2012 Draft Discussion - Page 3

Prowler · 12-27-2011, 06:47 PM

I'd want Long, but I'd want him relatively cheap. I'd have no problem moving our 1st and 2nd to get him, provided we kept Backus as insurance as as a way of thanking him for his years of service.

Xiomera · 12-27-2011, 06:50 PM

Let's draft WMU receiver Jordan White. Mid-round selection. He's been stellar today in his bowl and has obviously had a very accomplished career.

Prowler · 12-27-2011, 06:56 PM

Everybody knows that he's going to get the ball 80% of the passing plays, but he still has an insanely high catch rate. Very reliable guy. I see him more as a James Jones or Antonio Brown type that can be an underneath option after CJ and Pettigrew with Titus clearing out.

Iamcanadian · 12-29-2011, 11:26 AM

Signing new FA's or trading for high priced veterans is going to be very difficult for the Lions. Many, many veterans on the team will be looking for pay raises after making the playoffs and it may well cost us our entire budget to resign the team or to keep them happy.
I don't expect much movement in our roster for the coming year outside of rookies unless some veterans retire.

Prowler · 12-29-2011, 11:52 AM

I guess we could resign that Calvin Johnson guy to a longer deal.

Scotty D · 12-29-2011, 12:26 PM

I'm not sure we are going to be able to pay Avril. He's playing himself out of our budget.

Xiomera · 12-29-2011, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scotty D

I'm not sure we are going to be able to pay Avril. He's playing himself out of our budget.

That's what I keep telling people. They could franchise tag him, but if they could somehow get Calvin signed longterm and bring down his $14 million cap hit for next season, they need to.

If Avril returns, there's no chance in hell we can bring Tulloch back.

Cutting Corey Williams' $9 million salary next season seems almost required to retain Avril. I'd be OK with that given how SLH seems to have improved.

Maybe This Year Mayhew · 12-29-2011, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xiomera

That's what I keep telling people. They could franchise tag him, but if they could somehow get Calvin signed longterm and bring down his $14 million cap hit for next season, they need to.

If Avril returns, there's no chance in hell we can bring Tulloch back.

Cutting Corey Williams' $9 million salary next season seems almost required to retain Avril. I'd be OK with that given how SLH seems to have improved.

Calvin must be redone to keep Tulloch and Avril. I think Eric Wright is gone. Corey Williams cap number is only 5 million so they can hang on to him. I'd rather draft a center and get rid of Raiola and his 3.4 million before CW or restructure Burelson or Suh.

detroit4life · 12-29-2011, 07:58 PM

Avril may have to be let go. Personally i could argue it is a smart decision. Avril has life easy for him playing on a line next to suh KVB and Corey or Fairley. Not quite sure his stats are an indicator of the value he brings.... At the same time I like the continuity of our front 4.

Corey should be let go. Fairley healthy and SLH warrants a cheaper option

Prowler · 12-29-2011, 08:08 PM

Good thing that we draft BPA. Should make the decision much easier after this April.

Xiomera · 12-29-2011, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maybe This Year Mayhew

Calvin must be redone to keep Tulloch and Avril. I think Eric Wright is gone. Corey Williams cap number is only 5 million so they can hang on to him. I'd rather draft a center and get rid of Raiola and his 3.4 million before CW or restructure Burelson or Suh.

They can afford to cut Corey Williams though. Fairley must step up, but SLH and Flu are solid players. I'd rather have more money to keep Tulloch or Avril for sure.

The hope would be they could find a comparable starter to Wright in the 1st round.

Maybe Mayhew can put those great trade skills to use and swindle another couple starters with mid to late round picks (like Corey Williams, Rob Sims, Chris Houston).

Prowler · 12-29-2011, 08:24 PM

I would like to see a young stud developed at OT, CB, DE with early round(1-2) picks. Then I want to see us picking BPA across the board with emphasis on those positions and interior oline.

With that said, I do love how Schwartz has relied on rotations at a lot of positions. Provides valuable experience and allows us a whole lot of flexibility.

Scotty D · 12-29-2011, 09:26 PM

Willie Young could be a sleeper to break out. He's shown flashes.

noondog · 12-29-2011, 11:17 PM

I'm sure I'll be scorned for saying this, but I'd rather see the Lions cut Williams and KVB and sign Avril long term. Avril has an absolute knack for separating QB's from the football (30 sacks with 14 FF's in his career) and despite all the positives the other two bring, it's tough to let a 4th year pro with that ability leave. Whether or not his production is a by-product of the rest of the line is debatable, but at the end of the day he's put up good numbers for us and is still improving.

The writing was on the wall as far as Williams is concerned with us once we drafted Fairley either way IMO. I fully expect him to be released given cap concerns and depth at the position.

shylo3716 · 01-01-2012, 05:57 PM

What direction will you guys go in the 1st Round?

Prowler · 01-01-2012, 06:14 PM

Top of the board. Ideally OT, CB, C, G, DE, LB...but I wouldn't be shocked by a RB either. Its a crapshoot now and just depends on BPA as determined by projected skill over the course of the rookie's career. I would respect almost any mock projection right now provided they didn't have us doing some horrendous reach.

cotts1 · 01-01-2012, 11:53 PM

Vontaze Burfict or Mark Barron are my dream picks for the 1st round.

Tulloch has been a disappointment IMO. He may lead the team in tackles but his play has been less than stellar. Often find him out of position, over pursuing, not reading plays correctly. Bites on play action every time. Does not shed blocks well at all. Below average speed. I'm ready to move on from him....

Spievey isn't any good either. Rarely makes any big plays. No ball skills whatsoever. Average at best tackling. Poor speed. Barron may not be an upgrade in ball skills but the guy is a smasher. WR's will fear crossing the middle with him back there.

Xiomera · 01-02-2012, 12:04 AM

Cornerback has to be the priority unless Mayhew can somehow acquire a starter for a late-round pick again like he did with Chris Houston.

Hopefully there is a worthy CB selection when we pick toward the end of round one.

RaiderNation · 01-02-2012, 04:51 PM

If Avril leaves in F/A, could DE Vinny Curry make sense in the 1st?

BillySims · 01-02-2012, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by detroit4life

Avril may have to be let go. Personally i could argue it is a smart decision. Avril has life easy for him playing on a line next to suh KVB and Corey or Fairley. Not quite sure his stats are an indicator of the value he brings.... At the same time I like the continuity of our front 4.

Corey should be let go. Fairley healthy and SLH warrants a cheaper option

Cliff Avril has improved each year since we drafted him. He was improving before we ever got Suh and William, and KVB.

Avril is most definitely a keeper. I would let Cory "Encroachment" Williams go 1000 times before I let Avril go. And we would still have 3 very good to great DT's remaining.

BillySims · 01-02-2012, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iamcanadian

I look for RB, and OL based strictly on BPA and think CB isn't a top priority any longer.

Just curious. After the Packer game, do you still feel the same way?

BillySims · 01-02-2012, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scotty D

I'm not sure we are going to be able to pay Avril. He's playing himself out of our budget.

Solution:

Cut Cory "Encroachment" Williams and give his $5Mill/year to Avril.

Prowler · 01-02-2012, 06:27 PM

Backus's cap hit this year was $6.723 M, so we should have some money from that. Drafting a cornerback at 600k per would save us from having to pay Wright another $3.5 M. As for Calvin, well Fitzgerald just signed an 8 year $120 M deal in August of this past year with the final two years topping out over $17M per. Its an average of $15 M a year, but if we backload it...then we could potentially save from his $14M hit this year. We'd just have to hope the salary cap keeps increasing every year.

Scotty D · 01-04-2012, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotts1

Vontaze Burfict or Mark Barron are my dream picks for the 1st round.

I'd love Burfict on our defense. I think his playing style would fit in well with Suh, Fairley, and Delmas. I haven't caught any ASU games this year but heard he had a down year.

Silver & Blue · 01-04-2012, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotts1

Vontaze Burfict or Mark Barron are my dream picks for the 1st round.

Tulloch has been a disappointment IMO. He may lead the team in tackles but his play has been less than stellar. Often find him out of position, over pursuing, not reading plays correctly. Bites on play action every time. Does not shed blocks well at all. Below average speed. I'm ready to move on from him....

Spievey isn't any good either. Rarely makes any big plays. No ball skills whatsoever. Average at best tackling. Poor speed. Barron may not be an upgrade in ball skills but the guy is a smasher. WR's will fear crossing the middle with him back there.

Those are my two dream picks also, I wouldn't mind taking someone like Peter Konz but Barron and Burfict are definitely my top two. I agree with you on Tulloch and Spivey, I think both could make good backups though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scotty D

I'd love Burfict on our defense. I think his playing style would fit in well with Suh, Fairley, and Delmas. I haven't caught any ASU games this year but heard he had a down year.

Burfict would be a beast along with those guys, I think with the proper coaching he could end up being the next Ray Lewis. I know people are also concerned with his attitude but I think he will eventually outgrow that. It seems like he did kind of have a down year but ASU as a whole was pretty mediocre they only finished with a 6-7 record.

So my first five rounds of the Lions draft would look something like this.

1st Round: Burfict/Barron/Konz -This is in no particular order but I would be most happy with Burfict or Barron.

2nd Round: Trumaine Johnson/Jayron Hosley -I think that Trumaine Johnson would be a guy to keep your eye on, he plays like a corner but hits like a safety. Right now his stock is mid to late third round, but by the time the draft comes it will probably have risen to late 2nd round.

3rd Round: Sean Spence - This is assuming we don't get Burfict in the first round. I realize we already have Levy starting at WLB, but the only person we have behind him is Doug Hogue and I have no idea how he will turnout, Spence would be a beast at rushing the passer and stopping the run. This would be a great pickup talent wise.

4th Round: Jordan White - This is the pick that I want the most. Jordan White is extremely reliable when it comes to catching passes and he could be an incredible pickup here. Not to mention we need a 4th receiver because what if Nate, Calvin, or Titus goes down with an injury? The depth at receiver is greatly needed.

5th Round: Chris Rainey/Jeff Demps - The RB position has been devastated by injury this year. Having more depth there would be a big help. Both Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey have great speed, Rainey seems to have better spin moves and jukes then Demps does so if I had to pick one of them it would be Rainey. But I would be happy with either at this pick.