Detroit Lions Team Breakdown, Mock Draft and FA.

I have seen more than my share of mock drafts this year so i thought i'd do my own. At this point it is uncertain were these players will actually fall in the draft so from my point of view here's my mock. I will also look at some FA that may or may not be in Detroit this season...

1st Round: DB  Brandon Harris  5'11 195 lbs Miami

2nd Round: ILB  Casey Matthews  6'1 245 lbs Oregon

3rd Round: WR  Terrance Toliver  6'2 215 lbs LSU

4th Round: OT  James Carpenter  6'5 313 lbs Alabama

5th Round: OC  Ryan Pugh  6'4 300 lbs Auburn

7th Round: CB/S  Chris Culliver  6'1 201 lbs South Carolina

UDFA: RB  Brandon Saine  6'1 225 lbs Ohio St.

  How aggressive will Detroit be in this years FA market, there are alot of big names out there but will the Lions go after them or stay under the radar adding quility depth. At this point in time it looks like the draft willl be held before FA and Schwartz could look to shore up the holes the best he can through the draft.

Bryant Johnson has done nothing to claim his rights to be apart of the team and though young Derrick Williams seems to be following in his footsteps in Detroit. Does that mean that Toliver will come in and be our savior as the #3 WR no, but it does give us a new look and a fresh start and with a little help from CJ and Nate could be the best solution.

Kevin Smith, Jerome Felton, Aaron Brown and Maurice Morris make up the depth behind Jahvid Best. Smith could be productive if he could stay healthy and Morris has done a nice job filling in the last two years. Brown and Felton are still young, Felton has made it known that he's not happy with his role in Detroit and Brown will flash moments of greatness with his speed but then blow an assignment with a bone headed mistake. I like Brandon Saine he is pretty much all four in one, can run inside with power and outside with good speed , can block and has good hands coming out the backfield.

Dominic Raiola and Stephen Peterman, I like Peterman when he is healthy problem is we havent seen him healthy long enough to really want him. Raiola what can i say pound for pound is a fair pass blocker and a bad run blocker. The depth behind them belongs on a practice squad in the CFL, I really wanted John Moffitt as did alot you here at POD did. I don't see Moffitt making it to us in the third and might not make it out the second which brings me to James Carpenter. I didn't know a whole lot about him until the senior bowl where he was pretty good at both guard and tackle but really stood out to me at guard. Ryan Pugh, could say positive things as well as negative but that goes for every player in the draft i think that reguardless of Raiola and Peterman's future in Detroit both Carpenter and Pugh are better than the depth players we have.

Alphonso Smith, Paul Pratt, Aaron Berry, Tye Hill, Jack Williams and Prince Miller our the corners, Phonz is hands down the best we have on the team and after last year i see alot of promise in the kid. I think that he will come back stronger and more comfortable in Gun's scheme, is he the answer for the shutdown corner we longed for , no. He is playmaker and a ball hawk from hell, he will be a very good CB in this league and i think on his way to the pro bowl in 2012. Hill a former first round pick didnt wow me but didnt disappoint either, Berry was a UDFA last year and looks to have alot of promise, the same can be said about Pratt. Dont know much about Miller and Williams is more than likely on his way out. Brandon Harris is flatout the type of CB Schwartz and Co. are looking for good speed, quick, nice hip movement and is very aggressive.

DeAndre Levy, Ashlee Palmer, Zack Follett and Caleb Campbell make up the LB Corp. with all of them starting at some point except Campbell it makes a very intresting group. I am unsure on Follett's return but he will be demoted back to special teams and could rotate in at times, Campbell your guess is as good as mine. Palmer, i truely believe reguardless of who we take in the draft (Ayers, Foster, Matthews, etc) they will have to take the job from him. He ended up taking the job from JP which isn't saying much considering how he played but still a big boost for a UDFA on his second team trying to prove himself. Levy will be the starter in the middle, he had a decent year and played with a groin injury. I think that he is finally at a comfort in the middle although still learning i look for him to bounce back and lead the LB, i think he hits the film room hard as well as the weight room. I took Matthews with the second round pick b/c i feel he continues to improve his stock with every chance given, he had a nice senior bowl even thought the stats werent there. I think he out played Foster who i thought would fall to us in the second, also Ayers stock is on the decline although i don't think he will make it out of the first and diffently not to us at pick 44. I had to roll the dice with Matthews not only was he on Schwartz list but on most of our draft wish list, he wont make it out of the second round and may not make it to us in the second.

Louis Delmas, Amari Spievey and Randy Phillips make up the last line of defense in Detroit. Phillips come out the gate swinging and then vanished from the line up last year, i still like what i see in him and think he is better depth than CC Brown. Spievey is another young talent on this defense with alot of promise, he was drafted as a CB but that didn't workout so Schwartz moved him to S were Brown won the starting job. Brown later rendered the job back to Spievey who wasn't that impressive in the beginning but in the end looked like he may have a clue of how to play S in the NFL. You would expect a third round pick to be a starter at some point and look decent the way Schwartz and Co. have been drafting but Spievey has never played S so its all new to the kid who just learned to play CB in college. Spievey has said that he really plans to hit the film room and weight room hard this off season, he might be there now. Delmas needs no praise around here and although he had a quite year he was good, he was going through groin injury like Levy. I like Chris Culliver in the seventh he can play both CB and S so would add depth to both and should be a nice addition to the special teams.

I would like to see Schwartz and Inc. resign Bobby Carpenter, Chris Houston, Cliff Avril, Turk McBride, Andre Fluellen, Corey Hilliard, John Wendling and Dave Rayner. I would love to throw names around as far as FA go but i just cant see Detroit making a big splash like i orginally thought in free agency this year. Manny Lawson is one name that comes to mind, i also think Carlos Rogers could land in Detroit, as much as i hate to say it Albert Haynesworth could find himself in Allen Park, just a few names for ya... David Baas, Eric Wright, Jacoby Jones, Trent Edwards, Matt Leinart and Desmond Bishop.

As aways feel free to comment, rec and ignore, enjoy sorry it got a little long.