Some of you have made compelling cases for KT going to Detroit at No. 2, EVEN IF HUTCH IS ON THE BOARD. The fact Detroit seems invested in KT is pretty telling, and I think it was @socko that said the team sent several reps to spend time with him in Oregon.
I was curious about two things, because maybe we can piece this together a bit …
Do we know, other than a pre-draft visit, if the Lions have spent much time in Ann Arbor?
I cannot find the article citing Detroit sending a group to Oregon; if it’s just scouts, that isn’t much, since they sent a few people to scout Isaiah Weston at Northern Iowa, and he’s a mid-round selection.
I also wonder if Detroit figured Hutch was a foregone conclusion to Jacksonville until the last few weeks, until Walker’s meteoric rise.
I don’t think this one would matter, they’d be doing their due diligence anyway. I think probably they were just able to watch him pretty easily since he was right next door. Not ‘off the books’ exactly, but kinda like that.
It just tells me that the Lions had more intel on Hutch with him being close to home and all. It could also mean that they wanted to do more extensive research on Thibs because they were unsure about him and more sure about what Hutch is all about.
It was Brad Holmes and top Lions guys. Plus they brought him in for a top 30 meeting. It’s clear they’ve really looked into this guy. As long as it’s KT or Hutch, I’m happy. I respect the process
Weren’t we picking number 1 overall at the time of the UCLA game? If so theb Aiden’s stellar season and rise up the draft charts and it’s impact on how we evaluated him was a separate and unrelated issue
KT got measured, ran the 40 and then skipped the rest of the combine. He pushed everything else to his pro day. Hutch was a full participant at the combine, and only benched at his pro day. Brad and AG were both in attendance at the UM pro day.
The problem with Hutchinson’s 32 inch arms was highlighted in the National Championship Playoff game against Georgia, where he wasn’t much of a factor. Hutch is going to be going up against the best of the best most weeks at LT—guys who are better than the Georgia LT.
Maybe he’s viewed as having a Ryan Kerrigan ceiling and Kyle VandenBosch floor.
Anyway, I’ve always preferred high motor guys with production, but the chance to get the next Demarcus Ware may be too tempting to pass up.
If they take Hutchinson, I’d be happy and it would make sense. If they don’t, I have to assume the Lions have a vision on how to maximize KT’s talents.
This is what I keep thinking about, and Hutch seems to have that Allen drive. As much as I hate U of M, sometimes in the NFL it’s the motor that matters.
I don’t think the Lions HAD to spend as much time with Hutchinson. There were no questions about his effort, or about his love for football. I think a lot of time was spent with Thibs giving that team a warm fuzzy about him going forward.
I still have questions about him. What happens if the Lions season goes off the rails, does Thibs just pack it in? What happens if the Lions are getting blown-out in a game? Does he put in a half hearted effort?
Hutchinson actually did beat Georgia’s tackles several times. The problem is he didn’t get home because they got the ball out so quickly. It wasn’t as much failure on hutchinsons part as it was Georgia had a brilliant game plan.
