Friday open thread: What Michigan-based athlete would you want playing for the Lions?

Chances are if you are a fan of the Detroit Lions, or any of the other professional sports teams from the city, Michigan likely holds a special place in your heart. And in every sport, there are big time players that hail from the Mitten state.

Our hometown Detroit Red Wings have four players who were born in Michigan on the current roster in Dylan Larkin, Alex Debrincat, Andrew Copp, and Austin Czarnik.

In the NBA, star shooting guard Devin Booker frequently shows his allegiance to his home state by donning various Detroit apparel whenever he can.

In the NFL, you have major stars of the sport like New York Jets’ cornerback Sauce Gardner, and Las Vegas Raiders’ defensive end Maxx Crosby.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

What athlete with Michigan ties would you want playing for one of the Detroit organizations?

My answer: Part of me wants to go with Gardner here, since he is a Detroit native and the closest thing to a lockdown cornerback there is in this era of the NFL. However, I am leaning towards the man they call Mad Maxx. Pairing Crosby with Lions’ defensive end Aidan Hutchinson would give Detroit a pair of bookends to work with for the foreseeable future, and would present a ton of problems for offensive coordinators to deal with off of the edge.

Am I being swayed by a bit of recency bias here after watching Crosby talk a ton of smack to All-Pro Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes? Probably.

What about you? What athlete with Michigan ties would you want playing for one of the Detroit organizations? Let us know in the comments by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.