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The Detroit Lions addressed one of their biggest needs by selecting Southern Utah safety, Miles Killebrew with the 111th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Personally, this was one of my favorite picks from Bob Quinn as I was already a huge fan of his size, athleticism and on-field presence, but I realized the more I learn about this kid, the more there is to love.
First thing's first. I'm declaring Miles "Killa" Killebrew as an early favorite for the 2016 Detroit Lions Name Tournament. Not only is that an awesome nickname for a guy that's built his reputation off of dismantling his opponents with his bone-shattering hits, but I'm sure he's been known to kill a few brews in his college days as well.
After being selected, Killebrew was asked about his hard hits in college and had this to say:
"I would much rather be the hammer than the nail"
I love it. These types of quotes get me fired up as a football fan. Give me a player that just wants to go out there and hurt people. I apologize if this brings back some old repressed memories, but it's why I was such a big fan of Louis Delmas as well. I know some fans are already looking to make the Delmas/Killebrew comparison, but before you do so, consider this from Killebrew himself:
Miles Killebrew, on which NFL player he patterns his hitting after: "I'm in the NFL now, so it's me."
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 12, 2016
Killebrew doesn't want to model his game after anyone. Killa just wants to be Killa. He's got two non-damaged knee caps and I'm pretty sure that his friendly fire option is turned off and he's not looking to decapitate his own teammate any time soon, so let's not go there just yet.
Before he earned his reputation on the gridiron, Killebrew delivered the occasional hit on a different football field:
Lions SS Miles Killebrew said he was getting red cards in soccer at 4 or 5: "I was just hitting everybody whether they had the ball or not."
— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) May 12, 2016
Kudos to Killebrew's parents for quickly encouraging their son to switch to American Football. You clearly made the right decision.