I agree.
And?
May not mean much but it could mean something.
I understand they got plenty of exposure to him at the senior bowl, but why wouldn’t they go? So you saw the guy for one weekend and you’re that confident he’s the guy at 2… when most analysts hardly had him sniffing the 1st round. When the rest of your roster is as depleted as it is?
If they are interested in selecting him, it would make sense to show up, if nothing else to chat it up with him a bit more 1 on 1, and see how he is around his old teammates (and how they feel about him).
If they aren’t interested in him, but want to trade down, it would also make sense to show up, as to increase his perceived value.
The only situation where they don’t show up, that makes sense to me, is if they are set on a guy or two (let’s say Hamilton or edge rusher), and they have literally no reason to spend more time around him or try hyping him up.
I will say this. A situation that makes more sense is they don’t want to tip their hand because they want him to slide down to 32/34.
Come after me when I’m wrong, but I think this Willis hype is still mostly media driven, and the Lions have absolutely no interest in taking him.
Huh? Ok, what team do you propose is trading up to 2, and for who - if not Willis? And if the Lions want Willis that bad, why the hell would they trade down and risk losing him to the team they traded down with? (Worse yet, another team trades up into a spot between 2 and whatever pick they take). I swear there are so many hypotheticals that get thrown around here that logically don’t make sense.
I wouldn’t read too much into the pro day stuff… considering that Holmes’ previous boss didn’t value pro days much either.
Snead’s been known to say that the combine and pro days and 40-yard dash times are, for no better term, overrated. Snead prefers tape and GPS data to record speed, plus everything that happens at pro days like athletic measurements, is publicly available data.
Why waste the time?
Time is a limited resource at this time of year.
I think the pro days may be a waste of time for the GM and HC.
They don’t want to tip anyone off with paying attention to the guys they like anyway.
Send the scouts and the position coaches… maybe the coordinators.
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I’m not reading into it much, just threw it out there as something to consider, hence why I started the sentence with “FWIW”
Hey man… you really need to pump the brakes… take some time to read the post and also know the background of the guy posting.
@3rdRGR is quite capable and respected here. I know his thoughts on the situation based on the past few months of posts… and can understand EXACTLY what he is getting at with this post.
If you can’t see the logic in his post… while knowing his stance on Willis… you should ask more questions instead of trying to fire off criticisms.
I may have misread the intent… which seemed very decisive…
They did more than see him during the Senior Bowl.
They ran the practices and could have him do whatever they wanted.
They’ve seen him throw the ball close up.
They didn’t need to be there for anything.
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One spot that isn’t particularly deep, but is a premier position is OT. There are several, but they are different “enough” that I could see a team wanting the right one. If they don’t, they could look at a severe downgrade to the next guy. I could see certain staffs that have a more movement based offense who run outside zones, run action etc. looking at Neal for example. For a massive man, he moves very well. But if you are student body right, you may decide he simply won’t be able to be doing this late in the 4th quarter at that size. So you rule him out. Ekonwu or Cross? Maybe Ekonwu is absolutely worth moving up for to get that punch in the run game, and the team behind us could absolutely want to go OT. Maybe the Jets have to move ahead of NYG to get their guy.
Maybe Hutch is there and we think EDGE is deep enough where we can still get a starting EDGE we like AND add premium draft picks. I could see a team valuing what Hutch is enough to want him over KT or J.Johnson. There could be several other players teams may want to lock down and don’t forget with all these QB trades, picks galore got handed out and good ones. These to several well built teams who may have their guy and have flush resources to ensure they get him. That guy could be Hutch/KT/Ekonwu/Neal/Gardner/Walker/Hamilton etc.
Right, I fully understand that in any given draft, a team could trade up for non-QB’s. Highly unlikely, in my opinion, but surely possible. That wasn’t my particular question however. I was asking why Detroit would avoid a pro day to potentially devalue Willis, then turn around and trade down in hopes he falls to them? That’s a hell of a gamble for a guy you’re projecting to be the franchise QB. If they like him, they grab him.
Our opinions mean nothing, but if it were up to me I’d have the entire staff at that pro day, tempting someone to pay up for him. Lure a team into an overpay of picks for this and next year, boom! We have too many needs to take a gamble here at QB. I think we’re still a year or two out from going after our franchise play-caller. Let somebody else help us build our foundation. Then, when the pieces are in place, pull the trigger. Whether it’s a trade up in the draft or a Stafford-esque deal, let that be the final piece. We’ve seen it a bunch… Stafford w Rams; Brady with Bucs; Manning with Broncos; truthfully Mahomes w Chiefs (as they had a solid roster with Alex Smith). Patience is everything, which is why I’d bet the house they want nothing to do with Willis at 2.
Goff’s play improved drastically after Decker came back and the Lions picked up Reynolds.
Decker being out severely hampered the lions offense along with lack of weapons.
You’d think Lions fans would have learned by now that supporting cast matters. Stafford finally gets a decent supporting cast and makes it to a Super Bowl.
Let’s not forget a very young Goff also made a super bowl.
Supporting cast matters.
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They haven’t even had a private meeting with him to feel out what he was thinking. If they were truly interested they would meet with him. Work him out and attend his pro day to see who else is interested and just how interested they were.
They would also gauge trade interest in Goff. Which they also have not done.
The Lions have shown no interest in drafting him and no interest in trading Goff.
They’re drafting at 2OA not 10OA. They do not need to hide their intentions. They need to do their homework on the players they’re most interested in.
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Completion Percentage Over Expectation in 2021
Pickett +8
Strong +8
Willis +7
Zappe +6
Corral +4
Ridder +4
Howell +4
Same stat among first round FBS QBs in 2020
Wilson +15
Jones +15
Fields +11
Lawrence +7
Sorry but disagree Air. They had a week with the guy. They know more than any other individual team will be able to know about Willis already. If they were sold on him over that week, then why would you telegraph it? Let everyone else act like Tomlin with the guy so they can fight to trade up with someone behind you and NOT with Jax, who have said their pick is for sale. To me the “lack” of attention at his pro day was interesting. Mark Brunell had another something to attend to that day??! Mmm hmm.
I’m not saying we should. I still view him as a late first/ early second round prospect. BUT… our PARTICULAR team is set up to mitigate some of the things that keep him from being that polished clear cut top 5 prospect. One, he doesn’t have to start as a rookie and he can learn from Brunell, Johnson and Goff for a year. We could, however get what most teams that draft a QB high and sit him do not. We could dial up 5 plays a game for him or so because of his ability to run. Two, our offensive line will be one of the best in the NFL by 2023’s season. Three, we’ll run the ball well and he’ll only add to that.
Lastly Four, next offseason we STILL have 2 first round picks AND the tons of money for free agency we can use with Goff’s contract replace by Willis’s. These are all real things that work in Willis’ favor. Then he has 4 full years on a rookie deal left to do something with what should be a very well built team around him.
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Interesting that Malik Willis and Trevor Lawrence had the same Completion Percentage Over Expectation coming out of college. I’m a bit shocked by that. Especially since the media narrative is that Willis is a RB who can’t play QB and Trevor Lawrence was hyped as a lock to be a HOF at QB.
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In 3 years or less, Willis will be outperforming T-Law. He will be Goff’s backup next season, and possibly the season after.