MichiganCardinal

I would really love to drop down in this draft, even more so than the Okudah draft. I hope there is a team out there who falls in love with somebody and will trade with us to make sure they get them. I'm not convinced that either Hutchinson or Thibedeoux are head-and-shoulders world-changingly better than an edge rusher like Arnold Ebiketie, Logan Hall, Jermaine Johnson, or Drake Johnson who could be acquired at 32, 34, or even 66. I think our best bet with the first pick might be to get our favorite WR, but #2 is probably too high for that. On top of that, if our plan is to go up to get one of Young or Stroud next year, that will likely take a King's ransom of picks. Our 2023 1st, the Rams 2023 1st, and our 2024 1st just to start. Acquiring additional capital in 2023 would help us both acquire 1.1 or 1.2 next year, as well as help ensure that the cupboard is not left completely depleted. I think any of 6-10 (Panthers, Giants, Falcons, Broncos, Jets) are all realistic potential partners that could set us up for something like Wilson/Ebikitie/Hill, along with a 2nd Round this year and a 1st or 2nd Round Pick next year. If we are willing to drop further, the Eagles may be a trade partner for 2/3 of their mid-1st round picks (probably 15 and 19), plus a 1st next year, which would let us land something like London/Dean/Ebiktie/Hill.

This is interesting. I agree that all else being equal I would prefer my QB have a fifth year rookie deal option to a position player, but I am not sure the Lions choice here at 32 and 34 is as black-and-white. Say at pick 32, the Lions have the choice between Jameson Williams and Kenny Pickett, and they love them both. If they pick Williams at 32, odds are good that at 34, Pickett will be there. The Jags are not taking a QB, and nearly every team looking to get a QB would have already passed on Pickett (except the Colts). If the Lions select Pickett at 32, odds are not as strong that Williams will be there at 34. There are higher odds that both the Jaguars select Williams at 33, or that the Jaguars trade 33 on Friday morning to someone who wants to jump the Lions for Williams. If the hope is that both Williams and Pickett (in this example) turn into franchise guys, you're paying them both sooner or later, and you should be able to tell after three years whether your rookie QB is your future investment. Yes, you would be paying Pickett more, but I think it's more important that you do get them both than whether you get one extra year of a cheap QB. If they were picking 32 and 33, this would be different. At that point, there is no worry about not getting both of your guys. Likewise, if Pickett, Williams, and London are available for instance and you love all three, just take Pickett at 32 and whoever is left (or your preferred choice) at 34.

Of course I care for who has experiences in the BIPOC community. They are vastly underrepresented and undervalued in today's workforce and we should be working diligently to add those experiences across the workforce - NFL, politics, corporate America, and beyond. I'm saying that I don't care if Warren happens to have somewhere between 0.19% and 1.56% Native American within her, just as I don't care if Mike McDaniel has a similar amount of African in him (though that his father identifies as black says it's likely more). Without getting too political, Warren released it as a "told you so" to Trump, after having marked that she was Native American on her 1986 Bar Exam, to prove that she was in fact technically Native American. It wasn't some holier-than-thou demonstration of the absurdity of genetic makeup tests. As I said, when you're awarding objective compensation (draft picks), you have to have something of an objective standard, which in this case has been that McDaniel identifies as biracial, because his father is black. More important than that though is experience, of which I believe McDaniel's (born and raised in suburban Colorado, attended Yale) is categorically different from say Mike Tomlin or Eric Bienemy.

Gunning for the 80-76 final?

The players just standing around must have been getting so pissed.

Should be time for the draft by the time they kickoff

That Mock Draft Simulator is addicting. A trade heavy mock from PFN. - Send 1.2 to the Jets for 1.4 and 1.10 - Send 1.4 to the Ravens for 1.14, 2.45, 3.99, and a 2023 2nd Round Pick 1.10: Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State 1.14: David Ojabo, EDGE, Michigan 1.32: Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington 2.34: Chad Muma, ILB, Wyoming - Send 2.45 and 6.180 to the Steelers for 2.52 and 3.84 2.52: Arnold Ebiketie, EDGE, Penn State - Send 2.66 to the Jets for 2.69 and 5.146 2.69: Romeo Doubs, WR, Nevada 3.84: Quay Walker, ILB, Georgia 3.97: Cade Otton, TE, Washington - Send 3.99 to the Steelers for 4.138, the return of 6.180, and a 2023 5th Round Pick - Send 4.138 and a 2023 5th Round Pick to the Bills for 4.129 4.129: Chasen Hines, OG, LSU 5.146: Myron Cunningham, OT, Alabama 5.177: JT Woods, S, Baylor 6.180: Zyon McCollum, CB, Sam Houston State 6.218: Mike Rose, ILB, Iowa State 7.232: John Chenal, FB, Wisconsin

Thanks y'all for the support and the pictures of your best friends. They are definitely helping (along with my loved ones who flocked to me in support). Charlie definitely did a lot of good before he left us.

I wish more of the major sports (particularly hockey) would do what baseball and soccer have, and make their own version of the Olympics. Have it in rotating locations or don’t, I don’t really care. Having a national pride element to the games is cool every few years, but the Olympics are just dreadful as an organizer for it.

I think there is a real chance Jameson Williams is available at 31/32.

I’m not much of a thread starter, but I’m mourning the loss of my boy tonight and didn’t have much else to do. Thought I’d start something in his memory. Charlie was hit by an SUV on Rochester Road this afternoon after he got loose of the leash while my foster son was walking him. I was at work. He helped me out of many a dark place this past summer. I’m doing better now, but I’m going to miss him like crazy. Figure this can be a place to talk about all our doggos and pets and how much they mean to us.

Couple Super Bowl predictions: 1. Stafford will shine. I think he outplays everyone else on the field and is the obvious SB MVP if the Rams win. 2. The Cincy offensive line will hold their own. The entire narrative about how bad they are is lazy and comparing them to KC’s line from last year ignores that KC lost their best tackle in the AFC Championship. There might be a sack or two but it won’t be the game deciding factor. 3. After a bit of a slow start, it will be a higher scoring, tight game. I think one way or the other it will be a one-possession game decided very late. Bengals +4.5 Bengals: 38 Rams: 37 McPherson walks it off, Joe Brrr gets MVP

Probably. I don’t have the draft results still. I have Stingley as top five overall. I’d have preferred one of them be there at 32 (and think one of them will be in reality).

I used PFN as well. I only took one trade even in the trade mock because largely I feel that they’re unrealistic. Traded 1.2 to the Jets for 1.4 and 1.10. 1.4: Aidan Hutchinson, Edge, Michigan 1.10: Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU 1.32: Jermaine Johnson, Edge, Florida State 2.34: Lewis Cine, S, Georgia 3.66: Christian Harris, LB, Alabama 3.97: George Pickens, WR, Georgia 5.177: Dohnovan West, OG, Arizona State 6.180: Marcus Jones, CB, Houston 6.218: Bo Melton, WR, Rutgers 7.232: Chigoziem Okonkwo, TE, Maryland Without trades… 1.2: Aidan Hutchinson, Edge, Michigan 1.32: Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington 2.34: Chad Muma, ILB, Wyoming 3.66: Myjai Sanders, Edge, Cincinnati 3.97: George Pickens, WR, Georgia 5.177: James Mitchell, TE, Virginia Tech 6.180: Justin Shaffer, OG, Georgia 6.218: Jack Sanborn, OLB, Wisconsin 7.232: Danny Gray, WR, SMU

I used to be in the “don’t draft a RB in the first four rounds EVER” camp. I think I’ve come around slightly in the last year or so to adding a RB in the second or third round, in some very limited scenarios. That said, the Lions most definitely do not fit in my circumstances for that right now. If you can add an Alvin Kamara, Derrick Henry, etc. to a really good team through the draft, you can make that team borderline elite. If you add Christian McCaffery to an aging Panthers team primed for a rebuild though, you can waste an elite player’s prime on a bad team, or more often waste a potentially good player (Best, Leshore, etc.) on a bad team. A RB has such a short shelf life in the NFL that it’s very easy to mistime their career arc. I actually agree with a lot of what Tater said. I agree that the recipe for success in the NFL is to score a ton of points and to play OK to decent defense that creates pressure, doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and capitalizes when the other team makes mistakes. I also agree that I don’t think Swift is an elite RB. He could still be on the team when the team gets to “really good” status, but I don’t think he is going to be the kind of player to make us elite, and would more likely be RB2/change of pace back by then. If in 2023, we trade our two 1sts and our 2024 1st to go up and get Young or Stroud, and an elite RB (Kamara/Henry grade) is there in the 2nd or 3rd round, I would probably be okay with that. If we are a wildcard playoff exit in 2023 and take a RB in a higher round of 2024, I am probably okay with that. As it is though, we have so many holes elsewhere. We don’t have the offensive weapons elsewhere to best utilize a really good RB. We also don’t have close to an OK defense. Every position could be upgraded. I think a RB taken by the Lions now would just turn into the next Best or Leshore.

The Bengals route to the Super Bowl so nearly removed from being the Bungals gives me (false?) hope for the Lions future, so I'd like to see them complete the run and win the Super Bowl. I'd like to see Stafford do well though, I certainly don't wish him to have a bad performance. To a lesser extent, I am mindful of the draft position. While the Bengals will almost certainly take an OT with their first round pick, I think they may be one of the more likely teams to trade up a reasonable amount to go get their choice of OT. I wouldn't want to see whoever they trade with sniping Jameson Williams or Nakobe Dean from us at 31 while we sit at 32.

I'm far from giving up on Levi. He's shown flashes of why he was taken as high as he was. He had those back issues early on, missed most of training camp (after opting out of 2020), and I'm pretty sure I've read that they almost pulled the plug on his season entirely. Even though he fell off the injury report by midseason, back issues can definitely linger as your body learns to compensate and then has to unlearn. Beyond that though, even at UW, Levi was known more disruptively than productively in terms of sacks. He was known as a solid run defender who could stuff the gap, and as someone who would get into the backfield and make stuff happen, but not necessarily be the guy to put the QB to the turf (like Suh was). Levi only recorded 7 sacks in his entire collegiate career. I think he - more than almost anyone else on the roster - would benefit from the addition of a Hutchinson or Thibedeoux type. A guy like Levi gets sacks when QBs have the pocket closing in on them from the edge and have nowhere to go. A guy like Levi gets attention and notoriety when he can force the QB out of the pocket (even if he doesn't finish) for a guy like Hutchinson or Okwara to finish off. He needs to improve, but I'm definitely not worried about him yet.

They made me laugh the other day when someone (jokingly) brought up the notion of Urban taking the OC job at Michigan. Can you even imagine the pandemonium both in Ann Arbor and Columbus? LOL.

Interesting choice. They're trying to plant more recruiting roots in the south.

It all goes back to the NFL trying to make objective an inherently subjective experience. It has to be done somewhere, but it doesn’t actually help the problem. I recall Elizabeth Warren releasing a DNA test a few years ago that said she had maybe some Cherokee in her dating back 6-10 generations. It backfired on her big time. Because who cares? It’s about experience, and one’s experience is oftentimes dictated by color of your skin, not by ancestry percentages. I get that to provide objective compensation to teams, you have to have objective standards. But it’s not as easy as X=Y. It’s why I’d prefer a committee approach.

The offseason is in full swing now. /s

With Nagy and Gase still available? Typical meathead /s

Keeping Glenn!

I think this will turn out to be a very hard draft to predict. There is no clear cut top tier of prospects like there usually are and I think teams’ various grades of prospects may differ wildly. I also think that may lend itself to a large number of trades occurring, as teams see guys they have ranked far higher than other teams slip, they’ll seek to jump up and get him.