There has been alot of speculation around here lately about whether or not the Lions should take a DE at 13.  Most people seem to disagree with it because of the feeling that we are already deep at that position and have more pressing needs at this moment.  My thoughts after the jump

Ok first assuming that Prince and Peterson are off the board and the Lions are not totally in love with Jimmy Smith or Brandon Harris then i'm pretty sure that we can all agree that none of the other CBs warrent such a high selection. Von Miller should be gone along with the top WRs.  So other than Det32 no one sees any value in selecting an OLB like Akeem Ayers this high. 

Now i'm going to break this down into 2 points.

1.  First the lions since Mayhew took over have not reached for players they have taken the best player available.  That means that if for some reason Marcel was still available he would most likely be a Lion next year.  Most if not all of the OT's that would be available would be considered reaches which as I just said we most likely won't do.

UNLESS....

2. We are drafting for future need.  We all know that Jeff Backus played well last year and is still signed for this year.  We can also agree that none of the tackles that we could draft this year other than maybe Tyron Smith would be able to supplant him or Gosder Cherilus.  However we also know that Backus is getting long in the tooth and it is time to start thinking about his replacement (I know that we have Fox but we also don't know what we have in Fox).  The Lions have stated many tims that they are not drafting for instant success in order to be able to compete for a playoff spot this year they are drafting to be competitors for years ahead.  So drafting an OT could make some sense.  This brings me to my point,  although drafting a DE might not be the move that most people like it may turn out to be the best move if the right value is there.  If Dequan Bowers or Robert Quinn is there when we pick and Prince is gone then we may have to pick them because it would solve a future need NOW.

The argument has been made that they wouldn't be able to start right now and you want your first round selections to make an impact.  But if we are willin to draft an OT and let him sit then the same should be said of a DE.  KVB is also getting older and is clearly on the decline how much longer can he play at a high level? No one knows and I also know that we drafted willie young last year but you don't pass on a stud player just so that you might be able to develop a late round pick. That would be like us passing on Suh so that we could develop Sammy Hill.  Even though we all like Sammy he isn't a Suh and is not that special player that other teams have nightmares about. 

Bowers and Quinn have been discussed as going as high as number 1 overall and to pass on that talent when there aren't any other players of that value available simply to fill a need would be silly.  If either of them fall then we should take them and count our blessings.  If either of them turns out to be the next really special DE in the league would anyone really be upset with the pick while also giving SUH a player to grow up with.   The only thing that would happen would be that we would cut or trade other DLinemen that wern't in the starting lineup or the best backup.  Bowers or Quinn could either sit for a year behind KVB and Avril while getting time through rotation or they could beat them out in camp.  Either way we would have our DE of the future for after KVB is done.