Lions draft thread-2008

[congoman]

I like what the Lions are doing. They are not taking the obvious guys with big reps but taking the mean and nasty alternative. I think this will prove to be a much more productive approach. The draft is a crap-shoot under the best of conditions. Who is to say this approach isn't right?

[BillLaimbeer]

Originally Posted by congoman

I like what the Lions are doing. They are not taking the obvious guys with big reps but taking the mean and nasty alternative. I think this will prove to be a much more productive approach. The draft is a crap-shoot under the best of conditions. Who is to say this approach isn't right?

You could be right, congoman. The Lions got rid of some "star" players in the off-season. They are trying to create more of a team atmosphere and a tough work ethic, in the mold of Coach Marinelli. It sounds good, but this, of course, the Lions....we'll see what happens.

[jammertime]

I actually like the Lions' overall draft. I do think they reached a bit with their first 2 picks though.

The draft just didn't fall the Lions' way this year. All of the guys they targeted were gone before they picked in the first 2 rounds. I think they did ok with what they had to work with. I would have liked to see them move down a bit more in the first round though, but with the way that the OTs were flying off the board (3 in the first 14 picks), I guess they wanted to make sure they got their man. (A bit surprised Otah fell as much as he did).

In the 3rd round, they moved up to the first pick in the round to ensure that they were able to grab one of the RBs that they had targeted. From what I've read, they decided to pass on Mendenhall because they felt that they could get a really solid back in the 3rd round. With RBs going 22, 23, 24 in the first round and then Rice and Forte going in the 2nd, the only back left that they liked was Kevin Smith. They moved up to #1 in the 3rd to ensure that they got him.

Apparently, Smith really wanted to be a Lion (). No seriously. Read this.

[jammertime]

See, I told you he wanted to play for the Lions!

Front page of espn.com: ESPN - Lions pick RB Smith with first pick of third round - NFL

"I never thought of myself as chasing Barry Sanders. He's a legend," Smith said. "My numbers might have been close, but I was just thrilled to be close to someone like that. Now I get to play in the same organization, which is a dream come true."
And enough to make a guy weep.
"The coach told me that they were going to come up to get me, and he put me on the phone with all the coaches, and I just burst into tears," Smith admitted.

Of course, Barry set the record in 2 fewer games and with 50-100 less carries than Smith had, but still, quite an impressive accomplishment for the new Lion.

[jammertime]

Granted, other teams are usually pretty happy with Matt Millen's draft picks, but this time, it's for a good reason.

Lions save the day for final pick of Army safety Campbell - Detroit Lions: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com

But the biggest applause was for Campbell. ESPN reported all day on Campbell because the 6-foot-2, 230 pounder would be spared having to serve in Iraq if he made a NFL roster. Halfway through the final round, he got the call from the Lions. The entire draft crowd erupted, jerseys from every NFL team represented.

A bit more here as well.

When the Lions selected Army safety Caleb Campbell in the seventh round Sunday, the crowd at Radio City Music City Hall erupted into a "U-S-A" chant.

For all the criticism that Millen has taken, he should be praised for this pick.

[Nemo]

I am going to analyze this bunch based on Millen's prior performance. They are undersized projects who will not make an impact for this coming season, except maybe one will be a starter this season. I think we're looking at a 4-12 season...

[TheeTFD]

Poor C.Campbell if doesn't make the team or Practice squad he's off to the burning sands. From IEDs

[TheeTFD]

Detroit Lions
Picks: OL Gosder Cherilus, LB Jordon Dizon, RB Kevin Smith, DL Andre Fluellen, DL Cliff Avril, WR Kenneth Moore, FB Jerome Felton, DL Landon Cohen, DB Caleb Campbell
Positives: Dizon, Smith
Negatives: Missing on first-round targets and reaching for Cherilus.
Bottom line: D. Detroit addressed most needs but missed out on its three targeted players in the first round – Derrick Harvey, Jonathan Stewart and Jerod Mayo – then traded back to No. 17 and still reached for Cherilus. Dizon is smallish but consistent. Moving up for Smith in the third round was intriguing. He could be a good value there, but it’s a concern that he rarely had a dominating yards-per-carry average against quality competition. Other than Cherilus, it’s hard to see a lot of room to grow in this class.
-
We get the lowest NFC grade. D

[b-diddy]

ill settle on a bad grade. seems to me the 'experts' usually grade the lions high on getting great value for the picks... we know how that worked out.

i cant speak on the value of our picks, but i atleast like the idea. meat and potatos. im sure we probably could have done better (seems pretty unanmous that we would have been better off with albert or otah than cherilus- i have no idea), but building through the draft this way is the first steps on the long road back to mediocrity. maybe not next year, but i do believe we have a 500 season in our future.

[BillLaimbeer]

Good stuff, B-Diddy. I can tell you've got a good feel for the Lions organization.