Here is how I see what Quin and Patricia look for in a draft pick. Call it the value formula.
1/3 Football Talent. 1/3 Scheme Fit, 1/3 Character/Football Hunger/General Personality/Locker Room Presence. (will this guy be a complainer running gassers after practice. aka Golden Tate)
So when some people state the Lions really reached on any player, they can state their opinion of course, but they have zero idea what the Lions front office sees with a certain player in that value formula. General fans don’t have 1/10th the background info that the Lions coaching and scouting staff have at their fingertips.
When they brought Tavai in for a meet and greet. I’m pretty sure his agent would have been with him. Any coach or scout worth his salt would have found out what other organizations they are meeting with. That is simple Q&A and background research. Plus I am sure they do a ton of PI work on that player’s life story too.
So anyone can state “reach”, but no one, and that means TV talking heads too, have any idea what and where player X fits on the Detroit draft chart.
A lot of the dufus crowd over at the 247 site only value or understand football talent or what is displayed at the combine. They don’t consider the other 2/3rds of the value formula.
Need has to be a factor, but their idea of need can differ greatly from ours. I might’ve said 30%-30%-30% for your factors and 10% for need. Ain’t the same as Scheme fit IMHO, 2 guys might have the same score for the top 3 factors, but need might and should tip the balance one way or the other.
For sure. I knew I was forgetting one more piece in that value formula, but I was just waking up drinking my coffee and I couldn’t think of it.
Yeah, some mix of 30% each or 25% each.
There is no doubt that they picked guys who play with a passion. It’s more than character with these guys, it’s playing with a fire.
He started last year with a training camp that had beat writers talking.
He had them practice outside, which again left beat-writers talking.
His team came out flat against Seattle and a couple others.
They probably have a measurement for “fortitude” and set a high bar for that this year. Football’s hard enough, it doesn’t need to be complicated by players that are unwilling or unable to get up for Sundays, let alone practice.
Chris Spielman pops into my mind when i think about the quintessential BQ/MP player. I think he checks all the very boxes that you guys are talking about…
From what I’ve seen in Quinn’s drafts, need is their primary concern
I assume they rank relative need for all positions and that factors into board positioning
Getting defined qualities are then critical
They know exactly what kind of players they want to fill those needs
After they ID those profiles then they can evaluate relative talent levels
Finally character qualifies or disqualifies a player
My point is there is no formula— they have relative value points for each category and you can’t be below a threshold grade in any category.