Lions at 5....Draft Night Thread!

Post #101 » by **Icness** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 2:23 pm

I wrote a few summaries here:
http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2013/0 ... the-lions/

http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2013/0 ... war-daddy/

http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2013/0 ... slay-pick/

http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2013/0 ... n-detroit/

I love the Warford pick. As long as he stays in shape he is an above-average starting RG from day one until 2020. He dominated Sharrif Floyd.

I don't like taking a punter in the 5th. I don't really evaluate punters but one person I trust had Martin as the best punter in this draft. I would have gone a different direction there, maybe Josh Evans or David Quessenberry. I know the Lions were worried the Packers were going to take Martin though.

Corey Fuller made my "boom" list of late-rounders with strong potential to emerge in the NFL. He will begin as the 4th WR, playing outside opposite Megatron and running deeper patterns. Former track star, excellent vertical speed. Really developed as the year went on and impressed at Shrine Game week. I know the Lions appreciated his ability to pick things up quickly. Will also get a crack at return duties. Good pick.

Not a big Theo Riddick fan. If the Lions wanted a Notre Dame RB they should have taken Cierre Wood there. Lots of better RBs still available; the Texans signed 3 UDFAs that I rated higher than Riddick. Kinda doubt he makes the team.

Williams is a very good pick. He will play the role that Reiff did last year of 6th OL, but he is very good at slipping off the line and getting open in the short range area. Best blocking TE in this draft hands down. Good red zone threat. There is talk of having him add about 15 pounds and converting to tackle, but I like him in the role I described here.

Honestly don't know much about Hepburn, only saw one tape of FAMU. His non-football story is pretty cool though; he's a budding cancer researcher and a biochemistry ace, played on an academic scholarship. He's got a great physique and closing burst, big hitter but not necessarily a good tackler. Looks like a practice squad guy in '13.

Piston Pete · Post #102 » by **Piston Pete** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 7:10 pm

The only guys I feel confident of being on our roster come Week 1 are:

DE Ansah
CB Slay
OG Warford
P Martin
WR Fuller
TE Williams
TE Fauria

On a side note: The Lions are converting WR Dominique Curry (6'2", 225) to TE. Sounds like they are setting him up to fail.

Blkbrd671 · Post #103 » by **Blkbrd671** » Wed May 1, 2013 1:02 am

Icness wrote:

Not a big Theo Riddick fan. If the Lions wanted a Notre Dame RB they should have taken Cierre Wood there. Lots of better RBs still available; the Texans signed 3 UDFAs that I rated higher than Riddick. Kinda doubt he makes the team.

I forgot where i read it, but one of the lion coaches has connections at ND, and they reportedly were gushing about reddick. i think he can eventually become a poor mans bush

Piston Pete · Post #104 » by **Piston Pete** » Wed May 1, 2013 1:26 am

Blkbrd671 wrote:....a poor mans bush

Loose?

Post #105 » by **ajaX82** » Wed May 1, 2013 3:14 am

Riddick is at best a third down back, a guy who can catch balls out of the backfield. Not that that is a bad thing, but I don't see him being better than Bell

Blkbrd671 · Post #106 » by **Blkbrd671** » Wed May 1, 2013 4:18 am

ajaX82 wrote:Riddick is at best a third down back, a guy who can catch balls out of the backfield. Not that that is a bad thing, but I don't see him being better than Bell

i think he's most definitely 4th on the depth chart. i think he's insurance if Bush is injured and developmental piece. i wonder if he'll be in the competition for the return game.

Blkbrd671 · Post #107 » by **Blkbrd671** » Wed May 1, 2013 4:24 am

From Mlive

In the Utah game (September 15, 2012), he got caught up in double teams, and he had no idea what was happening to him, and he didn't know how to get out of them," Polian said. "By the time he reached Notre Dame (on October 20, 2012), they would double team him and he would recognize it instantly.

"He's got what we call 'slipperiness', which Jason (Taylor) had in abundance. He just finds a way to get off a block and just escapes from it naturally. In the space of about six weeks, without ever having played the game before at the highest level, he learned how to defeat a double team. It takes people years to do that. To me, this is a guy that has it all. And here's the most important thing, Cinderella's going to break the glass slipper into smithereens. This is a tough, physical, ferocious guy."

"He's more physical than Jason Pierre-Paul," Polian said of the oft-used comparison between Ziggy and the two time Pro-Bowl defensive end of the New York Giants. "This is a little bit of a Bruce Smith comparison. I mean physically. He has the ability to transfer speed into power like that.

"It's the rarest commodity to find."

the only thing keeping my hopes up for this kid is that schwartz and the coaches coached him , and saw enough of him to know he's not a risk

Lionlifer · Post #108 » by **Lionlifer** » Wed May 1, 2013 2:30 pm

Blkbrd

That whole interview with Polian is on Youtube, worth a look, made me love the pick. Just search Ziggy Ansah and it'll be the sportscenter piece

Blkbrd671 · Post #109 » by **Blkbrd671** » Thu May 2, 2013 12:45 am

thx bud, will do as soon as i get off work, or my boss stays in his office

OldNavy · Post #110 » by **OldNavy** » Thu May 2, 2013 4:22 pm

Lions are saying they drafted Ziggy and Taylor because they wanted size without giving up speed. If they would of traded down and taken Hunt DE who is bigger, stronger and faster and blocked a recorded No. of fields I would of believed their BS.

Post #111 » by **ajaX82** » Thu May 2, 2013 5:51 pm

OldNavy wrote:Lions are saying they drafted Ziggy and Taylor because they wanted size without giving up speed. If they would of traded down and taken Hunt DE who is bigger, stronger and faster and blocked a recorded No. of fields I would of believed their BS.

But Hunt went in the second...and while he is a physical freak as well, I'm not sure he is any more of an athlete than Ziggy

Piston Pete · Post #112 » by **Piston Pete** » Thu May 2, 2013 7:24 pm

I'm really not liking the Taylor or Riddick picks. I think both were flat-out mistakes and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see one, or both, not make the final 53-man roster.

Blkbrd671 · Post #113 » by **Blkbrd671** » Thu May 2, 2013 10:24 pm

Piston Pete wrote:I'm really not liking the Taylor or Riddick picks. I think both were flat-out mistakes and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see one, or both, not make the final 53-man roster.

this made me chuckle. those are the 2 players that all these analyst say might be gems are will see playing time. i like the taylor pick because he's actually rated a lot higher, posses the athleticism but lacks the effort. as a starter i'd be upset, as a backup DE, i think that's the perfect spot to draft him

Riddick played on a big stage in ND, not saying its the NFL, but its definitely not Louisiana Tech game. Only reason i'm intrigued with this pick is because Lion coaches had the inside track on the kid and apparently majority of ND coaches raved about him. Also he's very versatile, and in our offense that almost gurantee's some sort of playing time.

i think Martin and Slay will ultimately be the crap picks, mostly because i expect both of them to get injured. just call it Lions 6th sense.

Blkbrd671 · Post #114 » by **Blkbrd671** » Thu May 2, 2013 10:26 pm

ajaX82 wrote:
OldNavy wrote:Lions are saying they drafted Ziggy and Taylor because they wanted size without giving up speed. If they would of traded down and taken Hunt DE who is bigger, stronger and faster and blocked a recorded No. of fields I would of believed their BS.

But Hunt went in the second...and while he is a physical freak as well, I'm not sure he is any more of an athlete than Ziggy

Ya, hunts more legend than actual ability. If you look at ziggy, he looks really lean, and he's 270lbs at 6' 7". He's also got instincts which coaches can't teach

OldNavy · Post #115 » by **OldNavy** » Sat May 4, 2013 4:08 pm

Ziggy is 6' 5" and weak, he only had 21 reps. He looks like the bust of the draft. Hunt yes went in the second, he was the strongest with 38 reps and is 6' 8" and 277 lbs. He ran a 4.53 in the forty. With his size speed and strength I will say that most teams will wish they had drafted him in the first round.

ADflight1 · Post #116 » by **ADflight1** » Sun May 5, 2013 2:16 pm

OldNavy wrote:Ziggy is 6' 5" and weak, he only had 21 reps. He looks like the bust of the draft. Hunt yes went in the second, he was the strongest with 38 reps and is 6' 8" and 277 lbs. He ran a 4.53 in the forty. With his size speed and strength I will say that most teams will wish they had drafted him in the first round.

LOL

Sheeeeed · Post #117 » by **Sheeeeed** » Sun May 5, 2013 8:28 pm

If bench pressing was any indication how good of a pass rusher you would be in the NFL, Jared Allen should have been a bust then. He only did 13 at the combine.

OldNavy · Post #118 » by **OldNavy** » Mon May 6, 2013 2:52 pm

Reggie White was a beast at 300 lbs and benched 450 lbs. I will take strength, size and speed over just size and speed any day. Ziggy also has very little experience and his technique I hope improves quickly.

Blkbrd671 · Post #119 » by **Blkbrd671** » Mon May 6, 2013 11:46 pm

I'm sure for every example theirs another example to disprove it. Point is, our coaches wouldn't use a top 5 pick on a kid that's more bust than boom. i'll trust the coaching staff over any measurement taken at a combine that doesn't translate 100% of the time to the game

Blkbrd671 · Post #120 » by **Blkbrd671** » Tue May 7, 2013 7:15 am

8 of the 9 players we drafted have a college degree. pistons and lions both going for high character.