Calm yourself youngin. (I’m assuming your young cause of your name) Take it from us Vets: this is the Lions. Don’t EVER get excited. Just stay even keeled.
2 Likes
Fully agreed which is why I don’t buy the Proctor to Lions smoke at all. For me, Freeling would almost be best case scenario at 17 but I have a feeling that he’ll go well before that. I’d be perfectly content with Miller as well but would prefer a small trade back if they go that route.
2 Likes
Honestly I wouldn’t hate it. Even Rodriguez I could somewhat get on board with, both guys with size issues but live and breathe football and are playmakers. Again though, I’d hope for a trade back if they took either and only if Freeling is off the board.
1 Like
I wouldn’t hate Rodriguez, I just don’t expect him to go that high. Small LBs, even really good ones, tend to go later than we think. From Dean to JOK to Rodrigo to Chris Paul/Barrett Carter/Mondon/Bassa last year. Meanwhile bigger/longer LBs like Demetrius Knight, Trevin Wallace and Hyppolite go well before their consensus range. There are exceptions obviously, but rarely in the 1st.
Of course small CBs fall too, but I feel like the price baked into Ponds’s stock all offseason is him “falling.” He’s just making his way back up.
He’s got more negatives than that imo, but certainly the lack of power in his base can be explained by the lack of junk in his trunk. That said he’s not high cut like Lomu, so I think he can probably get up to league average in that area - and be well above it everywhere else.
I keep going back to Garrett Bolles and Ryan Ramczyk. They had really similar power issues to Miller (which is why both went in the back half of the 1st their draft years). Ramczyk probably had thicker legs but a really thin waist, while Bolles was built really similarly to Miller. Both were renowned for their grit and work ethic, but struggled with power/to get push. Both were able to put on enough strength and improve enough in other areas that for a hot minute, they were amongst the best 2-3 OTs in the league. I really think Miller has that kind of path in him.
That said, I also don’t think Miller is the level of athlete one would think from his testing. He’s a fine one, but not a 99th% athlete for the position. He can get got laterally which can end with some really ugly reps when he tries to lunge to make up for it. I’m not overly worried about it though, I think he’s got some big strides he can make with his technique (getting rid of that high leg kick in his backpedal for one) that will help immensely.
Tyrion Lannister approves.
3 Likes
I’m starting to feel nervous about this draft. Peter Schrager who is plugged into stuff like this more than most has the Lions selecting Proctor and trading with the Rams at 13 to do it. And this with Freeling still out there.
Projected trade
Rams get: No. 17, No. 118 and a 2027 second-round pick
Lions get: No. 13
13. Detroit Lions (via projected trade with LAR/ATL)
Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama
Taylor Decker was released, and Proctor is still sitting there. So, general manager Brad Holmes might call up his old team and see if the Rams are open for business. Proctor would be a huge presence (6-foot-7, 352 pounds) at left tackle for Jared Goff and the Detroit offense, and taking a left tackle would mean Penei Sewell could stay on the right side
I doubt the chicken legs are a concern for Brad. Jamo, Hutch, and Ratledge have some of the worst physiques for their positions in the NFL and we took those guys pretty high. How they play the game of football is what matters most. Every once in a while you get a Sewell and even he didn’t have the ideal arm length.
2 Likes
Yeah, that was posted over on the draft thread. No need to worry, Schrager’s hit rate for us is abyssmal.
2 Likes
Right, and I’m pretty happy about that. If they can play they can play. Yet another reason I expect Ponds to be very high on our board. I think Bain would have been too, but him causing that accident that killed someone muddies the waters there for sure.
Other than Hutch and Pickett I doubt Schrager even knew who those guys were until he seen them in one of DJs mocks going to the Lions.
I bet he knew who Spoon was, and in fairness to him, I think we would have taken him if Seattle hadn’t. But of course getting the picks right at the top is easier than they are further down.
2 Likes
Well you give him more credit than I do then. Spoon and Frazier were guys that DJ was over the top on that players the Lions would love. I think Schrager just took it and ran with it.
2 Likes
Certainly possible, and I’ve always thought Schrager was an over-energetic blowhard… but those are the type of people that cultivate contacts, they pester you until you give them something so they’ll shut tf up.
4 Likes
I will say that the VAST majority of mocks dropping on Reddit of late - and amongst us regular folks these people are the most plugged in - have us going Freeling or Miller. A few have Fano, but almost none have Proctor. And why? Because they’ve done their research and know 1) he’s not the type of guy we typically go for, and 2) we never let anything leak.
4 Likes
I would not be surprised by any of the OTs being projected as possible 1st rounders to be our pick at 17 other than Lomu. I try to imagine the worst case scenario and make myself think it is not so bad. Even then I can’t imagine Lomu. I guess that means he might be the pick.
Ok I take that back. I would even be ok with Lomu at 17 rather than trading up for Proctor with that package.
1 Like
They are all within reason I suppose, but I would be very surprised with either Lomu or Proctor, due to the grit index I posted above. I would be somewhat surprised with Fano due to his game being so different from what we typically prefer. We’ll love his attitude, but those thin hips and shoulders scream zone team to me, and we’re sort of the opposite of that these days. Or at least we want guys who can do both.
Freeling, Mauigoa, Miller and Max are the most likely guys to me, and I while I would have had Mauigoa as the top guy for us a month ago, this back issue pushes him down a little. Enough for other guys to pass him. And while I don’t personally care that Max opted out of his bowl game, I just don’t think our FO is gonna look fondly upon it. They won’t remove him from the board or anything, but he won’t get the check in the pros column that will put him above the other guys imo.
So for me, at OT at least, it comes down to Freeling or Miller.
That said we could easily end up going a different position. I wouldn’t be surprised if we traded up for Downs, Bain or if he falls, Styles. I wouldn’t be surprised if we stayed and drafted Parker or Faulk. I wouldn’t even be completely shocked if we stayed put and took Thieneman, Ponds, Zion Young or Jacas. The out of nowhere position or the reach, he’s done both.
2 Likes
Buffalo Wild Wings ad was done today apparently, but that’s still cool.
1 Like
Don’t even need to watch the draft - @Jman nails it again.
2 Likes