 4, and I'm fine with rounds 5-7.
If you're comparing it to the 2016 draft, they're similar in that he addressed needs without overreaching, but I don't think he drafted as many potential starters as he did last year. I'd guess only 2 of the 6 defensive players we drafted will be full-time starters, and offensively I'd say the TE has really the only shot. I'd give this draft a C+. Quinn addressed needs, but I don't think he took enough risks. At some point, he'll need to do that.
No comments:
Post a Comment