So…How Did The Lion’s Do?
Well now the draft has come and gone and now it is time for folks like me to grade every team, which is completely pointless because it takes years for some players to pan out. But, what kind of sports writer would I be not to over react to things like this. LOL! I said last week that for the Lion’s to succeed they must not draft a quarterback. Well, they didn’t! But does that mean they get the passing grade from me?
Sitting at pick number two they had tons of options. There were a handful of players that were rumored to go number one overall and the Jags were quite tight lipped when it came to letting people know who they were taking. Usually a day or so before the draft it leaks out who is going number one but this year it wasn’t a slam dunk. However, the Lions had Aidan Hutchinson land into their lap so they kept the Michigan guy in state and made him the number two pick. In my eyes this was a no brainer. A top talent to help a struggling defense never hurts and to keep him in Michigan was completely awesome! He is going to bring pressure from the edge probably better than anyone in the draft and when you are in a division with Aaron Rodgers, this is a must. With their second pick in the first round they jump up 20 spots to get arguably the best wide receiver in the draft in Jameson Williams from Alabama. Before his knee injury he was touted as the best receiver coming out but with the possibility of him missing games caused him to fall. The Lions saw this and pounced on the opportunity and brought the playmaker to Detroit. This is much needed to help Jared Goff progress and become the best quarterback that he can. Put him in that wide receiver room with St. Brown, their fourth round pick from last season, and this wide receiver room is getting much needed help. There were grumblings on the internet that they overspent to jump up to pick 12 but I don’t see it like that at all. Even if he does miss the first 6 games, this is a pick that could change the offense significantly.
After the first round they almost solely focused on the defense. They took Josh Paschal, defensive end from Kentucky in the second round and in the third round they took Kerby Joseph, safety from Illinois. With their fifth round pick they took a tight end, James Mitchell from Virginia Tech. This was to provide depth in the tight end position. In the sixth round they picked up Malcom Rodriguez from Oklahoma State, James Houston from Jackson State to provide depth in the linebacker group and lastly, they took Chase Lucas, cornerback from Arizona State in the seventh round.
All in all, I have to give the Lions’ brass some props. This was an impressive draft from a place that is known to botch things like this. Package this with last year’s draft and the impact that a lot of those guys have had already this team might be looking up! Are they good enough to take down the Packers for the division…probably not. But, they are taking the right steps in the right direction to become relevant and competitive which is a huge improvement for the organization so my final grade for the Lion’s draft has to be a solid A-.