Yeah, I saw that earlier and was not enthused.
So Kaleb Elarms-Orr tested out ridiculously. His measurables fit us too. Has anybody watched him play?
Yes, quite a bit actually (though admittedly most of it live). I like him, and that testing comes as no surprise, but I donāt think heās the most instinctive guy in the world and that really matters to me at LB. Also while the explosion testing comes as no surprise, Iām not surprised he didnāt do the agilities. Heās tightly-wound and his movement in short areas/laterally isnāt nearly as much of a plus as his long speed. Iāve had him as a late day 2/early day 3 guy for a while, and nothing I saw at the combine changed that. I do feel like his stock is starting to get a little too high.
Not instinctive is not a guy the Lions will draft too high IMO. Just looking at the list.. his teammate Namdi Obiazor tested almost as well. Ran as fast as Kyle Louis with 10 more lbs on him. I sort of like the idea of getting some grizzled vets on one year deals and letting some later round picks train under them. Like maybe Lavonte David if heāll leave Tampa. Same at DE perhaps. If this is our window that works for me.
Campbell needs a sideline to sideline guy next to him. That is why I still like Hill Jr. I wonāt argue that his coverage needs work, but like so does virtually every LB in this class outside of Styles or maybe Louis who has size issues. Hill Jr may be a roll of the dice on coverage but he has the athleticism, can zone drop, and seems to be very good against the run and hits hard. And he is all over the place.
I want a guy with plenty of juice there as well, but it wonāt do us much good if they canāt cover. Jackās got sideline-to-sideline speed to cover the front-side of most plays, we need a run and chase guy to clean up from behind. I wish weād consider more of a safety type. He can do that plus cover really well, but you sacrifice the ability to take on blocks that way and it just doesnāt seem like weāll go for that.
Thatās why Louis is my favorite option of the attainable guys. Heās basically a big safety who just happens to have a gift for sifting through traffic. You donāt really want him taking on blocks either though, so I donāt even know if heāll interest us much. Hill gives you the ability to hold up in that respect, but man I want better coverage chops. Of course itās tricky to find great athlete + big/strong enough to hold up in the run game, which is why most teams have gone to base nickel anyway.
I donāt see why we donāt. Having 3 LBs on the field in obvious pass situations and none of them are pass rushers is just beyond me. I think so many of our problems on defense are more scheme related than personnel. Not only that it makes finding personnel to run these schemes nearly impossible to find.
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Dude keep that to yourself would you.
But if you play your cards right @Sofatso will send you a picture of his toes again 
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We do seem a little overly stubborn about it, but there HAS to be a reason they believe itās for the best. Theyāre not dummies. I know we believe more strongly in stopping the run than most teams, but that still doesnāt explain our insistence imo. I thought - and still think, honestly - it was due to a zig while the rest of the league zags scenario. Stop the run and force a lot of turnovers. Itās not working, but I want to believe there was more to it than just stubbornness.
Itās official. I want Keldric Faulk and no one else.
I want Aiden, Alim, Tyleik and Keldric on the defensive line with Jack behind them. Thatās it. I wonāt be convinced otherwise.
Yes, all on a first name basis.
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It seems to me this is not a deep draft. The talent really gets thin after 4 rounds. Round 5 you can find a TE that may make our roster but on the sims I find myself picking players in rounds 6 and 7 that I know have no chance of making our team. I do see a lot of DBs early on day 3 that look like they could help us. I think we might see Brad packaging some picks to move up in the 3rd and 4th round area.
Itās definitely not a deep draft, itās the last year of the Covid exception + NIL bringing so many guys back. 58 early entries this year as opposed to 130 in 2021, itās bound to have an effect.
I do that deep dive once Dane releases the Beast and tend to find guys I really like late (many of whom are still around), but yeah right now Iām not all that interested either.
I want to like him, but man heās just got no burst. None on tape, none during the drills at the combine. Heās got the size and decent agility and the youth and the great attitude that makes him an easy guy to like, but man Iām just not sure heās ever really gonna be able to pressure the QB at a high rate.
I think the Lions are really going to like CB Keith Abney II. One that I like is Daylen Everette. Somehow I think we have to get picks between our 2nd and 4th round selections. Moving down might be difficult but I think we can package some later picks to move up. A lot of talent right where we have that 3rd round void.
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Iām a big fan of Abney myself, though I admit heās a little superfluous with Rakestraw (sans the injury concerns). Of course the beauty of CB is you can be superfluous. Personally I have him ranked above both Cisse and Hood.
My worry with Everette, at least as he pertains to us, is his middling tackling tape. The desire is there so maybe he can be improved, but youād think at a place like Georgia heād be more fundamentally sound. I do think heās pretty high floor otherwise though, jack of all trades master of none type which works fine at CB.
The difference I see is that Abney would cost our 2nd round pick. I think Everette might be had with say a 4th and a 5th to move up if he is still there on day 3. Also he can play outside as a number 3 CB. After starting 40+ games at Georgia he should be ready to contribute this year.
True, Averette should be cheaper, but I donāt know that he makes it into the 4th. He seems like a guy the league typically drafts earlier than the going consensus for the reasons you stated. I think heās a 3rd round guy all the way, who could sneak into the late 2nd like Renardo Green did if he continues to have a good process. Itās not impossible, but Iād be pretty surprised if he made it to day 3
Of the current day 3 CBs, my current favorite is Devon Marshall. Pretty sure he led the ACC in pass breakups last year, and he might have led all of college football. He was also purported to be one of the big Shrine Bowl winners, though I havenāt been able to watch that practice tape like I could the Senior Bowl. But I was really, really surprised he wasnāt invited to the combine. Otherwise Iād think he was a slam dunk day 2 guy.
I also wonder where Will Lee will wind up, he probably has more appeal to us than a lot of other teams. And Canady is a good nickel options, though unlike some of the others I think heās nickel-only. I also like Ceyair Wright, though heās probably stuck in the nickel too. But we could use that!
Everybody seems to be going crazy for Charles Demmings since the combine as well. I guess I need to go back to him as well.
If we plan to start Tate at center it would open my whole draft board. I really like a lot of these OGs in round 2.
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Honestly my favorite round 2 iOL is probably Hecht, so still a center.
But I do like Bisontis (who as Iāve said I think can play center as well), and Rutledge is undoubtedly our type. Iām much lower on Dunker, though his testing belied the juice he showed on tape, so Iāll probably have to go back to that too. Iām not as high on Pregnon or Schrauth.
I really like Beau Stephens quite a bit, but Iām not sure he goes in the 2nd.
With Everette I also see him as a late 2nd rounder but on the sims I sometimes get him in the 4th round or he goes right before our pick. There were questions about his long speed but he ran a 4.34 at the combine so maybe the sims just havenāt caught up.