I am far from the draft expert around these parts so I will defer this question to others. Nolan Smith has been brought up on this board a lot more since the combine. He even was our pick at 18 in our den mock draft. I personally love this kid as a prospect and think he is very undervalued in the eyes of the media/fans and will be drafted higher than most expect.
So my question is, assuming the top 5 goes like this
Carolina - CJ Stroud
Texans - Bryce Young
Cardinals - Will Anderson
Colts - Anthony Richardson
Seahawks - Jalen Carter
Is Nolan Smith a possiblity at 6? Let me start this conversation by saying I am not advocating for this, yet. I would be very surprised if he made it to 18. I understand his production isn’t the greatest, but there are a lot of reasons for that. He has a fantastic work ethic, is extremely likable/good teammate, has truly elite physical gifts, and is a perfect culture fit. I also think he has the potential to be the best defender from this draft class.
I am not advocating for him at 6 because of how deep we are at edge right now. The thing with Smith is, he isn’t strictly an edge. He is an absolute force against the run and also has legit cover skills.
I know this is going to sound like a bit of a hyperbole, but I really think he can have a Micah Parsons type impact as a player. Maybe not as quick as Micah has, but I think that potential is there. The more I think about it with a clear lack of an obvious fit at 6, Nolan Smith is more of a possiblity than most think right now.
Charles Davis came out with his updated mock yesterday and did exactly what you listed…Nolan to Lions at #6. I don’t know much about him cause he had the pec injury.
He seems like the type of guy that, when Dan Campbell talks about the few players who “have the it factor” from the combine, Smith would’ve been in that small group. I think he’s a very real possibility at 6. And I wouldn’t hate it. When it’s the fourth quarter in tight games, the team that is fresh enough to reach the quarterback is going to win.
It could happen. Not ruling anything out, but, I get beat up for suggesting a RB, because we have 4 on the roster.
OLB/Edge is among the deepest positions on the team.
Then again, we have 9 CB’s and want more, so…
Parsons played 738 snaps on the DLine and 171 snaps as more of a traditional stand up LB’er.
To me Nolan would probably play closer to 30-40% of his snaps as a tradional stand up LB’er due to our depth on the edge. Nolan may be the best run defender in this draft class and has some legit cover skills as well.
A pass rushing lineup of Ominsky and Pascal inside with Houston and Hutch on the edge and Nolan coming from anywhere could be scary.
I absolutely think he’s in play. My hunch is he isn’t our first option, but if the draft fell like you had it, I think he’d be on a very short list for us.
Yeah, I definitely agree. I just don’t know if the Lions will spend high draft capital on a guy who may be playing 40% of his snaps at LB. I wouldn’t hate it, but they’ve been pretty Billy Beane at LB since they’ve arrived.
Personally I would be shocked if we went Nolan Smith at 6. He would play the very position James Houston IV played last year while rocketing from obscurity to the all-time NFL pass rush record book. Sure, Nolan is a nice prospect and ticks a lot of DC’s boxes, but he is not going to be the pick at 6.
If those players are off the board, whos the pick then? I personally don’t think they take one of the CB’s. I think JSN could be in play. I don’t think Tyree Wilson is a great fit for us. Maybe Skoronski, but that is a ton of investment into the OLine and we won’t be able to pay them all.
Is our plan to make him a true off ball LB like we did with Barnes? If so I would consider it. Those LBs don’t grow on trees. Parsons was a true LB at Penn St. If we just want to add him to the rotation of edge rushers we already have I don’t see it. I think it’s much easier for a LB to convert to edge rusher than turning an edge rusher into a LB. Barnes has all the skills but has struggled with the conversion.
Wilson is a better fit than Smith. Brings positional flexibility in a way that Smith doesn’t. Smith can play LB? Holmes has shown that he is willing to play money ball at LB. I don’t see Smith being the pick at all.