Posted by Lisa on April 24, 2008, 5:08 pm
From the first three rounds the 4 players that could make an immediate impact are: RB, MLB, pass rushing DE, OT.
The hardest one of these positions to get is the pass rushing DE, because the likelihood of Derrick Harvey being available at #15 is around 30%. I'm in the minority that still thinks Quinton Groves could be an impact player for the Lions. Harvey, of course, is my first preference because he's an every down player. But Groves is a better pass rusher than Phillip Merling. Merling is a Dwayne White clone and while he wouldn't be a horrible pick, the Lions REALLY need a pass rushing DE to make this defense work. Freeney is undersized and he's been a difference maker for the Colts. Freeney also had problems with injuries last year and you saw what happened to the Colts was similar to what the Lions have suffered. The Lions have some bodies who can play across from White. But unless Ikaika Alama-Francis is the real deal (and that's a big gamble at this point), they don't have anyone except role-players to play across from Dwayne White. The need to upgrade this position if very high.
The second best friend the defense could have is a running game. And at this point I put the responsibility for that on the o-line just as much or more than the RB position. (Having Dan Campbell back healthy and the coaches actually calling good running plays would help, too.) Though they think that the blocking-scheme is going to make it easier on George Foster to be successful, and they still think Jonathan Scott will be a good player...they have no evidence to prove it. Scott has done alright when he wasn't hurt, but he DOESN'T play hurt. Foster was a bust in Denver...which is a place where they KNOW zone-blocking. It would be shear arrogance/hallucination for them to believe that they can turn this guy into a starting NFL RT. Anyway, I thought last year they WERE using the zone-blocking scheme...and to say they are just going to start using it now is twisting the truth. I would much rather have Ryan Clady starting at RT, but even an OT like Chris Williams (who has the mobility that would make him a great fit in a zone-blocking scheme...though he's being downgraded as playing too much of a finesse game) would make a big impact. Jeff Otah may be okay on the mobility factor, but I've got severe doubts there. Colleto has said that he doesn't want a big hippo playing RT, because he needs somebody with mobility there just like they need someone with mobility playing LT.
Obviously, the running game relies upon more than the RB to be successful. Still, I don't trust Tatum Bell, Aveion Cason and Brian Calhoun to carry the running game for the Lions. Tatum Bell may have grown up some last year, but he's been a punk all his life and I just don't trust it turning around that quickly. Rashard Mendenhall or Jonathan Stewart could be impact players for the Lions, ala AP for Minnesota. However, if they don't take either of them I don't see it as the end of the world, because they can still get an impact RB into the 2nd round for sure...possibly the 3rd round.
Now, if Keith Rivers is somehow available at #15 because other teams downgrade him because of his position, then he would definitely be the best defensive player on the board. Failing getting a DE, getting a MLB for this defense is the next most important/needful position to get an impact player for the T2. The MLB is the QB of the front 7, and while it would help to get a veteran to run it...a savvy MLB like Jerod Mayo, who has played in a similar style defense in Tennessee, could be a very good pick. He's instinctive, smart, disciplined, able to shed blocks and is one of the few MLBs fast enough to play deep in the cover game. But his best attribute is reading the gaps. "Paris Lenon doesn't make mistakes" is what Millen had to say recently...however, I say that he doesn't make very many plays, either. Millen also indicated that he thinks they need someone bigger than Lenon who can get off a block. Mayo may not be as well known as Rivers, but he's just as gifted physically. However, he also doesn't have the playmaker attitude that "The Shark" has. Still if Rivers, the DEs, and Mendenhall/Stewart are unavailable he would be a decent pick...but there are a couple other fast MLBs who are maybe smaller than they would like, but are still able to get off blocks and tackle available in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread