I guess. Pass interference and offensive holding are two of the most nebulous penalties in all of professional sports. So it probably depends on the ref, and sadly, who we are playing.
Okudah’ s gonna be good. I’m rather certain of it. The last Lions draft pick I was this confident in was Suh. And obviously I was a bit biased about Suh.
I’m gonna go with a different approach and say Huntley.
Huntley to come in for a few plays and to help on kr/pr he is gonna be a fun one to watch. Like a marvin hall at rb type where he comes in for a play or 2 and tries some razzle dazzle
Someone else mentioned screen plays with Huntley.
Against a defense that doesn’t cover screens very well, he would be fun to watch and maybe get a quick score or 2.
I LOVE the Okudah pick but I don’t select this as my favorite pick? Why? Because he was the 3rd OA pick! He BETTER be a great scheme fit and excellent player. It was the smart pick but it wasn’t great value. It was the right piick too. Just not my favorite.
I also believe Swift is the best RB in this draft. Getting him in rd. 2 is awesome. And Swift is going to play a major role in turning around this running game which will pay HUGE dividends in the season. But I see him as part of a committee…which is GREAT for us. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this guy too, but as lead dog in a committee he isn’t my favorite pick. But I love him just like I love Okudah…and both those picks were the right pick.
That is why I land on Julian Okwara. He is unlikely to be an every down player for us year one but his size, speed and ability gives us the perfect player at a position of need (edge player) at the top of rd. 3 and that is excellent value.
I see Julian as a TJ Watt-type player, in RD 3! TJ Watt moved from TE to OLBer and only had two years at the position and only one year or real production at the position (2016). Watt put up 11.5 sacks that season.
Okwara had 8 sacks as a Junior and his film from 2019 seems to show some issues that need correcting. His tackling needs work and his effort wasn’t the same as his 2018 season. But in rd. 3 I LOVE getting a kid with that kind of potential at a position of need.
That is why I am making Okwara my favorite pick despite not being my favorite player drafted.
TJ Watt had 15 starts as a rookie and had 7 sacks as a result of those snaps. Okwara is unlikely to get those kinds of snaps but if we can use Okwara as a pass rush specialist opposite Flowers that could still be a very nice combination.
'18 Hand
'19 definitely Amani-O
'20 Swift
Okudah is my favorite player we added, he’s the only one with a ceiling of ‘best player in the league at his position’.
My favorite pick based on my own evaluations was Jonah Jackson, as I had him just behind Ruiz as the top iOL in the entire draft. I think he’s gonna be a star at OG… or as much of a star as an interior offensive lineman can be.
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Okudah ends up being amongst the best CBs in the league. I’m not sure that he’ll ever be the best simply bc I think Stingley will take that title shortly after becoming a pro.
Stingley’s been great so far, but college football is littered with guys who blew up early only to fade late. In this draft alone Trey Adams was supposed to be the #1 overall pick after his freshman season, and Delpit would have been top 10 after last year. Greedy fell off from his freshman season as well. It’s just hard to know how the next couple of years will play out.
But yeah, he looked really good as a frosh.
Trey Adams didn’t have Stingley’s pedigree. Adams was a three star recruit. Stingley has been earmarked for greatness for a long time. It would surprise me if he doesn’t get there provided that he stays healthy.
It would me too, honestly. I’m just saying he’s so far away from joining the league he’s a tougher projection than Okudah, so much can happen. Semantics, really. Maybe Fournette is a better example than Adams, everyone thought he would rule the league after his freshman season, and fair enough he was still highly drafted. But he never became what everyone thought he would.
Swift. Not just because of the player, but the fact that we got him in the 2nd. Loved this pick more than any in the last two drafts combined.
For me it’s Swift at the top. For a lot of the reasons already mentioned. However I also love the 2 guards we got. I think the offense jumps to new levels this year in yards, TOP, points, big plays… this all improves the defense immensely
This is why so many teams passed on Dan Marino (including the Lions, with me shouting to take him!). He had a terrible senior season at Pitt. Then became a great pro. You never know.
Right, and I’m not saying Stingley won’t be good if he falls, only that he might fall. The drafting community has 2 years to pick him apart. I’d bank on him either way, I love to draft the guys who fall just cause they’ve been over-thought. I think the same thing might happen to Ja’Marr Chase.
Swift. Easily the player who “should” have the biggest impact on our team in 2020. This was a move the needle pick and gives us the most talented back we’ve had since Kevin Jones. Jahvid was close, but Swift has a much better build. Swift will scare DC’s and that alone will be a game changer for us.
Dammit, Fish! We’re getting sucked back in again! The draft did seem good, and now I have a little hope again. I’m like a battered wife I keep coming back. I deserve this team.
LOL. Here is the thing I’ve learned with the offseason. I formulate who I want for us. I spend waaaay too much of my life doing it. I get invested on how good these guys would be for us. THEN… it’s the Jags who keep their picks instead of trading with us, and THEY come out of the first round with Henderson/Chaisson and I’m bummed. But then I step back and go, the POSITIONS I wanted, I mostly got and they are impact players at those spots. Instead of Henderson, Chaisson, Swift, we got Okudah, Swift, Okwara. You are coming around and it’s not Kool-Aid. It’s looking at the players and our needs and tipping the cap for a job well done.
We have a lot of money to spend and we are not done I can promise you. There will be at least one new player coming our way that if not a starter, will log significant snaps. They are not saving that money to hand to the next regime if they can’t get it done this year. They are going to give themselves every bit of talent in 2020 they can scratch together. We just have to wait a bit for cut downs.
Great post 3rdRGR. Well said.
Most excited for: Swift
Most valuable: Okudah
Biggest boom or bust: Okwara
headscratcher: don’t really have one this year (weird) I wold stay Stenberg but after watching some of him vs Georgia I’m excited.
And I’ll throw this in, as the one time I get to be optimistic…the OGs we drafted could actually be the biggest additions to the team. They have the potential to be tone setters inside. Our run offense really wasn’t that bad last year. We get better play out of the guards we might have something.
Yes. I’m not high on Quinn and have been one of his harshest critics on here, but I think (on paper at least) it looks like he had a good draft. I would love to be wrong about the guy, hopefully I am.