It is a bit baffling. I was listening to Pride of Detroit podcast the other day and the host was saying that ‘because of what he did’ there was no way the Lions should ever even consider drafting Parsons
I just don’t see it. What did he do? He was not even a defendant in a lawsuit that was dismissed because the accuser kept changing his story
The kid finished HS early, graduated college in three years, always sounds humble and grateful when interviewed…
I mean check out how his teammates and coaches rave about his presence and work ethic
We don’t know. Did he choke Humphries? Why was Humphries scared enough to pull a knife on him?
Zeurlein is pretty plugged in to league circles and he seems to think it’s an issue for teams. Maybe things have changed in two weeks or maybe it’s all just smoke from teams in the middle to bottom of the round. The most likely scenario IMO is that he really is viewed as a character risk in NFL circles.
Since Humphries was determined to be an unreliable witness, the court dismissed the case after Penn State police, the university’s student conduct office and sexual misconduct prevention and response office each investigated the allegations and found no evidence…plus other teammates have publicly said he was lying to try and get money…
I tend to think it’s all bullshit. Not enough,
in any case, to outweigh what to me are his talent and positive character traits - Graduating early, having a high work ethic
I also remember when Spielman was drafted. The stories out of the locker room were pretty colorful. He apparently kicked down the door to the weight room and screamed “welcome to hell” at everyone
Then drawing a line in the locker room between the offense and defense and threatened to kick anyone’s ass who dared cross it while staring at Scott Mitchell who didn’t even look up
Sometimes what a player does crosses the line to me. I was in the don’t draft Mixon at all costs camp. Smashing a girls face because she won’t go home with you is not ok. at all
Allegedly getting into a locker room scuffle with another player who may or may not be lying doesn’t concern me too much
I think its a funny draft because the top of the draft is so dominated by offense. There are a couple of corners, but I personally don’t think we’ll take one that high (maybe?), and then there is Parsons (arguably)
I don’t think the Lions WANT to take offense. Maybe a QB. But I think mainly they want to build that defense and develop some WRs. Just my guess here.
The frustrating thing is that many prospects lists and mock drafts have the top defensive guys we might want also not making it to us in the 2nd round either.
The best teams usually find a way to maneuver to a place where need meets value . With the Lions here, you do have to wonder if they’ll be doing some maneuver back from the top of the draft and then maybe back up a little from the top of the 2nd.
That’s fine. You can believe it’s bullshit. There is a ton of smoke. I think it exceeds simply trying to get a guy to slide but that is always a possibility. I think this is different then the way Fields is getting bashed. I believe the latter is typical draft games and the former is something different. But we are all guessing.
If he was bullied then the particulars matter. What happened? Why was he bullied? Talk to the coaches at Cal. Talk to Humphries. I’m confident this regime will do all of that leg work. If we draft him I’m comfortable with the pick for that reason.
That being said Parsons at #7OA is very unlikely IMO.
Word. I do have confidence that this new regime, if nothing else, will be thorough. No more Millen ‘shocked BMW fell to us’ picks or ‘Draft Calhoun’ from the back of the room
As you know and is obvious those quotes are framed in a specific way, out of context to support your “argument”. Your post mischaracterizes my opinion and puts words in my mouth that were never spoken. I don’t understand the motivation for doing this.
I’ll clarify to hopefully put this to bed even though it’s repetitive
1st quote simply states athleticism doesn’t automatically mean the dude can cover and Parsons lacks experience in coverage.
Davis comment was a reply to the post directly above it. I don’t believe he’s comparable to Davis. It’s obvious Parsons is a level up in terms of athleticism. I was questioning the logic behind the thought process I saw, leading to a desire to select Parsons.
last comment was a risk analysis between 3 players. Not implying Parsons can’t cover. Plainly comparing unknowns about prospects we could select. Those other 2 prospects are pretty talented.
I’m with CH, I’d be borderline shocked if Parsons was our pick at 7. Even if you set aside any potential character concerns, off ball LB is a low value position, and with potentially 4 QBs going before us, too much top, top talent at higher value positions will be available at our pick.
Now if we traded down to 15 or so, he makes a lot more sense. That’s around where I expect him to go.
I think if he were only regarded as an off ball LB a pick at 7OA is a stretch. But seems his forte is as a run stopper and pass rushing LB. Makes a little more sense then. Especially if we use a stack 3-3 and need someone who can create pressure and doesn’t miss tackles
You called him the biggest character risk in the draft. When there’s nothing but an accusation from one guy. There’s was 3 separate investigations done that all came up dry. No one would back up Humphries claims and their were whiteness.
If I made an accusation about you in front of a dozen people and everyone took your side then who’s the character risk?
It’s silly … you can think otherwise … your entitled to your opinion. But there’s no need to make it personal … I didn’t attack you in anyway …, I am entitled to mine … but if I had a chance to take that long list of character guys above. I’d take everyone of them but Winston.
Would you really pass on those talents due to character issues? … seriously would you?
From what I understand Parsons hazed some freshman, along with some other Penn State players who participated. University got sued for sexual harassment. Also, he thought he was a big shot in some camps. I’m not saying any of this is great, but when people throw around “character issues” its important to know what type of issues were talking about. Here were talking about some immaturity and insensitivity to others. We’re not talking about uncoachable or getting pulled over and cops finding dope.
“ perhaps the biggest character question mark in the draft”
That was my comment. Doesn’t seem “silly” at all. It actually seems pretty consistent with what has been reported by all the draft media.
We don’t know who what the real story is. I think there is every reason to believe that evaluators have concerns.
How can I answer definitively if I don’t know what really happened? Given the position he plays if I’m not certain about his character then yes I’m passing on him.
I’d rather have a guy get arrested for Marijuana possession than choke his teammate but that’s just me. If the latter happened.
The context matters. Hypothetically, what if Parsons and his teammates were harassing Humphries bc they though he was gay? Would that change things? And again that’s entirely hypothetical I just bring that up to point out that it’s impossible for us to draw educated conclusions here. We don’t know some pretty critical details.
The complaint may not hold all that much water though. Air broke it down pretty thoroughly on a different thread. There were three internal Penn State investigations that didn’t yield any evidence. The District atty investigated and declined to press charges due to lack of evidence. One of the players accused was even given a lie detector test which he passed.
All the other team mates interviewed said the accusations were made up
The lawyer representing Humphries is also representing a former team doctor that claimed he was pressured into clearing injured players that’s still pending. its speculated the atty has an axe to grind
Yeah, I wouldn’t disagree that details matter. They’ll need to do their diligence and I think that is why you are reading about Campbell meeting with Parsons.
Here is what I think: Parsons is the sort of player you make an exception for when the general rule is don’t draft off ball linebackers top 10. He has a real chance to be the best at his position within a couple of years and the sort of player you can build a defense around. That makes him a bit special IMO. How many other defensive players in this draft can you say that about? Maybe one or two tops
This isn’t saying I think they will take him at 7. But that is my thought process. Maybe a small trade down if they can get it?
What actually happened was Humphries tried to sue the school after being kicked out for pulling a knife on James Franklin, Parsons and a few other teammates.
He claimed he was bullied and threatened by Franklin (Not Parsons) and thats why he pulled the knife. He claims that Franklin threatened to Sandusky him. There we’re multiple whiteness to the incident and no one took Humphries side of the story. Humphries lawsuit has been tossed out of court twice and is now in appeals. The lawsuits is against the coach, Franklin and the school. (Not Parsons)
Key point here … Humphries nor anyone else has ever made a formal complaint against Parsons.
There were multiple investigations by the NCAA, the school, campus police and a federal investigation. Out of all of these investigations they found not one person who sided with Humphries. The federal investigation interviewed 100’s of players, former players, team mates and students and no one supported Humphries claims. No one.
Keep in mind Parsons was not part of any investigations. He never was. It was Franklin, the coach and the school being investigated. But Parsons was named along with several other teammates (by Humphries) as taking place in hazing rituals. All investigations found zero evidence to support Humphries claims.
Humphries has also changed his story multiple times too.
This is really a bunch of nothing. All that’s here is one disgruntled student making accusations against the school, the coach and Franklin. (Not Parsons)
The funny thing is if you go to most team boards you will find that most fans think this is nothing. But on this board we have a few posters who keep trying to make this a much bigger deal than it is. Even
going so far as to spreading false info.
I just think this is silly that’s all. Especially when you look at guys who have had real character flaws like the guys I listed above.
Point is would you take Randy Moss, or Warren Sapp? Those guys had real character issues and I’d still take them.
I know it’s just odd how Lions fans are acting about it.
Especially when so many defended MP and his rape allegations. Some of these very same posters are the ones who have the biggest issues with Parsons. They should have defended MP because it was a rape allegation that was tossed out. But it was an official complaint and an official investigation on him.
In Parsons case there’s no official complaint. No investigation. There’s nothing to toss out … He’s just named by Humphries in his lawsuit against the school. Humphries never made a formal or written complaint towards Parsons. I think that’s important. Especially when he’s suing another player. If he wasn’t suing the school no one would have heard a whisper about this.
So what do we really have here? … nothing… it’s a bunch of if’s, and Maybee’s by people twisting it into something it’s not.
