Detroit Lions Offseasn Thread

[rage 24]

Drew Stanton is drafted #43.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Drew Stanton is drafted #43.

I'm sorry. In a non-biased opinion this is a stupid pick. I love Drew's toughness...I loved his attitude even though he was on a sinking ship all year, but I don't like his decision making. I'll take Stanton over Quinn anyday of the week though!

Edited April 28, 2007 by mannysBETTER3434

[Airborn 0]

I love the Stanton pick and I'm salivating over what Martz can do with this kid. I was worried we wouldn't pick him, since we took offense in the 1st round. Good decision.

Look at it this way. The only thing seperating Stanton and Quinn was coaching. Quinn's coaching is probably going to get worse from here; Stanton's gets exponentially better.

I'm still not sold on the Johnson pick, but hopefully he proves me wrong by catching 80 balls for 1,500 years. He better, because our defense is going to be horrible!

[rwfan007 18]

stanton or troy smith? who will be better?

[rage 24]

Look at it this way. The only thing seperating Stanton and Quinn was coaching. Quinn's coaching is probably going to get worse from here; Stanton's gets exponentially better.

That's a really good point. I don't care much for MSU and didn't watch tons of their games, but he is good. I just don't see him getting anywhere near the rushing yards he did at State. That is IMO what made him so dangerous.

stanton or troy smith? who will be better?

Tough call, but defiently Stanton. Smith was bad, then good, then not so good. I am serouisly be non-biased here.

[rage 24]

Raiders trade for WR-Williams, QB-McCown

Oakland Raiders: Acquire WR Mike Williams and QB Josh McCown.

Detroit Lions: Acquire pick No. 105 (fourth round).

Edited April 29, 2007 by rage

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

So ends the glorious career of Mike Williams with the Lions.

[BlakChamber 8]

I'm sorry, Drew

[betterREDthandead 58]

Pleh. Stanton better than Troy Smith? I think Stanton is still being evaluated more on his potential and so-called tools than his accomplishments. I've never been impressed with the guy. We'll see.

I suppose this, along with the McCown trade, elevates Orlovsky to the backup role.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

I think Stanton will be better then Smith, but that doesn't mean I'm saying Stanton will be good. Like Red said just never really wowed me.

I love the Williams trade. Roy and Calvin will be very solid!

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Good argument, but here's why I think WR is an overvalued position.

First, no matter how good the WR - they are slaves to the QB, offensive line, and the system as a whole. Just look at Randy Moss in Oakland. He's a top 5 player at his position, but he's completely worthless because the other components aren't there, whereas a QB like Peyton Manning would at least make them decent.

Second, even the great WRs only touch the ball 8-10 times a game. A quarterback touches it every offensive play. A running back 20-25 times. Even offensive linemen have an impact every play.

Finally, good WRs can be found in the later rounds much easier than other positions. Two examples of this are Marcues Colston and Mike Furrey who both went undrafted, yet they were 2 of the best WRs last year. When is the last time you saw a stud Defensive or Offensive Linemen undrafted?

I look at WRs as a dessert. It's something that should be enjoyed after the meal is finished. The Lions need impact players just about everywhere on their team, except WR where they already have 2. Taking a WR will help this team very little, even if that guy is a stud.

Randy Moss isnt the best example, I definitely dont feel that he's top 5 at his position anymore. His skills are on the decline. But all in all you do make some pretty good points. Yeah you can find WR's later, but it certainly aint easy! You could take a receiver with every pick 3-7 and still end up with crap. The Saints got lucky with Colston. What you're saying though almost helps prove my point. If good NFL QB's are so hard to find, then WHY waste high draft picks on such a gamble!!! Like i said, by having really good recievers you dont necessarily need a good QB. Calvin Johnson is easily the surest thing in this draft. If he doesnt blow out a knee (now why did i just say that... ) there is no way he's a bust. Now with Roy and Calvin, the Lions are in a situation where they can afford to have Kitna under center until Stanton's ready, he's certainly good enough to hit these guys.

[superstarsingh 23]

Now we have Williams and Johnson...and Kitna to throw it to them. I was happy to see that Mike Williams and McCown were traded away. We do not need them with Stanton coming in.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

I know Furrey signed his contract expecting to be the #2 receiver. He cant be too happy about the Johnson pick. At least we finally have a guy who's name we cant pronounce with this Hawaain dude with the hyphen...its about time! I dont think we've had one since the WR Uweizuke (sp?!!) I aways wanted a Baja-Biamila type.

Oh and big thumbs up to the Stanton pick, I love it.

Edited April 29, 2007 by Lou_Siffer

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Can't believe Darius Walker went undrafted! Kid should have stayed in school. Whats the grade you give the Lions draft? I really don't know because I haven't heard or seen many of the players ever!

[Guest Agalloch]

Whoo, once again Millen proves that he has no idea what he's doing.

I like the Calvin Johnson pick a lot. I know it's another wide receiver, but he's not going to be a best. He's basically a Terrel Owens clone without the attitude problems. He's going to be a star, and will make an excellent trio with Roy and Furrey.

I like the Stanton pick too, although I would've rather had Edwards. But, he's a good player. It's not his fault he played on a s***ty team.

The defensive end from Hawaii was a horrible pick. He's a huge project, and was projected to go in the 4th-5th round. David Harris among others were still on the board, and the Lions had a much bigger need at LB. Stupid.

Gerald Alexander was also a terrible pick. A reach once again, as he was projected to go in the third round. We chose this guy over other better players at positions of need. Once again, stupid.

I don't know much else about the rest of the players we chose, but I can't believe we took that projected-to-be-undrafted ILB in the fifth round over HB Blades. ******* dumb. We may have the worst defense in NFL history this year. Our secondary is an absolute mess. Is Fernando Bryant going to be the #1 corner this year?!

*sigh* FIRE MILLEN!

[betterREDthandead 58]

Pretty unimpressed with this draft. Millen is getting credit for picking Calvin Johnson but frankly that was a no-brainer, barring a trade down.

As for the second round, what a mess! Ikaikaikaikaika and Gerald Alexander must be "Marinelli guys" because they sure look like projects. And Millen traded up to get Alexander. I have a feeling he'd still have been around.

And don't get me started on the Stanton pick. We let Buffalo trade up to get Paul Posluszny. I'd have LOVED Posluszny. EXACTLY the kind of guy we need on the defense.....and now we're stuck instead with two guys who are going to need a LOT of teaching to reach a level where they're useful. Are they telling me Dan Bazuin or Quentin Moses wouldn't have been useful? Ya know....guys who are actually ready for this league and proved it by going out and dominating in college?

I read an ESPN guy who works out of Texas said that this Manuel Ramirez guy we picked up in the fourth is a "mauler". He better be. He's the only O-lineman in the whole damn draft. And Johnny Baldwin must also be one of those "Marinelli guys" 'cause every media pundit let out a collective "WHO?" in response to that pick.

The Lions used none of their own picks except for the CJ pick and the Mr. Irrelevant pick. A lot of maneuvering by Millen and I'd say it was mostly for naught. I give this draft a D+, Calvin Johnson keeping it from being a D-. And I can't shake the feeling we just traded our best QB in McCown - I thought from Day 1 last year he should have been the starter over Kitna. Kitna's OK, but I wanted to see how McCown would do. As always, Fire Millen.

[Guest Agalloch]

Ramirez is actually really good, I forgot about him. He's really fat, but it doesn't hamper him much. I actually like that pick.

Still can't believe we took Baldwin over Blades though. All of our second rounders were bad too.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

The defensive end from Hawaii was a horrible pick. He's a huge project, and was projected to go in the 4th-5th round. David Harris among others were still on the board, and the Lions had a much bigger need at LB. Stupid.

Gerald Alexander was also a terrible pick. A reach once again, as he was projected to go in the third round. We chose this guy over other better players at positions of need. Once again, stupid.

Who projected him 4th-5th? Kiper seemed to talk him up pretty good. David Harris doesnt fit the Lions defensive scheme from what i read, so thats why they didnt take him. Alexander plays corner and safety, two areas we could use help in as Kenoy Kennedy is on the decline. Nothing wrong with planning for his replacement, if he doesnt replace him this upcoming season that is. Alexander sounds like he can be a useful guy to me.

The other guys i know nothing about. I cant believe Zabransky didnt get drafted though. And Matt Moore who Jaworski kept raving about all day, Im marking his name down to see just how smart Jaws really is.

[Guest Agalloch]

... Kiper has no idea what he's talking about. I thought everyone knew this. He had Ben Patrick going in the third round, and he ended up in the seventh. The guy seriously doesn't know what he's talking about. Oh, remember Mike Williams? He was his number one rated player on his big board that year. That sums up Kiper.

I'm not saying the DE or Alexander can't be good, but they passed up better players, and they needed an ILB especially, which they never ended up getting, since I doubt the fifth rounder will make the team.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

... Kiper has no idea what he's talking about. I thought everyone knew this. He had Ben Patrick going in the third round, and he ended up in the seventh. The guy seriously doesn't know what he's talking about. Oh, remember Mike Williams? He was his number one rated player on his big board that year. That sums up Kiper.

Well it looks like whoever wrote the prediction of Francis going in the 4th-5th was just as wrong as Mel was about Patrick! Truth is, none of us here really know anything about these guys. We just have to wait and see what happens.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Pretty unimpressed with this draft. Millen is getting credit for picking Calvin Johnson but frankly that was a no-brainer, barring a trade down.

As for the second round, what a mess! Ikaikaikaikaika and Gerald Alexander must be "Marinelli guys" because they sure look like projects. And Millen traded up to get Alexander. I have a feeling he'd still have been around.

And don't get me started on the Stanton pick. We let Buffalo trade up to get Paul Posluszny. I'd have LOVED Posluszny. EXACTLY the kind of guy we need on the defense.....and now we're stuck instead with two guys who are going to need a LOT of teaching to reach a level where they're useful. Are they telling me Dan Bazuin or Quentin Moses wouldn't have been useful? Ya know....guys who are actually ready for this league and proved it by going out and dominating in college?

I read an ESPN guy who works out of Texas said that this Manuel Ramirez guy we picked up in the fourth is a "mauler". He better be. He's the only O-lineman in the whole damn draft. And Johnny Baldwin must also be one of those "Marinelli guys" 'cause every media pundit let out a collective "WHO?" in response to that pick.

The Lions used none of their own picks except for the CJ pick and the Mr. Irrelevant pick. A lot of maneuvering by Millen and I'd say it was mostly for naught. I give this draft a D+, Calvin Johnson keeping it from being a D-. And I can't shake the feeling we just traded our best QB in McCown - I thought from Day 1 last year he should have been the starter over Kitna. Kitna's OK, but I wanted to see how McCown would do. As always, Fire Millen.

I agree with everything you said above. Puz would have been a sweet LB for the Lions. He has that 6th sense for football, which many players don't have. Plus he is a work horse. David Harris was as well, but I think Puz would fit better along side Ernie Sims. Stanton was a dumb pick too. I'm not trying to rip MSU or anything, but when Jaws says "I watched all his film, and he hardly threw a spiral" why would you take him so high?

[Airborn 0]

The defensive end from Hawaii was a horrible pick. He's a huge project, and was projected to go in the 4th-5th round. David Harris among others were still on the board, and the Lions had a much bigger need at LB. Stupid.

David Harris isn't a good fit for the Tampa 2, because he's a big guy who struggles in coverage. He's a much better fit for the 3-4 system the Jets run. I like Harris a lot, but you can't fit a square peg into a round hole.

Here's why I like the Alama-Francis pick. We got a guy that has as much talent as any Defensive lineman in the draft. The knock on him is that he's not polished, because he's only played for 4 years. Now he's going to be coached by the best Defensive Line Coach (Marinelli) in the NFL.

To me, that's a good pick.

[Airborn 0]

As for the second round, what a mess! Ikaikaikaikaika and Gerald Alexander must be "Marinelli guys" because they sure look like projects. And Millen traded up to get Alexander. I have a feeling he'd still have been around.

Apparently Alexander is a Jon Barry guy. He fell in love with him after watching tape from the Fiesta Bowl.

Overall, I think the Lions did OK. I would have been happier if we had been able to trade Johnson for a bunch of picks, but the offers weren't there, so we did the only sensible thing and took the best player.

We didn't get much help for this year on defense, which is disappointing, but we did grab two players (Stanton and Alma-Francis) who could be huge steals. What I like best about these two is they clearly have the talent, they just need the coaching. It ceratinly helps that the Lions have two of the best at their respective postions in Marinelli and Martz.

Edit: 2nd straight year of drafting all character guys. Should be interesting to see if this starts having an impact.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Airborn

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Here's why I like the Alama-Francis pick. We got a guy that has as much talent as any Defensive lineman in the draft. The knock on him is that he's not polished, because he's only played for 4 years. Now he's going to be coached by the best Defensive Line Coach (Marinelli) in the NFL.

To me, that's a good pick.

Very good point, that didnt even dawn on me until earlier today at work. Having Rod Marinelli certainly helps to validate the pick. If we still had Mooch then yeah, it could be looked at as a crazy pick. Also the same can be said for Martz/Stanton. Apparently Millen was in love with Stanton, but just having Martz behind the scenes and knowing that he had to be in support of Drew as well makes me very comfortable with it. Im happy.

And dont you wise asses go bringing up Martz and Jeff Smoker (just wanted to beat you to it ), this is different.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Apparently Millen was in love with Stanton, but just having Martz behind the scenes and knowing that he had to be in support of Drew as well makes me very comfortable with it. Im happy.

And dont you wise asses go bringing up Martz and Jeff Smoker (just wanted to beat you to it ), this is different.

How is it different though? Sorry I have to bring it up, but IMO both are really competitive, but lack important tools. Is it a good thing Millen loves Drew? He also loved Mike Williams, Charles Rogers, and Joey Harrington. Plus like you brought up Martz loved Smoker...same place as Stanton. I'll continue to question this pick until Drew proves me wrong.

Also if anyone is bored out of their mind like me today.....2008 Mock Draft

http://walterfootball.com/draft2008.php

Edited April 30, 2007 by mannysBETTER3434