2011/12 Draft Prospects

Piston Pete · Post #101 » by **Piston Pete** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:12 pm

Bottom line: I'm not impressed by Wilson

How many yards he rushes for and how many NCAA trophies he gets will not change my view of him when I try to project his talent into the NFL. That is why I said everything you listed means nothing at the NFL level. Because it doesn't.

Post #102 » by **Icness** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 2:05 am

Very quick scouting report on Wilson. I've seen every VT game.

Pros: legit elite speed. He won't match the reported 4.29 from the spring game workout day (VT is notorious fast track, subtract a tenth) but he can fly. Shifty outside the tackles, can cut at full speed. Decent receiver, understands what he's doing. Well coached and coming from a versatile offense that has exposed him to all sorts of experiences. Plays some in the slot. Good student, by all accounts a real good guy.

Negatives: Averaged less than 3 yards per carry between the tackles this year. Played at under 200 pounds and doesn't look like he can gain bulk. Not a very good kick returner for a guy of his athleticism. Likes to run horizontal and then break it sharply up the field, which works at college but makes you dead meat in the NFL no matter how fast you are. Hokie RBs have a long history of not panning out and getting hurt and he's the slightest of the group.

Best case he's Felix Jones or Jahvid Best. Worst case he's Aaron Brown II. From what I've seen and heard he's in the 50-75 overall range, maybe sneaks up to the top 40 if he clocks in the 4.3s in Indy. If he comes out...

Blkbrd671 · Post #103 » by **Blkbrd671** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:31 am

i'd rather trade our first rounder for Mcfadden since Raiders don't have any picks. (they wouldnt) Seems like we always go BPA, however we're always drafting 1-15 range. Now that we're towards the end, i think the talent levels out where you would have a DB or RB rated the same, at that point i think we go to PON drafting and take a CB or LB. i wouldn't be mad with a RB.

Is it realistic to think we could convert best to a WR?

Lionlifer · Post #104 » by **Lionlifer** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:35 pm

Blkbrd671 wrote:Is it realistic to think we could convert best to a WR?

I like the idea, but I still don't think he is going to play again....

Blkbrd671 · Post #105 » by **Blkbrd671** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:30 am

^sadly, but good for him

Piston Pete · Post #106 » by **Piston Pete** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 5:00 am

I wonder if he does decide to retire, if he would opt to being some kind of assistant coach....or if he would even have those credentials yet. Either way, I wish him well - I'd love to see him play more moving forward but would totally understand if he was forced to hang 'em up.

Post #107 » by **Icness** » Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:31 am

Did some tape breakdown today on a guy I'd love for the Lions to get, safety Jerrell Young of South Florida. Later-round guy that fits the defense well. Average size/speed but he's football smart and he's a very good tackler. Can play either safety spot, understands zone concepts and coverage responsibilities. Real quick to read the play and get to the ball. Has some minor injury issues and won't help raise the classroom GPA, but there is some real talent there to work with. Strikes me as a superior football player to Chris Conte of the Bears, who didn't suck as a rookie safety for them as a 3rd rounder. Young probably has potential to come off 4th round but more likely near where the Lions pick in the 5th.

Piston Pete · Post #108 » by **Piston Pete** » Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:33 pm

What do you think about Rambo, the S from Georgia? He looked pretty impressive against MSU and has a reputaion for being a "ball hawk" and being good in coverage.

Lionlifer · Post #109 » by **Lionlifer** » Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:25 pm

Piston Pete wrote:What do you think about Rambo, the S from Georgia? He looked pretty impressive against MSU and has a reputaion for being a "ball hawk" and being good in coverage.

I think he has a habit of beating the ball to the receiver, but the refs seemed to think otherwise during the game. Aside from that, he did look impressive.

Piston Pete · Post #110 » by **Piston Pete** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 2:46 am

One guy I hope we could draft in the mid rounds is WR McNutt out of Iowa. My take on him is that he's a big (6'4"ish) WR that has speed and is a good route runner. I'd like him if he falls that far. Possible?

WRs - Calvin, McNutt
Slot - Young

kellmellus50 · Post #111 » by **kellmellus50** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 9:14 pm

Piston Pete wrote:One guy I hope we could draft in the mid rounds is WR McNutt out of Iowa. My take on him is that he's a big (6'4"ish) WR that has speed and is a good route runner. I'd like him if he falls that far. Possible?

WRs - Calvin, McNutt
Slot - Young

Any body named McNut has to be good.i say draft him.

lions drafting 23rd spot

Post #112 » by **ajaX82** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:48 am

both NFL Draft Scout mocks (my favorite site for the draft) have us taking Janoris Jenkins, CB from North Alabama. I could definitely get behind it as he seems to be a very talented corner, with maturity and off-field stuff being the big concern. That certainly hasn't fazed us recently and he would add a potential #1 CB to our secondary, a big need.

TSE · Post #113 » by **TSE** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:12 am

I think I'm getting good at understanding the Mayhew mind. If nothing changes then I am cementing my prediction right now that we take an LT or CB with the first pick. I just don't see him taking any other position at 22. It's too high for interior OL (although I haven't scouted this position yet and i have heard some interesting names but we have too many higher priority needs anyhow). If I was wrong about this then I wouldn't be absolutely stunned to see a S or LB, but I think it's fairly remote compared to LT or CB because I sense this is what Mayhew will do.

Piston Pete · Post #114 » by **Piston Pete** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:11 pm

kellmellus50 wrote:
Piston Pete wrote:One guy I hope we could draft in the mid rounds is WR McNutt out of Iowa. My take on him is that he's a big (6'4"ish) WR that has speed and is a good route runner. I'd like him if he falls that far. Possible?

WRs - Calvin, McNutt
Slot - Young

Any body named McNut has to be good.i say draft him.

lions drafting 23rd spot

Hope you weren't suggesting we draft McNutt at #23....

At #23, I'm hoping for DeCastro (OG), Konz (C), or Gilmore (CB).

I also expect Mayhew to use our 2nd+ a later pick to move up again - seems to happen every season.

TSE · Post #115 » by **TSE** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:04 am

Need to find an exit strategy for Peterman or Raiola to get good efficiency by taking one of those fine players. They are positionally inconvenient as things stand right now. As is every position other than LT or CB. S is 3rd in line and could be a glitzy splash.

FA could eliminate one or two of these choices and lock us in with no draw before the hand is dealt, and it will likely be perfect timing to take the last good premier choice in whichever position happens to be left. My prediction is that before the draft we will be in that position and it will conveniently work out that we get that guy in exactly the last possible spot where we wouldn't have got our guy if we were just one spot lower; no sweat.

I bolded for future reference. "Yeah we are taking position 'x' and getting player A or B and I'm calling out all teams on not being able to stop it"

See I've already played out this offseason and draft 2,536 times and while the field of scenarios is more likely than this single particular one; this is the current #1 most likely single choice of the 2,536 possibilities.

Let's check back here after the draft to see if this 1 out of 2,536 choices comes to fruition.

Post #116 » by **Icness** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:27 pm

I'm planning on hanging out with a Lions staffer for an evening in Mobile, hopefully I can glean some tidbits from him. I'll keep y'all posted.

Post #117 » by **Icness** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:35 pm

TSE wrote:Need to find an exit strategy for Peterman or Raiola to get good efficiency by taking one of those fine players. They are positionally inconvenient as things stand right now. As is every position other than LT or CB. S is 3rd in line and could be a glitzy splash.

Wow, we agree completely on something.

My ideal (for now) Lions draft:
1st--Mark Barron, S, Alabama
2nd--Leonard Johnson, CB, Iowa State
3rd--Amini Silatolu, G, Midwestern State
4th--Robert Turbin, RB, Utah State
5th--William Vlachos, G/C, Alabama
6th--Asa Jackson, CB, Cal Poly
7th--Danny Trevathan, LB, Kentucky

TSE · Post #118 » by **TSE** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:56 pm

That's kind of an interesting draft, although I think that we need to consolidate our Rd 3-7 picks along with castaway players to acquire a couple of extra higher picks so that those interior OL, CB and LB positions can be addressed with a higher tier of prospect talent. Since you agree that we need an exit strategy for certain players then obviously you would be able to do that too by simply making some of those picks earlier.

Piston Pete · Post #119 » by **Piston Pete** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:23 pm

Icness wrote:
TSE wrote:Need to find an exit strategy for Peterman or Raiola to get good efficiency by taking one of those fine players. They are positionally inconvenient as things stand right now. As is every position other than LT or CB. S is 3rd in line and could be a glitzy splash.

Wow, we agree completely on something.

My ideal (for now) Lions draft:
1st--Mark Barron, S, Alabama
2nd--Leonard Johnson, CB, Iowa State
3rd--Amini Silatolu, G, Midwestern State
4th--Robert Turbin, RB, Utah State
5th--William Vlachos, G/C, Alabama
6th--Asa Jackson, CB, Cal Poly
7th--Danny Trevathan, LB, Kentucky

Any reasonings for the picks?

Peronally, I wouldn't care for that draft. I'm sure we could do a lot worse, but that draft is "meh" IMO.

TSE · Post #120 » by **TSE** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:58 pm

I think we have too many needs and not enough draft material without doing massive trades to find a great value at OL in the top of the draft, so I would rather see defense, and particularly the secondary, with DE and LB as considerations in case a steal becomes available. I haven't scouted the front-7 myself, but statistically Kuechly and Mercilus seem attractive, and Vinny Curry if he drops far enough.

So any of the top 5 CBs and Mark Barron are on my hot list. I wouldn't mind getting a trio of them with possibly a DE/LB or interior OL for the 3rd grab. Not sure what to do about OT, to me this team should be making some wholesale changes, but I know Mayhew won't do it.

My particular philosophy is if you don't win the SB or are in a position to compete with serious threat, then you need to trade away your assets for the future and do it before the deadline. We just had 40 guys that have value on this team all take a one year depreciation hit for NOTHING in return. That's just stupid and irresponsible. And we have done that year after year after year for DECADES. That's not how you win at this game to the max, that's how you lose in the grandest of embarrassing and disrespectful ways to me. Win with your assets or sell them, don't fail at both! That's what losers do, and that's what we are and have been non-stop for every second of my lifetime. It's sickening.