I was driving to Scranton, PA yesterday and i was listening to a Mock draft on the Sirius NFL channel and I got to thinking if this lockout will actually change the strategy of how teams draft.
In any other year during business as usual; the whole point of a draft is to build your team with the best possible player available while you fill holes with free agents, trades with teams etc. Suppose for a minute that the judge doesn't grant the injunction to the players and the lockout will continue indefinitely. Now all the sudden when you are the Detroit Lions; you basically have 6 total chances to upgrade your team.
Let's say for instance we draft an Offensive Tackle. Not the sexiest pick but I'll go with it. Our chances of drafting OLB's and a CB are getting smaller by the pick. Let's say the lockout finally ends a week or 2 into the season... not only do we have a bunch of rookies who don't know the system but we still have a few positions where we have virtually nothing. How fast do you think we can sign a free agent?
Given the worst case senario, do this slightly change our draft strategy and draft somebody like Amaukamara if he is available instead of Smith or Bowers.
Thoughts?