Posted by Lisa on January 30, 2007, 2:11 pm, in reply to "Jamaal Anderson..." I think any of the DEs in this draft are reaches, and not even the best defensive players coming out. Alan Branch is my top ranked defensive player. Frankly, I'm not sold on Anderson as the DE of the future. The most prevalent knock on him is that he's only been productive one year. But underneath all that talk, are the real experts who question his attitude and drive because he doesn't play hard & hustle. I just don't think he's got the speed that the Tampa 2 loves. He's got the quintessential measurables draftniks love in a DE, but I have the same doubts about him as I did Mario Williams, last year. He hit the wall named Joe Thomas in their bowl game, and even though he put up good stats against Wisconsin's other OT he didn't stand out. I was exclusively watching Thomas in that game and I came out more impressed than I thought I would. On the other hand, I believe in Rod Marinelli as a judge of football character and as a motivator. And if there is a guy with hustle issues, unless he is a perpetual slacker, Marinelli can get through to him. But I don't think Marinelli would draft him if he's a slacker. Right now, from my perspective, having watched a number of his games, I still think Gaines Adams edges out Jamaal Anderson for #1 DE. He's been more consist, has much better speed, and has shown improvement with technique and pass rush variety every year. My questions on him are if he's going to be effective against the run on a consistent basis, able to hold the point of attack. And does he have the discipline to play the contain when it's required, rather than just rushing upfield and getting driven past the QB like I've seen too often. Adam Carriker is also undervalued. But that may not be for long. He really turned heads at the Senior Bowl practices. I wondered what the Nebraska brain trust was doing with him, not having him rush more. I thought maybe he had some deficiency in pass rush moves or speed. Now I know better, they were just being stupid. Carriker is bigger than Anderson and just as fast, and was tossing quality OTs & OGs around like rag dolls at the Senior Bowl practices. Plus, I still like Charles Johnson. As it stands pre-combine, he could fall to the late 1st, early 2nd round with the number of other DEs, WRs and DBs who have improved their standings. But post-combine I will have a better handle on how he stacks up against some of the other DEs. I still think he will outperform his draft spot because he's got that non-stop motor and great first step. But he's about 2-3 inches shorter than the prototypical DE. I would prefer the Lions trade down with somebody that loves Calvin Johnson or Joe Thomas. However, I would also prefer the Lions find a better O-line coach. And the chances of either happening is about the same. I'm bummed.
Now that Jim Coletto is the O-line coach, I might be convinced not to take o-line. Conveniently missing from his bio at detroitlions.com is in depth mention about his time with Oakland. Robert Gallery, generally considered a draft bust right now, was one of the most dominating college LTs. His draft profiles match Joe Thomas almost exactly. And Coletto messed him up, big time.
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