The Philosophy of the Draft (and our place in it)

I worry that trying to break in two rookies at once will be too hard.

I do like your comments about BPA. I think too many people are willing to BPA a draft when we do need to focus a bit. We are bad enough that often BPA will be what we want, but we have to be reasonable about it or we will end up with a draft of all kickers or something stupid like that.

we got one when we traded kevin oconnell

It would be nice if they could trade down and get multiple picks, but in a way that top pick is almost a curse too, because whomever you pick there you have to pay 70 million or more if not. I just can’t see them paying a safety that much. If Suh is gone. I’d go with the unglamourous pick of OT Okung. I like USC’s Taylor Mays and if he drops to the 2nd I’d steal him at that #2 pick. Different publications also have LB Brandon Spikes, OG Mike Iupati, cb Pat Robinson, DT Terrence Cody and Wr M. Gilyard all available in the 2nd round. Any of them would be nice to see in a Lion’s uni. We’ll just have to see how it shakes out.

…or the second round for that matter!

I don’t think I’ve seen a mock where he falls out of the first round, and I’ve seen him mocked in the top 10 in quite a few places.

You might be over-thinking things for this year, though. I would say if we were closer to contention and had a specific need in a specific area, then you could use the “multiple need picks” philosophy. Right now, this team just needs players everywhere. I think Mayhew and Schwartz are going into this draft with the same mentality as last year’s… get the highest quantity of the highest quality, regardless of position.

Once the first pick is done – which is the only guarantee in the entire draft, you are at the mercy of the teams in front of you. Your scenario only works in a perfectly controlled environment. What if we take Suh at #2, then there is a serious run on defensive lineman because teams panick? This means you are likely to be reaching for d-lineman if you select another at #34. The draft simply doesn’t play out the way you want it to sometimes. That’s why I think that you take the player that is at the top of your board as long as you can utilize him effectively. And I mean that… if the best player at #34 is a wide receiver… don’t pass on him to reach for a defensive end. We need a wide receiver, too. And in fact, our offense is closer to contention than our defense, so your philosophy would actually make more sense applied to the whole team… and that means “go offense”. They could take a top flight running back (Spiller) by trading down to #5 or so, taking a wide receiver in the second and then a guard with the extra pick you receive. I’m not saying that’s what you do, but it makes sense using your philosophy.

The bottom line is that we are a few years away from having enough pieces to truly compete. Don’t get me wrong, I love the way this was written and thought out, I just think drafts – most of the time – don’t work out this splendidly. I’m also hoping that the Lions can up the ante by trading down a few times. That might help them get more of the players you mentioned without sacrificing the BPA philosophy. Great read.

Your third round pick, #66, of Greg Hardy is very risky. He has not played a full season in the last two years. He has underachieved as well. What kind of DT might we take there?

Mike Neal of Purdue? Will he be much of an improvement over Cohen or Fluellen?
Can someone name any other DTs in the third round that might be better than what we have?

Going with BPA means irregardless of position.

Nice read though well done.

More well-rounded then B.

First off, my primary philosophy, one that fits well with BPA, is to draft the PLAYER, not the position. These are individual, not commodities. Find a player who’s not only great, but also SPECIAL, and who also FITS our team. The Hall of Fame is full of players who had that special “something”, and who also were wildly productive because they FIT what their team was trying to do on offense or defense.

1. Take the BPA who fits. The player must be SPECIAL, not merely talented. Mental toughness, etc.
2. The player must also FIT what the rest of the team is trying to do to get maximum productiveness out of his abilities. Football is a TEAM sport.

I’ll apply this in Nate’s sections below.

The Case of Suh v. Berry
Both are great players. Both have that special something that guys like Stafford and Delmas have…….that special quality that seperates HoF players from the merely good. They are winners. I want that. So it comes down to FIT. Suh might fit. Gerald McCoy doesn’t fit. Eric Berry fits perfectly. I’ll take Berry.

The Early Rounds: Strength in Numbers, or Divide and Conquer?
Neither. I draft the player, not the position. I look for special players, especially in the early rounds. That’s why you take a Delmas over a Mauaualuga. and that’s also why you don’t trade down and take a Patrick Chung instead of a Delmas. If the special player is there, you take him! This year, the special player in Round 2 is CB Kyle Wilson of Boise State. He is cut from the same cloth of greatness as Louis Delmas and Eric Berry. I take Wilson without a doubt if he’s there. I’d even trade up a couple spots to get him. Years from now, the only thing people will remember is he’s a great player, and he’s a Lion. If we trade down and take another Alama-Francis, nobody will remember him at all. If greatness is there for the taking, you take it! If that INDIVIDUAL were a DE, DT, whatever, that’s what you draft. This year, that special player is a CB named Kyle Wilson. It’s all about the PLAYER, not the position. It just so happens this has us drafting a safety (Berry) and a CB (Wilson) with our first 2 picks. But this is not a deliberate attempt to stock the secondary, although it is an area of high need. It just worked out that way. The 2 SPECIAL PLAYERS who perfectly FIT our team just happen to play in the secondary. Sometimes BPA works out nicely.

The Latter Rounds: Build the Foundation
Here’s where you can finally draft for position over player. In the later rounds of the draft, the talent is more evened out, so you won’t find too many special players. What you can find are solid players who FIT your team and can play roles and fill positions of need. You want to draft for need? Rounds 4-7 + FA are the place to do it. Get some solid starters, fill some holes, get some depth, shore up the special teams, find some developmental project players, etc. This is also why you don’t trade down willy-nilly. You can get PLENTY of solid players in the later rounds if you draft smartly. You don’t need to trade away your chance at special HoF-caliber players to get more of what you will get plenty of anyway. And if you don’t draft smartly, trading down for more draft picks won’t help you.

Bottom line, I clearly prefer Draft A over Draft B. It isn’t even close. The 2 picks at the top are key, Berry and Wilson. The later picks aren’t bad, but I won’t quibble, since my philosophy is that later picks are more interchangable. But it’s the early picks that give you a chance to find those special superstars that define a team and lead it to greatness. Great players, great team. Special players that have a winning mentality……winning team. That’s how you win a Super Bowl. As Schwartz said,

When this team wins, it’ll be because it plays with Louis Delmas’ personality.

Thanks Nate for this idea! I’ve tried to be consistent in my philosophy toward drafting and building a team, which fortunately seems to be very similar to what Mayhew/Schwartz/Linehan/Gunther seem to be trying to do. I encourage everyone to respond to each of Nate’s sections piece by piece, like I did. It will help crystallize your understanding of what you want to do to draft and build, and why.

I actually do like the philosophy of putting all your eggs in one basket, especially early on. Personally I think shoring up the Defensive line is by far the more effective way to build up your defense. A collection of the best defensive secondary players in the league can still only cover their respective receivers for so long. Revis, Woodson, Polamalu and Reed wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans if the front can’t stop the run, rush the passer, or at least hit their gaps so that the linebackers can make plays.
That being said, who knows what players will actually be available when the Lions get to make their picks. Unless the Rams come right out and say who they’re drafting weeks ahead of the draft, it is unlikely that we will know who is on the board until a day or two before the draft. The Lions are still so talent deprived, that I think BPA still fits their scheme to a certain extent. That doesn’t always mean taking the best player availabe, especially when the BPA is something like, oh…I don’t know…a TE in the 1st round? There are other ways to build up talent than the draft, and I think those methods should be all but exhausted before resorting to the draft. In most cases, it takes rookies at least a season to adjust to the speed of the NFL game, the size of the playbooks, and strength of their opponents. It certainly can take a lot longer, when you look around the lockerroom and all the other players around you are still trying to adjust themselves.

Draft A is F-ing A BEAUTIFUL……however…..we do not have a round 7 pick. I assume you mean get that kicker as a UDFA? Also, would you mind telling me why we want the center that you picked in round 4? Other than that….dude, this is one of the best mocks I have seen. I especially like round 5, but I also like rounds 1-3.

Worked well last year

and i prefer the methodology or draftology of option a. i agree in the notion of focusing on one unit. personally, dbs that can cover and tackle would be our best choice up front in the draft.

all top teams draft by method or process…but they have the luxury of not filling upwards of 30 holes.