2012 draft talk, by position

QB – Not even if Luck drops. If Luck drops to 23rd, you trade.

RB – If Richardson is there at 23rd, I’d take him without skipping a beat. A couple guys I’d look at in later rounds include Terrance Ganaway and Marc Tyler. They’d strictly be reserve late round “pile pushing” RBs (they’re absolutely massive) and would make sure we aren’t relying on Leshoure too heavily in short yardage as he recovers.

FB – I would be pretty happy if we grabbed Evan Rodriguez in a later round and got rid of Will Heller. He’d suit the same purpose and probably do it a lot better than Heller does in most roles (who I wasn’t very pleased with this year when he was asked to receive.) Evan Rodriguez is definitely not a Schlesinger style lead blocker, or a Felton style carrier, so he’d fit the scheme well.

WR – I doubt we’ll have a chance at Blackmon considering he could go as high as #2. Alshon Jeffrey’s a possibility but I don’t see him being BPA at 23rd. I’d look for Jeff Fuller slipping down boards thanks to his lackadaisical senior year; if he slips late enough, I’d snatch him up as a project WR in a heart beat. MSU’s very own BJ Cunningham will be a deceptively good WR in the league if given the shot. He doesn’t pop or anything, but he’s got fundamentals and can box defenders out well.

TE – Coby Fleener and Michael Egnew are both guys I’ve got my eye on. As I mentioned in the FB bit, I’d really like to see Heller gone. Both of these guys would be great additions to the team and help bolster us even further in that area.

OT – Our shot at grabbing Kalil is completely off the radar without trading up, and I’m not a real big fan of Martin. Some guys I’ve got on my radar include Mike Adams, Matt McCants, and Zebrie Sanders. Brandon Mosley’s a project OT I’d keep my eye on as well, as you mentioned, and James Carmon is a huge athlete who’ll probably wind up going UDFA, would be a great free agent to grab and see if he develops; if he does, watch out!

OG – If we do wind up trading up in the first, my main hope is that it’s to get David DeCastro, who looks like an absolute stud and day one replacement for Peterman. High upside guys that could warrant second-third rounders include Amini Silatolu, Brandon Brooks, and Brandon Washington. Some other names I’m eyeing include Kevin Zeitler, Kelvin Beachum, and Derek Dennis.

OC – I’d be content with all three of the top OCs in the class (Peter Konz, Ben Jones, and Mike Brewster) so it all depends on where they grade out as BPA to the FO. That said, there’s no elite prospects (or even ones that are really worth BPA at 23rd, imo, I’d consider Konz to be a slight reach). One guy I want to see in late rounds is Phillip Blake out of Baylor. He fits the scheme, he’ll need a year or two, but he could be a stud.

DE – I’m really unimpressed with this year’s DE class. Even the best pass rusher coming out, Quinton Coples, is pretty much just all upside — that said, he does have a hell of a lot of upside! If he made it to 23rd I wouldn’t be surprised to see us pick Coples, but I would not trade up for him at all. Andre Branch is probably the guy I’d most want if I were picking a DE in this class to fall in love with. I’ll be quite fine if we don’t wind up picking a DE this year.

DT – None of the guys impress me except for maybe Alameda Ta’amu if we wind up trading a DT away (Alameda would play NT). A late round guy I like is Damon Harrison, who is 340 pounds and has a lot of upside but is admittedly a project. Dontari Poe looks promising at a massive 6’5 350, but a 34 team will be far happier with him than we would at 1-tech.

OLB – Travis Lewis and Zach Brown look like the only viable guys in the draft who fit the scheme and could possibly start in a pinch at WLB. Danny Trevathan is an ST guy I’ve got my eye on who could grow into an eventual starter if he refines his coverage.

MLB – Luke Kuechly’s a good prospect if Tulloch doesn’t get re-signed; I wouldn’t trust Vontaze Burfict unless he maybe slips to the second round when we pick. There’s a boatload of MLBs who will likely hit UDFA that are never going to start but would be productive ST players and camp bodies.

CB – Dre Kirkpatrick is a guy I might trade up into the late teens for if he lasts that long. Desmond Marrow is a really tempting prospect (6’3, 210) who has all the athleticism needed to play CB at the next level but needs to work on his technique; he’d be a guy I’d take with a late round flyer in a heartbeat. I concur with most of the names (probably not the order), and would throw Jamell Fleming up there too.

S – This is a pretty bad safety class. The best safety in the class probably doesn’t warrant a first round pick (Barron), and the drop-off after him is pretty precipitous for both FS and SS. Brandon Taylor and George Iloka will be nice depth guys who can possibly develop into solid starters that we could pick up.

that I think you missed. Doug Martin RB from Boise. I know it’s blasphemy to talk RB, but I really think he is underrated. Might be there in the 3rd and I think he’s going to be as good as Gore. Robert Turbin could be a 4th round value also.

Zeitler OG Wisconsin may be great value in the 2nd.

Guy, FS Kentucky might be there in the 4th and could probably supplant Amari as a rookie.

Other than that, pretty thorough break down.

Is BJ Cunningham that ranked that low?

I would’ve thought he was at least thought 3rd round.

DeCastro is miles better than Cordy Glenn. DeCastro may be the best guard ever in college.

Thanks for the comments guys. My “rankings” on G and CB are off a bit but I figured not a big deal. Mav, I will definitely take a look at some of these guts you mentioned.

I’m not sure if its michigan homerism but I think BJ or Hemingway would be great for us to grab late and start working into our offense.

Obviously some players listed don’t stand a chance to drop to 23 and a couple might be reaches. One name I’m going back and forth on is Zach Brown. His speed is amazing, does anyone united much about him?

so I’m curious hear about other later round
RBs or WRs people have their eye on. The idea of a huge pile moving back and a nice big possession receiver found after round 4 gets me excited.

I’d like to see a starting calibur safety in free agency to push spievey and sure up that depth no need to waste a draft pick on the inferior talent coming out.

this years free agent class has a wealth of veteran RB’s my personal favorite is still Le’Ron McClain (KC) but Mayhew will be able to find a quality vet at a reasonable rate this year so I’m crossing RB off my draft list also. C’mon Jahvid and Mikel get healthy.

Cross off DE also our staff will find a diamond in the rough from other teams castaways to compete for that roster spot.

I think we bring back Davis so drafting for a 5th WR early is unlikely but a 3rd rounder for someone with quality return skills is a possibility.

I’m looking for a CB with the 1st pick, OC or OG, with the 2nd pick. LB or WR with the 3rd pick the rest are camp bodies.

A true Shut down CB or a Speedy OLB that can tackle. All other positions are not as big a concern as most of you seem to have them. A replacement for Rayola would be nice but with him having his best year ever as a Lion I don’t see that as a top priority. We have Fox and Hilliard waiting in the wings to replace Backus a year or 2 down the road, so again not a big priority. Simms is the best G we have had on this team since Jeff Hartings, and Peterman when healthy is very serviceable. Having Simms and Peterman healthy this past season may be why Rayola had his best year ever. Now if we can find a dominant RT at 23 with BPA approach I’d be cool with that, I wasn’t really impressed with Gos most of the season. We need another stud in the back 7 of the D, one that when asked to blitz can actually get after the QB, or stay with TE’s/RB’s when they release out in pass plays.

because I have been hoping that we could pick up Doug Martin (as stated above) and the Lions interviewed him yesterday at the Senior Bowl. Seems like Mayhew rarely interviews the players he is actually going after.