To say that this year has taken a strange turn would be the complete understatement of the century. We have already surpassed 30 days without sports and my watch list is dwindling. Fortunately, the NFL is pushing ahead with the NFL Draft (whether you think that is good or bad is another topic for discussion) and will give sports fans a much needed distraction. I’m going to go on record and say that this will be the most watched NFL Draft ever. It’ll be a production that is tremendously different than what we have grown used to seeing, but something is most certainly better than nothing. Frankly, having a broadcast that has less glitz and glamor and more football content might be better.
As for what the Lions will do in the draft, I have a few ideas and hopes. And if you want the Lions to dump Matthew Stafford and take a massive dead cap hit to draft Tua Tagovailoa, please stop reading. If a QB is hurt that much in college, it’s hard to believe he will stay healthy in the pros. He’s only four months removed from the injury/surgery so no one knows if there will be any long term implications or residual problems yet. The doctors can tell you that he will be fine and he is on track, but it will likely be August before he’s close to a clean bill of health. Not to mention that Stafford is wildly underrated as a quarterback and the dead cap hit would cripple the team. This is a team and an organization that needs to win now, and moving on to a rookie QB is not the way to do that.
That being said, if the Lions miss the playoffs and Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia get fired…then moving on from Stafford can be brought up. His dead cap hit is much lower next year and Trevor Lawrence would be coming out. That is a topic I will entertain if this year is a complete disaster…Tua, I will not.
So what do I want the Lions to do?
Well, first and foremost, I would love for Chase Young to somehow fall into their laps. I think that is tremendously unlikely, but there’s always hope. Next, I would like them to trade down. I do not care how far down they go, but anything to acquire some more picks for more talent would be great. And if those first two options are not available, they should draft Jeff Okudah. I would have preferred the Lions hang on to Darius Slay, but since they traded him and added Desmond Trufant, they still have a hole at cornerback that needs to be addressed. Trufant is a good stop-gap, but they need a guy of the future, a true franchise corner to build off of. Amani Oruwariye could develop into a key contributor in the future, but you should not pass up the opportunity to snag a franchise corner.
Alright, so that concludes the brief version…if you want, scroll down to the seven round mock and move on with your day. If you want to go more in-depth, then let’s ride.
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