Pettigrew was a good blocker with stone hands. Disappointment but not a bust
Ebron was a bust. OBJ and Donald going right after him magnified the failure even more.
Hockenson was a decent TE. Not worth a top 10 pick but quality player. Lions let him go because they didn’t want to pay him top TE money. Lions offense does feature TEs quite a bit despite what some of yall think. Especially in redzone.
Which why the anger for drafting Mayer at 18 is misplaced. If he is BPA you can’t be afraid to draft him because of the Pettigrew, Ebron, Hock disappointments. Mayer is a complete TE. Blocking/receiving/high character. Has those Campbell Grit intangibles. Other TEs Washington, Kincaid, Musgrave deserve a look. Washington is a physical freak that is pretty much an extra olineman. Kincaid great receiver.
This is like if Lions didnt draft Calvin because of the failures of Roy Williams, Charles/Mike Williams
If we weren’t about the Hockenson life because of his blocking then we won’t like Mayer because I think he’s worse at blocking and catching than Hock. So easy pass for me. Rather grab a TE in the third round
I don’t see the point in taking a TE in the first round when you look at the production of Wright and Zylstra after Hockenson was traded. Not to mention, we still have Mitchell, who will hopefully be improved in his second season coming off his major injury.
Not saying TE is a bad investment, just don’t see the merit of it in the first round.
My preferred TE near the top (Days 1-3) of the draft is Darnell Washington anyways. He’s scary and potentially acts as a 6th OL. If the Lions want to pound the rock, he’s the TE for them.
Then why do they need to upgrade with a high pick if lower round picks are producing 10 TD’s? That’s the part that doesn’t make sense to me. To me they would have to be a more integral part of the offense outside of the red zone to justify the pick. I don’t think that’s how they envision their offense.
I think Mitchell has real potential. Dude was coming off an ACL last year. He would have likely been a 3rd round pick instead of a 5th rounder had it not been for the injury. He caught every target he got last year.
And Brock Wright was pretty solid after we traded Hock.
Im not taking a TE in the 1st round ever. I didnt like the Pettigrew pick, didnt like the Ebron pick and didnt like the Hock pick. Same as i dont take kickers in the 1st.
Exactly, Our offense de-emphasized TE once Hock left, used mostly for blocking and goal line weapons (hence the TDs). No way we spend that kind of capital on one.
I think that a TE would be fine if not for our defensive needs. However I always prefer to anchor the defense and o line. To me a TE/WR/RB would all be nice, but they are the same thing to me. I’m hoping for interior d-line, o line and LBs for all of our first 5 picks.
And frankly I agree with you that we shouldn’t avoid something just because it’s burned us in the past. It’s just with our de-emphasizing of the position I can’t see us using so much capital on one. I think it’s actually why we moved on from Hock.
I also think they want to see what they have in James Mitchell. Last year he was only just removed from the injury, he showed a lot more athleticism on tape at VT. I expect it to return this year.
I don’t get the mocks with Mayer to the Lions (from the national talking heads). I really don’t get the talk around here either.
Last year, nobody said they should draft a TE because they had Hock. They traded Hock and had zero drop off in production. Quite frankly the eyeball test to me says production went up. And now we’re talking about drafting a TE.
What is so wrong with Wright, Zylkstra and Mitchell? Two rookies and a second-year guy, so we don’t even know what they can do. Especially Mitchell. They can’t all be superstars. Right now it’s like having a triple-headed Mike Furrey who also blocks. Is that so bad?
TE is not going to lose a game for the Lions this year. So why not see what the youngins got?
I hate Mayer, and don’t advocate we go TE in round 1… I agree that Davicus on D Washington… The 7 foot wingspan, 11’ hands, and his speed and hops make him a redzone nightmare… Then there is the fact that he’s a freaking bulldozer-
Amani Oruwariye, Charles Harris… etc
When guys, or groups of guys who have no statistical track record, and achieve something HIGHLY unlikely, then it’s naive to expect lighting to strike twice…
we caught some teams off guard last year… Now they have film on our offense, and teams will be circling us as a dogfight on their schedule. We aren’t likely to sneak up on anyone this year…
Jamal was never going to get 15 TDs again this year… Our TEs aren’t going to catch 10 TDs either, not these 10…
