No. Not his year. Not last year. Not any year.
Tight ends do not hold the value of a OT. Ever. Your argument comparing a TE to a OT is a nonstarter.
There are only certain positions I would consider taking in the top 10. Tight end is never one. OT is one of those.
Top five picks, when considering value should be OT, DE, and QB especially now that the rookie cap has made it less of a risk to draft a QB that high
The next tier would be DT, CB, LB, RB, WR
TE should never be on that list. Ever. Not even in the top 10
It’s a pick that makes a lot of sense, actually. Thomas can learn at RT as you give Decker one more season at LT and either let him play out his contract or re-sign him at RT money.
That said, the way we throw high draft picks and big free-agency money at our O-line without getting a top O-line is one of the real indictments of Quinn.
If Andrew Thomas is a Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden or Tony Boseli type you take him. Even when f he’s a Joe Thomas or Bryant Mckinnie he’s worth a top 5 pick
I like Thomas–he’s smooth and makes it look easy in pass pro. Not quite as nasty as I prefer my LT to be in the run game.
Having said that, it wouldn’t surprise me if Wirfs from IOWA was rated higher on some teams boards.
I have seen Wirfs going higher in some mocks. I haven’t formed an opinion on either one. But Wirfs, with his big ten pedigree, certainly fits the Lions LT mold.
I get your point but very few rookie OT’s are impact players. Most struggle through growing pains and that means more hits on your star QB.
I’ve been wrong before but I’d bet money BQ will go after immediate impact players with his early picks in this upcoming draft. He has to show notable improvement and I doubt that a rookie OT will get him that. Just look back to Ragnow’s rookie year and the struggles he had. If BQ really needs LT help he would be wise to look for a veteran stop gap in free agency and draft elsewhere. But … I also said he’d be wise to not draft a TE in the top 10 and he went ahead and did that so who knows.
I would agree … but all of those guys were solid players as rookies. Today these kids coming out don’t have the same skill set as those guys had. Most of Today’s OT’s take time some to develop. Most have rookie struggles. Many bust out and never make the transition. I feel like that’s drafting OL early would be very unwise but ya never know with BQ. Most would think taking a TE top 10 and a slow CB in round two would be unwise too and he did that.
The number one problem on this team by a wide margin is defense, and IMHO good defense begins on the DL. And to me that means you start in the middle and work outward, which to me means you draft the best damn DT you can get without reaching for somebody. Figure Daniels to be gone, and probably A’Shawn too, so it’s certainly a position of need. Now, if the Chase Young kid drops to us then you gotta go with that kind of talent and then go for your DT later. Or maybe DaShawn Hand or Kevin Strong can step up, or John Atkins. But a real good DL helps everybody else behind them look a lot better. So I gotta be honest, I don’t take an OT in the 1st round, not unless they trade down. I do take one at some point though.
Here are your OTs chosen in the top 5 in the last 20 years before you get back to the good ol’ days with guys like Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden. Pardon me if I’m not impressed.
Greg Robinson
Eric Fisher
Luke Joekel
Lane Johnson
Matt Khalil
Trent Williams
Jason Smith
Jake Long
Joe Thomas
Levi Brown
D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Robert Gallery
Mike Williams
Leonard Davis
Chris Samuels
Ick.
What does this have to do with the topic at hand? You completely went off the grid again.
I’m sorry for talking about the reasons I do not want to use a top 5 pick on an OT in a thread about an OT. Its ridiculous of me to get so far off track. My apologies.
Well, you quoted me as if I said I wanted to do that. From what I can tell, nobody here even mentioned that. You just fabricated your own argument.
I never said I wanted to use a top 5 pick on an OT. I just said drafting an OT in the first round isn’t the end of life as we know it, like you claim. I’ve already said, if Chase Young isn’t available, I would like to trade down and add another high pick where we could possibly get a DE and a OT.
If you dont want to do it either, then stop arguing just to argue.
I know we say this every year, but I’d rather trade down. Maybe twice even. Really like this draft picks 15-40.
In the top 5 I wouldn’t sleep on Okudah. Depending on what happens with Slaw we may have a massive issue at CB to solve.
I’m fine with Thomas, Brown or Okudah. I think each of them will be really good.
STFU, kid. You fabricated yet another lie. Your game is getting pretty weak lately. Stop creating arguments. You sound like you are desperate to win at any conversation, but you have gone Ofer lately.
I’ll clear it up one more time for you, since you have reading comprehension issues:
Would I take an OT in the first round? Yes.
Would I take one in the top 5? No.
There are more options than just picking where we end up in the draft. You can actually make trades. Crazy, I know.
You also create this false narrative:
So, we have a terrible RT and a below average LT and you would prefer to ignore it? The reason we have swung and missed on the ones we drafted is the same reason we swung and missed on TJH, Davis, Tabor, Tavai, Harris, KJ, and nearly all of the draft picks over the past several years. The GM sucks. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a big need at OT.
Going by your philosophy, because they missed on the tackles they drafted, they should stop drafting tackles? Right? Does that go for Tight ends, Linebackers, Guards, DTs too? That would make it pretty easy for teams to know who we are drafting every year.
Lol. We’ve drafted exactly (2) OT’s in the first round in the last 11 drafts. 
It’s weird because, on paper, this roster looks better than it did a few years ago. Golloday and Jones are the best tandem we’ve had in a while, Amendola is still a good slot receiver, Hockenson is talented but just couldn’t stay healthy, KJ is the most talented back the Lions have had since… but again injuries, Snacks and Daniels were one of the best at their position before coming here but again, injuries, Hand was a revelation in his rookie season but then injuries, Flowers was one of the higher rated DEs in QB pressures before coming here, Coleman an elite slot corner, Walker looked promising early this season.
The offensive line is still pretty weak despite all the capital invested in it and the linebackers are still awful but I’d say there has been some upgrades in the talent department.
I’m not saying that Quinn doesn’t deserve his fair share of criticism but I think the combination of poor scheme and injuries has been the biggest issues. It’s a roster that should be better than what it is.
I’m getting the feeling this draft is full of some serious talent where half of the top 15 guys will be All Pro caliber players, much like the 2007 draft with Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, and Darrelle Revis were all top 14 picks. You almost had a 50/50 shot in landing a HOFer that draft in the top half.
I like the idea of trading down and accumulating more picks to add depth, but we need some game breakers. We’ve got to hit on this draft with some high ceiling guys instead of Quinn targeting guys with high floors. One thing I don’t want us to do is zero in on a position like an edge rusher and end up with Gaines Adams instead of getting a Patrick Willis, Adrian Peterson, or Darrelle Revis.