Just checked some of the top sites for WR rankings seems I am quite low on Franklin. I had him in the Polk/Rice/Corley tier.
Everybody else has him with Leggette/McConkey/Coleman tier.
Maybe there is more to see here but to me he was like the TENN U WR Hyatt/Tillman round 3 guys last year
I think this is my biggest issue with the X discussion - at least the ones we usually talk about here. They’re just not my flavor of WR because of their separation skills. If you get a guy with the protoypical X profile AND they can separate…well, those guys are going at the top of round 1, lol.
When we talk about WRs who can’t separate just because they’re 6’2"+ and 200+ (I know they have other attributes - just not the one I care about most) and because they’re big and can beat up on CBs, I lose interest. I want the skills, not the body.
EDIT: I should preface this in saying that if a WR is the top guy on our board, then you follow the board. I wouldn’t shy away from taking a top WR for a 2nd tier OG or anything like that. Give me the best player and figure it out later. Brad has already done enough in filling the holes that we can afford that.
First thing I thought when I saw this post
I like Franklin in the 2nd rd along with Legette, McConkey, Coleman and Baker.
At #29 I would jump on Thomas if he fell and also A. Mitchell.
Yes but that’s a you thing not a Brad thing 
Guys who can separate probably have a higher hit rate, but if you ONLY go that route you miss out on guys like Metcalf, AJ Brown, Deebo, Hopkins, Evans, prime Mike Thomas, Puka, Higgins, Nico Collins, Rashee Rice, London, Larry Fitz, Pittman, etc…
Oh, and Calvin Johnson.
Some of those like Brown and Hopkins are decent separators but it’s not where they win.
You also miss out on guys who go on to be great separators like Davante Adams. If you go back and look at his scouting reports, route running was his #1 weakness. Now he’s the best in the game. This is far more of an outlier though.
On the flip side you can end up overvaluing Jeudy, Cooper, Ridley, Diontae Johnson, Dotson, Marquise Brown, etc…
The key with the big bodied WR is the Red Zone.
Many mention that Goff doesn’t throw many jump balls.
He doesn’t on deep balls but he will throw contested corners, slants, and crossing patterns in the Red Zone.
The Lions don’t have that big bodied WR that can use his body to box out or go up for and high point a TD.
That is what is missing from the WR group.
If he has speed and can separate as well all the better.
In the end, I’m on board with whatever Brad does. If he selects a certain type of player I personally don’t like, I’ll have to believe he did it with intention because that’s what Brad said. (Or maybe I need to re-evaluate my evaluation of the player)
This is what we all do after the draft lol. By about 2 weeks after we’re convinced it was the best draft ever, even if we didn’t like the picks at the time.
And hey, last year, we were right.
I just want to fast forward 10 years, so we have 12 years of draft history and player acquisitions from Brad to evaluate. The sample sizes on some positions are just way too small right now. Every year we’re like…‘OH, DIDN’T SEE THAT’.
Obviously when it comes to football character, we’ve got that down, but I think we’re still so early in roster management that we’re able to be surprised.
Guarantee that happens again this year. I find it kind of fruitless to be guessing who the Lions will take given like you said, sample size on Holmes is too small
Yes, but what else can we do during the offseason? 
Danny Kelly at the ringer had that comp
If anyone has route tree concerns it’s Brian Thomas.
I second guess myself a lot after the drafts even before Brad…and convinced myself it was epic drafts.
Except when we took Ebron
And then the draft when we took Tavai three rounds too early
I knew right away Bill duped Bob Quin bad and we were ■■■■■■
Even then you hope for the best. There were a few ARSB lovers on here, but for the most part the consensus on him was eh, we should have drafted a WR sooner. But we hoped for the best and we got it.
Keep spreading that and maybe he will fall to #29!
Calvin Johnson had route tree concerns as well.
Every prospects has an area they can improve.
Thomas has elite speed, size, bend, and acceleration.
He can use a little more polish but he has the makings of a true #1 WR.
I have zero concerns personally about it with Thomas. He just happened to run a sh!t ton of verticals. Not sure it was quite Hyatt like but amongst this draft I believe it was the highest percentage of his routes. Need to find the link on Twitter where I saw that broken down.
Right, and just because he ran a small route tree doesn’t mean he didn’t separate well when asked. He needs to add plenty of nuance, but with his body control and quicks, I expect it to come pretty easily to him.
Thomas was used in verticals a lot because LSU had a superstar on the other side in Malik Nabers and is bigger and slightly faster.
The important thing is he is shifty enough to get off press and create separation.
He will have to refine his intermediate routes but he has god given gifts in size and speed to his advantage.
I dont think Legette makes it past the top of round 2. He might go round 1. I have him tied for wr6 with McConkey.