I give this draft an A+ heres why...
by ralphgoblue on Apr 27, 2009 12:47 PM EDT
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PrintI will give this grade an A+ .. in 1 draft the Lions have gone COMPLETLY away from "Millen ball".. Detroit drafted players they thought were the best on there board..they didnt listen to fans,ESPN or college hype..
People need to realize ALL 10 of these guys will make this team (because the Lions depth is Horrible) this will bring youth speed and TALENT.. these 10 guys will drop the 10 worst guys off the roster,thus an instant upgrade.
Stafford will be either an ELITE QB or a very good one (he will not be a bust or avg--way too many good things about him)
Pettigrew and Gronkowski give the TEs MUCH needed help , 2 guys that will catch the ball and BREAK tackles ( whos the last Lions TE to break tackles? ) plus Pettigrew will be a MONSTER on 3rd and 1 (blocking the run) 3rd n4 he will catch it ..and he will take a saftey away from C.Johnson at times..
Delmas starts day 1 and is compared to Ed Reed,Bob Sanders,and Troy Polumalu ( the MOST important players on their teams--Sanders is 2nd to Peyton on his team) have you ever watched this kid play ? hes OUTSTANDING..he was destroying Beanie Wells in his "allstar" game.
Murtha WILL BE the STARTING LT this yr .. he missed 5 games last yr ( if he didnt he'd be 2nd round guy) 6'7 315 still growing.. GREAT feet and work ethic ..
Hill ,Follet and Levy were EXCELLENT pick ups...Hill will upgrade a NON athletic DT spot by himself .....Follet flies around the field HE IS BETTER THAN E.SIMS a guy drafted in round 1 .... Levy Dominated OSU ,Michigan,Pennst when i watched him ..Follet / Levy will probably rotate at MLB,to make a real good player..
D.Williams / Brown give the us 2 GREAT return guys and add depth ..at WR and RB.. Williams will be the 3rd or 4th recv and Brown is a great recv out of the back field...( last yr the Lions 3rd string back had 6 rush attempts and 0 catches)
in my mind its an A+ draft ..its gonna take one more 3-13 yr ,another free agent class and draft,before this team is a Solid NFL team ..thats all im asking for .
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I know in his work outs and allstar games Hill COULDNT be blocked by ANY drafted OL person
thats enough for me..people will say he went to a small college
Jerry Rice ,Walter Peyton ,T.Owens ,Joe Greene , Deacon Jones turned out ok
I think...
he means the DT from Northwestern. He’s very experienced and I believe is 6’4", 304 lbs. Nothing too incredible, more of a runstopper than anything. Probably be 3rd string or practice squad.
by lions_sucker on Apr 27, 2009 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions
quit hanging out with spartain WR's
Best 2 players in the draft???? you gaoot quit hanging out with my fellow saginawian Charles rogers on that, they are goodto possibly great, but not even close to the best in the draft.
the draft will..
be about Stafford. Three years from now when we look back. And we try to grade this draft. We will look at Stafford. Stafford could be a very good QB in the NFL. But the coaching staff to remain in tact. The biggest young QB killer is changes in the coaching staff
I agree...
with the ten player philosophy, in that these ten players are better than our ten worst players. But I disagree when you say a couple of things…
1-Murtha will in no way be our starting LT this year, unless every LT and RT on our team gets injured. Backus is a decent LT, he just has had no one at LG his entire career. Perhaps Loper will be that “someone”. Murtha is a workout warrior who impresses at the combine, but will be little more than a rotational guy at best.
2-there is no way that Zach Follett is better than Ernie Sims. NO WAY.
I do love the optimism though, and I think that this draft will look great 2-3 years down the road, even though it looks random and worthless this offseason. This draft and next years draft will be Mayhews legacy, in my opinion.
I agree...
on Murtha in terms of this year, but I think he has the tools to at least make a starting G position down the line somewhere. As for Follett, he’s one of the players I’m most excited about right now. The guy is an absolute beast on the field, and I think he could be a major impact player on the defense in the next couple of years.
You’re absolutely right in that we cannot possibly judge this draft for at least 2 years. To try and give out grades the day after is pointless, especially on a team that’s being completely rebuilt like this one.
Loper is at backup LT on our depth chart
And Damion Cook is listed as the current starter at LG…..FYI
Enjoy your optimism Ralph
But Lions_sucker has two good points. Murtha could be a starting LT in a few years but not this year and I don’t see Follett being better than Sims.
2009 = The start of the Lions Golden Age (We hope).
by Hyperion Ecta on Apr 27, 2009 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions
I like your optimism
I can tell you’ve been dipping into the Kool-Aid like I have. :)
Seriously though, people just need to give this draft time and look at it a bit more deeply than “OMG they didn’t draft Curry or Maualuga or Oher worst draft evar fire Mayhew!!!!” I was confused and angry when some of these picks were announced, too. Given time to really look at it though, I see some serious gems in this draft class, and some definite upgrade potential at those need positions (DT, MLB, OL) that everyone’s been screaming about. Every pick they made fits in some way into the new identity as a big, tough, physical team they’re trying to establish, and they definitely stuck to their guns when it came to drafting talent over need. With good coaching and nurturing of these young players, they all have the potential to be solid difference-makers in the years to come. I like the direction they’re taking, and I’m along for the ride come hell or high water.
take a breath....
I agree that this is a departure from the millen era. Yes, they drafted best available, but A+? That’s a reach. Pettigrew’s biggest asset will be staying in an helping block, I give them credit for that. But to say that all these guys will start is a reach. They did not address OT until the 7th round and he has a better shot at starting at RG than tackle.
I would say for talent, they get a C+, but for filling needs D.
If Rey Ma or Laurinitus spend the next 10 years in the pro bowl, Delmas better be Bob Sanders.
um 4 starters out of this is what he said .. not all 10
Talent C ? u dont know football then ..whos more ‘Talented ’ than Stafford ( name 5 NFL QBs more “talented” —probably the best arm in NFL ( top 3 for sure) runs better than MOST NFL QBs )
Pettigrew is the MOST talented TE in yrs in the draft ( might not be the best player but easily most talented)
Delmas has more talent tham 25 starting NFL Safteies ..hes outstanding vs the run,he can hit,run,ELITE ball skills,can cover better than many DBs.. his talent is very HIGH
Sammie Hill is 6’4 328 and was scouted to play basketball more than football..hes very atheletic/talented
Derrick Williams has talent explosiveness,quickness..
Murtha is a talented OL
These guys dont have Expierance ,know how in NFL games, might not be the smartest or best players drafted for Lions NEEDS ( i felt the biggest needs were TE,LT MLB in that order)
but as far as TALENT …its probably as talented a drafted team weve had in yrs … definatley not a C
by thunder_god08 on Apr 27, 2009 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
I actually kinda agree with Ralph, scary....
I don’t think Murtha will start this year, but he could develop. Fossett is not better than Ernie, but I really like that pick. The only pick I don’t care for is the RB, but maybe Cason is finally gone for good.
I give it a C, but would’ve like to have seen a MLB drafted
I like the Pettigrew and Delmas picks alot. Delmas is going to know the holy hell outta people
actually "knocking the KNOW " out of someone might be better
Smack ** " hey ; hey u ok" yeah yeah .. " then tell me where we are playin at" I DONT KNOW !!
knocking the KNOW out seems fine to me
by thunder_god08 on Apr 27, 2009 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions
both
cason and calhoun (who couldn’t stay healthy at all any year) will both be gone i pray.
And that is the only reason
I can even fathom as to why we drafted Brown. That has to be it….so we can cut Cason at least.
: ) I'll get the stomach pump, you guy's have been drinking too much Kool-aid : )
Stafford starts depend on how much we win, if were under .500 by week 8 he will take over. If were over .500 by week 8 D.C. plays out the rest of the year.
Pettigrew starts wk 1 and is solid all year
Delmas is solid all year
Levy? I don’t know where he will be, It’s hard for me to believe MLB
Sammie is a project in the making don’t expect much
I hate the Williams pick, it’s a waste to me
The steal of the draft for me is Follet, he could be the MLB by season end
Also
Williams will be our return man, and he is explosive in that role. Hopefully his collegiate explosiveness will translate into good field position in the NFL.
too early for calling all starters
The lions have to upgrade at mlb before we go to camp; NO BRAINER HERE: we don’t have one that can tackle on our roster after reading your posts, 3 starters; pending injuries ofcourse, outta this draft; and a bunch of roll players. the top 3 picks I see starting at somepoint this year, all the rest you can keep as situational players, i’m sure they will have packages built for them and it really depends on what our coaches do with them. I hoipe they go and get Foote off of the free agent list that would be our opening day starter in my opinion, assuming someone better doesn’t get cut before then.
To reach the full potential of his contract
It was said that Satfford must make the pro bowl each season……I wonder if that means once he is the full tiem starter, or if it mean all 6 years of his contract?
Stafford " HAS" to play 6-7 games this yr or he can leave after yr 3 ..
Trust me he will be in game 1 ..might not make it to 16 .. but he will be there game 1..plus he gives them best chance to win ..and thats why we got him
Wow
That is amazing…..Ralph, can you provide me a link to the terms of Stafford’s contract, I am truly interested in reading it.
He did say
himself that he wants to play in week 1…..if the coaches will let him, he will. I do not feel this is a good idea, but hey what do I know? LOL! I’m just an armchair QB myself. If the kid gets himself killed in week 1, then what I said all along will be true. If he blows me away with some amazing skill and pulls off a miricle of survival, I will gladly eat a big plate of crow.
That's a heck of a clause
So to make the most out of his contract he has to play at least 6 games, but if he doesn’t he can leave in 3 years? I thought I hated the contract before…
On ESPN's bottom line
during the draft, it said that Stafford would be paid 41.7 million guaranteed, with a potential of 78 million if he made the pro bowl each year, with incentives. I did not hear anything about a clause where he had to play 6-8 games this season or he could walk after three years. I want a link.
Seriously man
Provide a link to this stuff you post about or stop doing it. There is no clause like that that exists. At this point I’m tempted to simply delete the comment because it’s false.
Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog
Is there a link to anything that talks about the terms of his contract?
I doubt it, but if so I would like to see it.
I did hear there was a clause in the contract
But I thought it was the difference between 72mil and 78mil not sure though
he does have a 35% play right away in contract or he can walk yr 3
if u look around 10-15 people have seen the contract,read about 6 spots up… i saw it on NFL network pre-draft… so did 39 million others
by thunder_god08 on May 1, 2009 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Until I actually see proof I don't buy it
A clause like that would garner a lot more attention than it did. (And that 39 million number was for all networks combined).
Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog
williams
why is everyone hating on the derrick williams pick he was and underproducer in college yes but if you have watched many penn state games then you would understand that coming into penn state he was the highest rated prospect in the entire country with sub 4.3 speed and excellent explosiveness. Part of his underproducing had to do with an old style joe paw system for his first 3 years in college only switiching to a more wide open offense last year where williams had a pretty good year learning a new system and he still was able to make big plays and help the team win. I really like the pick and think williams will end up as one of the top punt returners in the league and a game breaking slot receiver in the mold of reggie bush the only difference is we didnt have to take williams with the second overall pick like the saints
by Detroithbaked24 on Apr 27, 2009 4:19 PM EDT reply actions
Probably because we know who he is
Williams two best statistical years came when he was under the Old Style Joe Pa System.
He averaged 13 yards per reception as a Freshman. He averaged 11 as a Sophomore and Senior. Somehow the new wide open offense didn’t improve his stats.
He caught the most passes as a Junior for his highest yardage production, 529. In the wide open offense he had 485 yards.
His two teammates, Butler and Norwood, always did better than him. Somehow Norwood managed to gain 150 more yards receiving than Williams this year while playing in 3 less games. Butler had 350 more yards than Williams. Butler and Norwood excelled in the new wide open offense, Williams did not.
How hard is it to get more than 500 yards receiving in a single season? Michigan State with their offense of “Hand the Ball to Javon Ringer” managed to have 3 Wide Receivers achieve this feat. So I am guessing the bar is pretty low. Williams only managed to do that once, in the Old Joe Pa System, not in the new wide open offense.
He appears to be unimpressive as a receiver, but what about those return skills?
He did not return punts as a Freshman, but averaged 12 yards per as a Sophomore, 11 as a Junior and 9.4 as a Senior. Somehow experience did not help his average. Additionally, if you exclude his best return each year he would average 9.4, 8.0 and 6.2. Those numbers are bad. Maybe he is one of those guys that just seems to get into the end zone though? He has one punt return for a TD each year for a total of 3. Javier Arenas of Alabama has 3 PR for TD this year and averaged more than 15 yards per return for the last two years. Arenas is an exceptional punt returner, Williams appears to be below average.
Well, maybe kick returns are his thing. As a Freshman he averaged 21.1, 17.3 as a Sophomore, 18.2 as a Junior and 25.8 as a Senior. He only returned 4 kicks as a Sophomore so that one can be ignored. He appeared to have really flourished as a Senior though. Except his average is 18.4 yards per return if you exclude his TD runs of 94 and 89 yards. 18.4 yards per kick return is terrible. As a comparison Cissoko and Odoms of Michigan both averaged more than 23 yards per return and had longs of 45 and 53. Excluding their best runs they averaged better than 21.8. In this case Williams also appears to be a below average returner.
So, overall, Williams appears to be a below average receiver, punt returner and kick returner. I am guessing this is why everyone hates that pick. I am also guessing he won’t make the team.
smartest thing I've read on this post!
you said it for me Detriotbaked! He was all that coming outta highschool and he did play for Joe-pa and the run first offence. he could help us but how is he going to get onto the field other than return guy? I don’t see the lions keeping the raider rec. on the bench or Calvin sitting? Talk about underrated Williams might have been the most underrated Rec in the draft class this year.
thunder
You may not agree with my statement but to say i dont know football is just wrong. mel kiper gave detroit a B- and usatoday gave them a C+, the same grade i did.
i miss-read the 10 starters comment, my bad.
i agree that they got some talent, i just think people need to be realistic.
i dont remember watching one game last year thinking that their biggest need was TE. i didnt see that in an magazine, website or show i watched, so you must have some insight everyone else was missing.
stafford, top 3 tallent? that’s just not being realistic. brady, manning, manning, cutler, brees, palmer, rivers are just the ones off the top of my head that have more talent than stafford.
i think it’s a solid draft, better than any in the past several years. its a step in the right direction. my point is to be realistic. A+ grades, 7th round starting LT and a rookie qb as a top 3 talent in the league are not realistic statements
thunder
You may not agree with my statement but to say i dont know football is just wrong. mel kiper gave detroit a B- and usatoday gave them a C+, the same grade i did.
i miss-read the 10 starters comment, my bad.
i agree that they got some talent, i just think people need to be realistic.
i dont remember watching one game last year thinking that their biggest need was TE. i didnt see that in an magazine, website or show i watched, so you must have some insight everyone else was missing.
stafford, top 3 tallent? that’s just not being realistic. brady, manning, manning, cutler, brees, palmer, rivers are just the ones off the top of my head that have more talent than stafford.
i think it’s a solid draft, better than any in the past several years. its a step in the right direction. my point is to be realistic. A+ grades, 7th round starting LT and a rookie qb as a top 3 talent in the league are not realistic statements
you got it thunder
i think the guy is refering to Staffords arm and if thats the case the incumbnant Culpepper has a stonger arm than Stafford and is going to be harder to tackle than Stafford, I just still hate that pick with #1 overall, I hope he does good but I just don’t see it when he’s running for his life play after play. We had better put in alot of rollouts in our playbook if Stafford is the QB, thats the only way to keep our QB’s upright. Kitna was a better QB than stafford and had more talent at the WR position, but when your getting shelled every play what are you suppose to do?
ARE YOU GUYS ON GLUE?
Pettigrew is the only starter I see
Delmas looks good, I like anybody that likes to hit-we need that attitude-wait and see
Stafford- guys one word-Leaf- QB is the hardest position to fill and its always a CALCULATED RISK- I hope I’m wrong- I hope hes another Marino- If they throw him in and dont protect him he could be another Harrington- and Harrington looked really good when we drafted him!
Just being objective-we have all been Lions fans along time- lets just wait and see fellas
another voice of reason
i was told i didn’t know anything about football because I wont call this draft an A+. I also don’t think that the lions will go 16-0 and win the superbowl. I better turn in my man card
by kingdaddylions on Apr 30, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions
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