Assuming Lawrence, Parsons, and Chase are gone by the time the Lions pick I would like a small trade back and pick Jay Tufele DT. This guy is a stud and in a position of need. The 2nd pick would be LB or CB. I like Bolton, Moses, and Surratt at LB. I like lots of CB’s like Wade, Campbell, Samuel, etc. Others I really like are Safety Cisco and Naserildeen, DT Twyman and Darrius Stills. I like OT Lucas and Spencer Brown. Later round WR I like Surratt and Terry. I like Ridder and Mond for QB. Just a few names that stick out for me, there are many more.
What I learned from last year’s draft…
Tradebacks are impossible, and that’s coming from the guy who was looking for the triple trade down scenario. LOL.
So you’re a proponent for drafting for need?
What I want out of this draft:
- Speed and coverage ability at LB (but in a 3 down player)
- A rangy safety with playmaking ability that allows us to play cover 1 when needed and erases mistakes allowing our CBs to be more aggressive
- a WR with some juice that is ready to contribute (or even be relied on early)
- an edge (this depends somewhat on Romeo and what the new staff thinks of Julian)
- a UT that can wreak havoc in the passing game
I realize that we won’t get all of those in the draft and I do have some additional wants but I’d like to attempt to address those five deficiencies this off-season
Barring something crazy happening with Lawrence dropping, don’t draft anything offense until like the 5th round. This team needs a whole new defense
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Here is what I’m a proponent of, so follow my logic tree.
I don’t think anyone will disagree that the defense is a completely dumpster fire as is.
We have one draft pick in the first round and five overall to make an impact, and limited salary cap room for signing free agents. We’re not going to win any bidding wars.
So let’s go on the premise that you can target one premium talent via the draft to change the landscape of the defense. What area is going to provide the most immediate results?
Safety? If there’s no QB pressure, even the best coverage will look like swiss cheese after a few seconds.
DT? That’s great until the guy gets triple teamed and no one else on the interior can win one on one. What we have at DT right now isn’t great, but it does take away the interior running game from opponents when Shelton, Hand, and Penisini are all rotating fresh. It’s not great, but it’s low cost and effective for that purpose. Used properly, it can keep a MLB free and clean to range sideline to sideline.
Edge? Yes. Whether at LB or DE, having Romeo on one side and a premium sack artist on the other can provide the type of pressure that doesn’t exist right now. It can change the landscape by putting less pressure on the secondary.
This is the singular position I feel offers the greatest opportunity for immediate return on investment. It’s not a silver bullet that provides all the answers to a moribund unit, but in my opinion, it offers the greatest combination of immediate effect coupled with incremental positive effect gained for other positions, and benefits the defense as a whole the most.
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I agree that edge is our biggest need but I would add that I wouldn’t reach for one just to fill it. I’m not in love with the guys at the top of the draft and while I do like some of the guys being mocked in the late 1st/early 2nd, they come with a lot more risk and might not be ready to contribute right away. Then it wouldn’t matter what position they play.
And let’s be honest, this project will take more than a year to fix.
So give me BPA at a high value position.
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Have not scouted Tuefele yet but loved him coming out of high school.
In the limited film I have watched, two defensive difference makers stand out. Parsons and Rousseau. Unfortunately I feel like they will be gone by our pick. I’m open to suggestions on defensive playmakers at around 10th pick
I think with Okwara’s, Flowers, and Griffen we have some adequate Efge players Can we use more of course. That being said I think DT pressure to collapse the pocket and good LB play are to main problems with this defense.
Not sure there are any sure fire defensive play makers at 10. I would love a trade back, Tufele DT 1st, Bolton or Moses or Surratt LB 2nd, Cisco Safety 3rd he rocks people and makes plays.
Trades happen every year. It takes 2 willing partners. Miami was willing to move up, just not give up what Quinn wanted. A 3rd would have done it.
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My draft philosophy is:
1st Round-Get an immediate starter that will eventually becomes a quality starter. (Decker/Ragnow)
2nd Round- Get a talented player that immediately will be a quality sub. But will become a starter by year’s end or next season. (Swift/Slay)
3rd Round-Get a talented player that will eventually develop into a steady starter. (Tracey Walker)
4th Round-Get a developmental player that can start on Special Teams and be a good rotational player. (Sammy-Lee Hill)
5th Round-Quality Depth (Tahir Whitehead)
6th Round-Hopefully can become depth. (Anthony Zettel)
7th Round-Hopefully can become depth. (Tracy Hayworth)
For the most part I agree. Also, in almost every draft you should be taking an O-line, a D-line, and a DB in your top 4 picks. You will ALWAYS have injuries and hopefully haven’t too many good players to keep everyone so you always need talent coming in.
Quinn had no concept of positional value when it came to drafting. To take a TE in the top 10 or DB in the top 3, they better be once in a generation type players. I don’t see either being that type of player.
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I think it depends on what we do with our free agent guys. Romeo and Trey with EG and (hopefully) Julian to add some pass rush is by no means great but it’s a helluva lot better than our LBer room. I think Collins can still play but we’re absolutely terrible aside from that.
Steelers will likely finish over 50 sacks this year, their 4th year in a row of doing that. It takes Detroit 2 seasons to get 50 sacks.
They had 20 INT’s last season and could hit that number again this year.
They draft LB’s high more than just about anyone.
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Good point
Exactly. Pitt has a great pass rush yet they always draft more DL/OLB.
We have a horrible pass rush and need to start somewhere. Can’t keep ignoring it. It will take a few years but if we weren’t so stubborn, we could have had Ed Oliver and Derek Brown on our line right now.
You can’t really draft all defense, we need some WR’s. If we can get 2 starters on defense via the draft and another 2-3 in Free Agency, that’s a pretty big turnover for our defense and hopefully it would be a lot better.
I think with his brother under contract, we can probably get the best deal in the NFL on Romeo Okwara. We’ll still have to pay him but he’s playing at a high level and we do have a financial advantage for once in our lives. I’m wondering how much time we could get from Flowers as a 3T in a four man front. Bring J Okwara over to a RDE role opposite his bro. I’d like another penetrating DT even with Flowers and Hand who is inconsistent at best.
I’d like to remake our LB corp. I still like what Collins can do, so if he comes relatively inexpensively he’s fine, but probably as a 4-3 SAM. I’d like to draft 2 LB’s in what I view as a fairly rich draft for LB. Say trade down and get Ossai to play MLB and Cox in the 3rd to play WILL. Get the Tavai’s and Jones’ the heck out of here on the first train leaving! Pick up the USC DT in the 2nd and or go after Leonard Williams. Start to shore up the inside of our front 7 that has been so ridiculously overmatched all year.
I don’t know anything about this Jay Tufele guy but how can you project what we should draft when we don’t have a Head Coach and know what defense he’ll want to run?..unless Tufele can play as good in any defense scheme?