2010 Draft prospects

[Liqourish]

I don't think it's too early to scout draft prospects when their playing college ball.

My #1 guy is Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska 6'4" 300lb. Kid is a BEAST!!! He's rated as the #1 DT prospect and in some circles the #1 prospect overall. He's not only a very good tackler, but he gets his hands on some interceptions and has returned some for touchdowns. He's very mobile and limber for a 300lb man. He had knee surgery a few years ago, but he's been solid ever since.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413Gsstr6WE

[TSE]

This is a post I made on another forum a couple months ago, I also threw in an OG reference cause somebody wanted us to use a high pick on an OG...

Here's a list of the top 12 guys that I have pegged as the most likely Lions 1st round draft pick next year. It's a pretty solid bet that one of these will be the guy!

Most likely:

LT Russell Okung Oklahoma St
LT Trent Williams Oklahoma
LT Brian Bulaga Iowa (this was before I knew about his health concern)
LT Ciron Black LSU

The Rest:

DE Carlos Dunlap Florida
DT Ndamukong Suh Nebraska
DT Gerald McCoy Oklahoma
DT Terrance Cody Alabama
CB Joe Haden Florida
MLB Brandon Spikes Florida
FS Erik Berry Tennessee
FS Taylor Mays USC

Then if we pick LT with the first pick, the rest of the picks can ALL go to defense (with maybe some late round fillers for offense if we don't have room for all defensive prospects). Forget OG, the LT with the 1st pick is a HUGE enough of an investment into the OL, if we want more than that we can get a Free Agent. But this way we get the franchise LT to protect Stafford and CJ and Kevin Smith, and then we have a glut of 6 new defensive draft picks to help replace the glut of the less than spectacular journeymen that we have.

[Liqourish]

I dunno, I know we need a OT, but I dunno about investing in another rookie to protect our young guys. I'd rather get a veteran right now for that and develop one, than to throw one into the fire.

Defense is my main concern. We're averaging almost 18 ppg which is near middle of the league. It's our defense that is bottom of the league. You won't win games when you give up more points than you allow your offense to score.

Defensive Tackle and Corner Back are our weakest positions defensively.

We have Sammie Hill, Landon Cohen and Grady Jackson at DT. We just re-signed Chuck Darby because our DTs are so bad. Ndamukong Suh would be a nice building block for that D-Line.

At CB, Phillip Buchanon has already been benched for poor performance. Will James has gotten PB's starting spot. Anthony Henry has been decent at times, and god awful the rest of the time. If we could get someone like Donovan Warren from Michigan who's quick with good instincts and a knack for the ball, I'd be thrilled. We could get him in another round.

LDE- Cliff Avril/Andre Fluellen
LDT- Grady Jackson/Landon Cohen
RDT- Ndamukong Suh/Sammie Hill
RDE- Jason Hunter/DeWayne White
OLB- Ernie Sims/Jordon Dizon
MLB- Larry Foote/DeAndre Levy
OLB- Julian Peterson/Darnell Bing
CB- Donovan Warren/Will James
SS- Marquand Manuel/Kalvin Pearson
FS- Louis Delmas/Ko Simpson
CB- Anthony Henry/Phillip Buchanon

Obviously need some more work, but it addresses our biggest needs right away with top talent at that position.

[TSE]

Well we need lots of positional help. But by picking LT first, and then defense with the rest, to say that you are taking 6 defensive picks in a draft is generally considered HUGE defensive investment. So it does address the defense nicely, cause the 2nd round pick will be a quality player, and 3-7 we are bound to get lucky somewhere with a nice surprise. Plus, then we have the franchise LT for potentially 10 years and with our full offense basically set up for a while, we can then really hammer home with top 2 picks on defense in the following draft and then we have something brewing that's borderline dynasty powerful if Stafford ends up panning out along with some of our other picks.

And by then I predict that it will be generally accepted knowledge that Jim Schwartz is one of the very best coaches in the NFL, so we'll have that going for us as well. I'm a HUGE Schwartz fan.

[ajaX82]

The lines are the biggest problem by far. Any picks spent on OL or DL are picks well spent

[Liqourish]

Once again, the Lions show that defense is their biggest need. We need defensive players. I want nothing but defensive players in the draft. New DT, new CBs, another DE, better LBs. It doesn't matter if we score 20-25-30-35-40 pts a game if we always give up twice that many. We need STOPS!!!

Our offense can score. They can get downfield. They can score touchdowns. And if we can get some good vet OTs, we can keep Stafford standing up instead of getting sacked 5 times a game. But I don't think a rookie OT is our saving grace right now. We need STOPS!!!

[TSE]

I'd like to offer a quick Fantasy Football analogy. When you have so many of your eggs in one basket and you are hoping for that basket to produce huge dividends, then you can get massive gains by double dipping.

For example, if you have Carson Palmer on your team and the rest of your team is weak, well you REALLY need Palmer to throw some TDs for you on a regular and plentiful basis. If he doesn't throw for big yards and TDs you are going to likely be screwed anyhow. Now if he does, wouldn't it be nice if you also had OchoCinco? If you can't win without a big game for Palmer, then you can potentially reap massive rewards by double-dipping with OchoCinco as well, since by default to some extent you are getting paid twice for the same TD that you needed from CP anyhow.

Now, with drafting an LT we are obviously dealing with different dynamic, so the FF analogy isn't a perfect relation, however, the concept is similar. WE NEED Stafford to become a big star, we are desperate for that with the investment we have made. If he busts out as another Joey Harrington, then we are screwed anyhow.

So drafting an LT #1 does TWO key things. First, it BOOSTS Stafford's massive ROI in the event that he does pan out to be a big star, because if he is a Peyton Manning caliber player, then having extra protection will amplify his deadliness. Second, if it is undetermined whether he will develop into being a star, you can't really argue that a franchise caliber LT won't increase his chances to some degree in being able to ascend. So it is a bonus if he pans out, as well as insurance and protection to help him have the best odds of becoming a star player. i'm not striving to be an average team, I want to be the BEST team in the NFL. And it is a pre-requisite that Stafford pans out if we want to be THE BEST team, so therefore, since an assumption needs to be made that Stafford will pan out, I want to double dip and give him the LT he needs to amplify his deadliness.

[Bartender]

Ya'll are ignorant. Lions are drafting either Michael Crabtree or Derek Jeter.

[Liqourish]

^ buahahahahaha

Crabtree finally signed a deal with the 49ers.

[Bartender]

well fuuck! idk how we're gonna fit a short stop into our system.

[Liqourish]

We'll just move Calvin Johnson to the Yankees for Jeter, A-Rod and two hundred 1st round picks. Have Jeter start at Short stop, have A-Rod start at LT and use the firsts on WRs, all of them.

[TSE]

We'll just move Cal...

You had me at "We'll", but lost me by "Cal".

[Liqourish]

Suh had a great game against MIZZOU last night. Watching him play is incredible. He's exactly what we lack. A force in the middle who never lets up and just makes things happen. He's very good at putting pressure on the QB and he reads situations really well. I want him on our team more tha anything next season.

[ajaX82]

Suh had a great game against MIZZOU last night. Watching him play is incredible. He's exactly what we lack. A force in the middle who never lets up and just makes things happen. He's very good at putting pressure on the QB and he reads situations really well. I want him on our team more tha anything next season.

Its pretty early, but i cant disagree too much right now. Kid can play. And he is a beast in the middle. We need that

[TSE]

Suh is also 1 PD away from leading the nation as well. The only DL player that even appears in the top 100 in that category.

[Liqourish]

I know we still have 15 weeks left of this season, but I'm anxious for the draft. We still have alot of holes and stocking piling talent in the draft is the best way to help the team.

Ndamukong Suh is my #1. I want the Lions to win games, but I still want them to get a top 3 pick so they can draft Suh before he goes.

[TSE]

The problem is the Lions don't stockpile talent. Instead of giving young DTs some reps to see how many DT needs for 2010 and beyond we can fill inhouse, we instead have Grady and Darby on this team taking those reps away, as well as other vets that should be phased out in the future. That's not a good way to stockpile talent. The correct way is to experiment with the young guys and find out how many should stick, and that's how you build a serious impetus for the future. The Lions are way behind of what they should be doing if they want to explode next year or the year after.

They need to strategically manage their resources today, and start trading away liabilities for future assets if possible. And in a strange twist, that process might actually help us win games THIS year and compete for the playoffs. As our team stands today it doesn't have a decent shot at all to compete for the playoffs, so we have nothing to lose in that regard, only something to gain.

[TSE]

I would not object to drafting an LT next year and then trading all of our picks Round 3 and up to move up and draft a CB with that pick plus our other 2nd round pick and get 2 new CBs into the system. That way in the year after next year we will have 2 new hotshot CB prospects w/1 year under their belt and then we can draft a DT and DE with our top 2 picks in that draft to really saturate both levels of our defense with a pair of high quality picks while at the same time picking up a franchise LT. That would be 5 bigtime premium add-ons through the next 2 drafts that could serve as some key fixtures for the long-term.

[Piston Pete]

I think we need to look at the Free Agent class as well when talking about who we'd like to draft....

I'd like to draft 3 positions with our 1st rounder - Safety, DT, OT. A good CB can be had in round 2.


Imagine having a duo like Delmas/Berry back at safety for the next 10 years.....

But a stud OT would be huge as well...completes the offensive nucleus around our recent picks of Cherilus, Stafford, CJ, Smith, and Pettigrew.

If we're going to go DT, can't go wrong with Suh....

I say we make next season's draft our defensive draft:

1 - DT Suh

2 - best CB available

3 - Best OLB available

4 - best safety available

5-7 = take best available talent regardless of offense or defense.

[Bartender]

What about trying to build a wildcat offense? Ronnie Brown is a FA this year. He could be a number one target. I mean, face it... we don't have a good o-line by any means. Instead of trying to improve that, lets just confuse opposing defenses. A Ronnie Brown / Kevin Smith duo would be ferocious and to add on Stafford's cannon and Calvin's reverse ability, I think it could work!!

Darren Sproles is also someone I'd love to add to our backfield if Ronnie Brown is a little to unrealistic. He's got great playmaking ability and would be fun to watch.

There are loads of WR's in FA I'd love to have lined up next to CJ like Braylon, Vincent Jackson, Brandon Marshall... even Lance Moore, Devon Bess, Miles Austin.

OL: if we don't sign atleast one or two of these guys, I'm going to hang myself.
-Jahri Evans
-Marcus Mcneill
-Daryn Colledge
-Mike Gandy
-Chad Clifton
-Jared Gaither
-David Bass
-Mike Mawae

DL: The year of Julius Peppers!!! Also Aaron Kampman and Elvis Dumervil

Shawne Merrimon would be good to take a risk on. He's only 25 and a playmaker on any down. Demarcus Ware is also a FA as well as Kirk Morrison and Karlos Dansby.

DB's are scarce this year, however. Ellis Hobbs is good, as well as Marlin Jackson and Dunta Robinson.



IDK how much money exactly the Lions have, but we need to have a lot of those players in every position targeted. Mainly our D-Line. I'm guessing we are serious on keeping Avril and that being his position, so that leaves the other side up for grabs. Ware, Kampman, or Peppers!! None of that helps our DT situation though... which is a big **** situation for us.

idk, just throwin out suggestions.