Devon Witherspoon…

But it’s not just sitting on breaks. You see him diagnose a screen to the other side of the fields and he blasts by a LBer before that guy even recognizes what’s going on. But again, you watch the plays and you can’t help but think man a lot of Big ten offenses need to kick it up several notches. Not even close to the amount of window dressing he’ll have to process.

I agree but that is what the coaching staff is for. These guys have built a rep for getting a lot more out of players than we as armchair talent evaluators ever expected.

Anyone see Jerry Jacobs coming? Kerby Joseph? Rodriguez? Houston? They even had Tracy Walker playing at a much higher level. Anyone?

Bueller? Bueller?

Guys I would be happy with over any CB at 6 would be……

Carter
Wilson
Anderson
Smith

I just don’t see Holmes taking a CB at 6 with such a deep class.

His history says he won’t but I can see him taking one at 18……

6 is too rich for Smith IMO

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Nolan Smith is really impressive, but he’s under 240. He would kind of have to play james houston’s role in this defense. Or, we could tweak our scheme again…

My concerns with Witherspoon are twofold. He just had one really good year, as a senior, and level of competition. The best QB/passing offense he faced was McCarthy? O’Connell?
Also, I worry that overaggressiveness will get the best of him at the next level and that he doesn’t have elite speed to catch up when he gets beat.

I love his mentality and the instincts (which is arguably the most important trait in a prospect) but I just wonder how high the ceiling is.

Smith isn’t a very good pass rusher. Yet at least.

If Wilson, Carter and Anderson are off the board… that probably means we are ripe for a trade down since there will be a QB there that most likely someone will want to move up for. If teams are willing to sit and wait for one though… we might have to reach a bit. That is where it gets tough. We could go Witherspoon, and he seems like a total fit… but he does worry me a bit. He was hurt so he didn’t fully test… He’s undersized, and he didn’t play a ton of good wrs. Gonzalez at least has all of the crazy measurables to be great… hes not limited at all. But, he does seem more passive in the run game. But I also think… we’ve got tons of scrappy guys in the secondary to teach him… maybe we go with the guy who was designed in a lab to cover people.

Im torn though. I really hope in that scenario we can trade. Who else could we go with at 6? Bijan, JSN, Paris Johnson, Skoronski, Smith, Van Ness… there’s not much of a difference between these guys and the guys that can be had at the top of the 2nd round. This draft really doesn’t have many blue chippers.

Could be CBs Emmanuel Forbes or Deonte Banks at No. 18 instead.

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Okay, open question - PAY ATTENTION

Let’s call trading down to the Steelers at 17 our Kansas line, and the top 5 goes

Three QB’s, mix and match, Anderson, and Wilson. Steelers are willing to sell the farm for Carter, but we want CB, preferably Witherspoon anyway.

You have
Raiders
Falcons
Bears
Eagles
Titans
Texans
Packers
Patriots
Jets
Commanders

Given that, who makes Witherspoon their top choice amongst all their other needs? Personally, I think the most likely you see CB’S taken are the Eagles and Patriots, and I think they go Gonzalez and Porter respectively.

That’s the potential I’m seeing here.

Raiders are a mess with injury prone Jimmy G at the helm. Offensive line
Falcons just invested a bundle into their secondary. They need targets, WR JSN
Bears need Offensive Lineman for their offense to work
Eagles can go any direction. Let’s pencil them in for Gonzalez
Titans take the best QB left, they’re starting over now that the stadium deal is done.
Texans need something more than Nico Collins to throw to, WR Quentin Johnson, because McNair loves Texas and Casserio is GM in name only
Packers is where things get dicey. They didn’t insist on moving up two spots to draft a Tight End they could have got by standing pat. WR Flowers to pair with Doubs and Watson to give Love a chance.
Patriots, pencil them in for Porter
Jets didn’t get Rodgers to watch him go to IR. Offensive line
Commanders our old friends Martin Mayhew and Ron Rivera are facing incoming new ownership and are in need of a miracle to keep their jobs. A rookie CB guarantees you get fired, ask Bob Quinn. I don’t know who they take, and I don’t care. We’re on the clock next in this scenario and guess what, Witherspoon and the farm.

What am I missing?

Not a fan. Undersized and grabby. Not a good combo in a Lions uniform. Would be disappointed but still root for the guy to be great.

I just don’t think CBs are worth that unless they’re Sauce Gardner, and this guy isn’t Sauce Gardner. Especially those CBs coming from the Big Ten.

Great qualities for a potential tinder date, not so much for playing corner in the nfl.

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If I see another national mock with us taking a 1st round TE, I swear, I’m going to lose my shit.
Really, I wish we could have confidence taking Carter at 6.
At this point, I will be under whelmed, most likely.

Not saying he’s a bad player … but a bit of a meh pick at 6. Especially considering the resources we used already on defensive back FA’s, and recent draft picks.

I think beasts on the D-line make all DB’s look good by getting quick pressure and QB’s start making bad decisions.

Hopefully Brad goes with a defensive player that can bring some heat to the QB, one way or the other.

@Nate has banned me from sharing my thoughts on this anymore. I’ve already beaten the dead horse, pulled out the dead sea scrolls, held a seance to resurrect it, then killed it a second time and continued beating it.

Needless to say, I agree.

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The smoke I am seeing makes it look like Forbes is more likely to be a top 20 pick than Torrance.

How do you feel about 1st round RB’s though :wink: I like them early and often. Why draft 1 first round RB when you could draft 2 of them.

south park beat a dead horse GIF

As much as I want to see two defenders in the first (including Witherspoon if that’s Brad’s choice), I would not bat an eye if he took Bijan at #18.

So long as they are getting “football guys” for this team, I trust their evaluations to this point.

Agreed… I don’t know how they can see the Lions trade Hock away and think that they spend another 1st rounder on a TE.