2023 NFL Draft Thread

[RandyMarsh]

It's hard to trust these mock draft deals are but I saw one today that had TN moving up to 3 by giving up 11, a 2nd and a 4th. I know the Lions don't have a 4th this year but if we could get to 3 for something similar I would do that in a heartbeat for Anderson. You'd get arguably the best player in the draft and still have another 1st and 2nd to address positions of needs. 

 

[Jason_R]

Okudah was a defensible pick. RAS of 8.97 so not in the Gonzalez range but it would have been hard for Quinn to take Herbert in the circumstances. Shame about his injury history.

I like Witherspoon’s attitude, football IQ, and history with Kerby Joseph. But 6 is too high for him. It’s even too high for Gonzalez, who is an athletic freak. 

[buddha]

dungeon of doom podcast has an interview with the georgia beat writer for the athletic.  something in there for everyone.

carter isnt a problem.  he's a shy kid who keeps to himself.  if he were lazy, he wouldnt have been playing over the kind of talent they have on georgia.  he's a supremely talented player, he changed the game he played in because he was constantly double teamed and the other teams would specifically game plan around him because he was so good.  the driving stuff is what it is, lots of teenagers and college kids have driving issues at that age.  his teammates and coaches all came to his defense and said he had no character concerns.  mcshay shouldnt have said he had character concerns, he should have said some believe he may need to be motivated.

otoh, any team that drafts him will have to do some digging.  he's not a local kid so they dont know as much about him as other players.  as noted above, he may need to be externally motivated because no one really knows what he's thinking because he's so quiet.  he's not a lockerroom or team leader.

would he take a chance on him at 6?  maybe.  he's so gifted at such an important position that you can take a chance on that talent, but it is possible he could flake out on you.

ymmv.

[buddha]

56 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I did like the Okudah pick. Obviously in hindsight if we knew Stafford would ask to be traded a year later I would have rather went for the QBs. I also don't think Okudah is a bust yet. His rookie year was during COVID when training camp was limited and also with Patricia. He missed his entire second year basically so I look at this past year as his rookie year. It was up and down and this year will be his make or break. I value players who have the on field production like Hutchinson vs players who show up in workouts like Walker. 

the point is the draft industrial complex and you and me all saw the okudah pick as a positive.  he was seen as a sure thing at corner.  

until he wasnt.  there are no "sure things."  devon witherspoon is not a sure thing.

what he IS, is someone with less visible red flags.  none of us know him personally or have delved into his past so we dont know what's there.  but in the public realm, there is less to be concerned about than with jalen carter.  on paper.

as for okudah's future, i think he's done as a corner.  i think he might have a future career as a safety because he played really well there at times last year.  he was good at run support a few times i can remember.

but corner?  he was so bad he got benched for amani oruwariye at the end of the year.  he's got a lot of work to do there and no amount of tweets showing him "practice hard" are going to change that.

[RandyMarsh]

I mentioned it before but one positive for Carter in regards to helping to bust the lazy narrative is that he did come back from his ankle injury mid season and played all of the remaining games and not only played but played his best football. Considering he could've just sat it out and still would've been a top 10 pick that shows that he atleast has some drive. 

[Motown Bombers]

Okudah tore his Achilles which is typically a career ender for a defensive back. He's probably Bryant Westbrook at this point. 

[RandyMarsh]

I do wonder how Okudah would've turned out if he not only didn't have that injury but got drafted a year later and his rookie year was with the current coaching staff. 

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Okudah tore his Achilles which is typically a career ender for a defensive back. He's probably Bryant Westbrook at this point. 

I have no idea where Odukah's particular recovery is turning out to be, but just in the last few years the recovery prognosis for Achilles rupture repair in pro athletes has gotten better and it's not necessarily the career ender it used to be. From what I read they learned that if they take much more accurate measuremens for the graft than had been the standard practice, the recovery of elasticity and energy storage are both improved and you are starting to see more guys make successful returns to high level competition. In just the years between Brandon Jennings' and Kevin Durant's injuries things changed.

Edited April 7, 2023 by gehringer_2

[NYLion]

15 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

It's hard to trust these mock draft deals are but I saw one today that had TN moving up to 3 by giving up 11, a 2nd and a 4th. I know the Lions don't have a 4th this year but if we could get to 3 for something similar I would do that in a heartbeat for Anderson. You'd get arguably the best player in the draft and still have another 1st and 2nd to address positions of needs. 

 

That's laughable. It would probably take more for the Lions to move from 6 to 3. The Titans are giving up at least a future 1st and a 2nd to move up from 11 to 3. 

[NYLion]

On 4/5/2023 at 12:37 PM, Motown Bombers said:

I've been a fan of Witherspoon and he seems to have Dan Campbell written all over him. 

100% a Campbell guy but he's on the small side and if you watch the tape, he makes a lot of plays on the ball that would be penalties in the NFL so there are some red flags with him. The positives is that he has good athleticism and that "dawg" mentality, ferocious tackler, but I think 6 is a reach for him. I think Gonzalez has more tools to succeed at the next level but not sure if he passes the Dan Campbell Kneecap Biter test.

Edited April 7, 2023 by NYLion

[NYLion]

17 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

Since I'm a Michigan fan I of course follow the B1G more closely and have seen Witherspoon a few times so I may be biased but to me he always stood out and made plays even when he wasn't being targeted. Also he was the definition of a lockdown guy this year, for the year he only gave up 22 catches for 206 yards and no TDs. That's under 2 catches and 20 yards a game.  He had 17 combined pass breakups and interceptions so nearly as many breakups as catches he allowed which is insane. 

 

The problem is that Big 10 offenses generally have weak passing games and virtually no NFL level QBs and he didn't play against Stroud lat year. McCarthy was the best QB he faced and I'm not sure he's going to be highly drafted, O'Connell is decent I suppose. Other than that, it's a bunch of nobodies really so it's really hard to take those stats too seriously tbh. 

[MichiganCardinal]

If we can’t get Anderson, my hope is that the Cardinals screw up their trade talks, Richardson falls to #6, and the Titans trade Simmons and 11 to move up for him.

We could probably take Bijan at 11, who may be the pick at 6 anyway.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Where do we think Holmes drafts a Linebacker in this years draft and any guesses as to who it might me?

[Motown Bombers]

I'm not even convinced Holmes will draft a linebacker. 

[buddha]

its 50-50 they even draft a linebacker considering how they seemingly downgrade the position.

we say all that and watch them take a tight end and a linebacker in round one.

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

We could probably take Bijan at 11, who may be the pick at 6 anyway.

I would not be surprised by this at all. I still think the most likely scenario is that Anderson is gone at 3 and Carter is gone at 5.

The more I read about Tyree Wilson, he doesn’t seem like a strong fit. Witherspoon is not an outside, lockdown type CB. Gonzalez has the physical profile but 6 seems a bit high for him. Bijan doesn’t give you a major upgrade over Swift+Montgomery, but he does give you a major upgrade over Montgomery+the third string. 

[MichiganCardinal]

27 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

I would not be surprised by this at all. I still think the most likely scenario is that Anderson is gone at 3 and Carter is gone at 5.

The more I read about Tyree Wilson, he doesn’t seem like a strong fit. Witherspoon is not an outside, lockdown type CB. Gonzalez has the physical profile but 6 seems a bit high for him. Bijan doesn’t give you a major upgrade over Swift+Montgomery, but he does give you a major upgrade over Montgomery+the third string. 

I think I differ with you here. Bijan may not be a huge upgrade over Swift at 100%, but we only saw that player probably twice last season - against the Eagles and Commies. Otherwise, he was out or on a pitch count, which seriously limited his usefulness.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Dave Birkett saying on 97.1 the Lions are having LB Drew Sanders from Arkansas in for one of their team visits next week. Sanders has the high athletic upside and RAS that this regime seems to really value.

[RandyMarsh]

Campbell and Sanders are my 1A and 1B linebackers. The problem though is if mocks and draft boards are to be believed it would be too much of a reach to take either at 18 but unlikely either will be available with our 2nd round pick.

[1984Echoes]

They've looked at a lot of 2nd/3rd round type LB'ers...

I believe they've also interviewed Simpson, Henley and Overshown, 3 guys that I really like...

Just a guess... but they look like they are  "seriously" looking at the LB'er position with a definite interest in drafting one in the 2nd or 3rd round...

[Mr.TaterSalad]

16 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

They've looked at a lot of 2nd/3rd round type LB'ers...

I believe they've also interviewed Simpson, Henley and Overshown, 3 guys that I really like...

Just a guess... but they look like they are  "seriously" looking at the LB'er position with a definite interest in drafting one in the 2nd or 3rd round...

https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2023/3/3/23622661/2023-nfl-draft-detroit-lions-visit-tracker-combine-top-30-pro-day

Pride of Detroit has the full list. it looks like they have also interviewed Sewell's little brother Noah which isn't a surprise. I'd love them to get one of Cambell or Sanders. I think they need a LB in the worst way as I don't share their confidence on Anzalone as the guy who can QB this defense and play consistent football for a full season. But if they pass on a LB in the first couple of rounds I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as with most moves they make.

[MichiganCardinal]

I think the Lions are largely at the point across the roster that with very little exception (Bijan and Anderson are the only two that come to mind), no draft pick would be guaranteed a starting gig on day one. Which is a good place to be in, but it also means that in the case of LB, they may not take one high if when the 2nd and 3rd round picks come up and a linebacker isn’t the highest rated player on their board.

That said, I do think Holmes would be a buyer at the deadline if we had a clear liability that needed to be addressed for a playoff push (like if Anzalone isn’t pulling his weight).

[buddha]

give me mazi smith or keanu beaton over jack campbell.  build those lines.

[Jason_R]

3 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I think I differ with you here. Bijan may not be a huge upgrade over Swift at 100%, but we only saw that player probably twice last season - against the Eagles and Commies. Otherwise, he was out or on a pitch count, which seriously limited his usefulness.

I think we are saying the same thing. You wouldn’t consider Bijan if Swift could stay healthy. 

[Longgone]

2 minutes ago, buddha said:

give me mazi smith or keanu beaton over jack campbell.  build those lines.

Mazi is going to go earlier than you think.