If you’re looking for a recap of the game, you might as well skip this post. There’s no point analyzing the porous effort on both sides of the ball. This is going to just be an unorganized, semi-coherent rant. Well, hang on, here’s a quick recap:
That sufficient enough?
So this took a little longer to compile than I wanted, but this week was busy (shocker I know).
Okay, yes, it’s only Appalachian State, but still. After being completely unable to run the football last year, the fact that they could run down the field without getting tackled in the backfield every time was awesome. Yes, most of their rushing yards were on about 5 big runs, but that’s what you need, game-breaking runs.
But more on that later.
The Detroit Lions are always an enigma. Looking at the roster on paper, you would think that the playoffs are guaranteed. But after watching them in the preseason, I’m less encouraged. Sure, it’s just the preseason but the secondary looked like complete garbage, and the offensive execution was less than ideal; even if Calvin Johnson wasn’t playing much. I’m not a fan of Jim Caldwell, but I think that the new offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi is going to do a good job when they don’t have a vanilla game plan. I also enjoyed how aggressive the front seven of the defense was during the preseason with Teryl Austin’s playcalling, but the starting corners make me extremely worried. Blake Bortles went 70 yards with no timeouts in less than two minutes like he was back in college playing Akron or Temple.
I had this post all ready to go but Brady Hoke insisted on changing his mind about who is starting and I’m sure I’ll have to end up updating this post this week. Anyways, I hate to say it, but this is probably the least optimistic I’ve been for a Michigan football season in a while. Yes, that includes Rich Rodriguez’s tenure because his first year doesn’t count. It’s impossible to be optimistic when you know you’ve got Stephen Threet and Nick Sheridan running a mostly option spread attack on the offensive side of the ball.
To be perfectly honest, the lack of optimism is only due to the offensive line. I think the defense has a chance to be an elite defense, especially because of the massive amount of talent in the front seven. The defensive line and linebacking group are two of the deepest/most talented groups in the Big Ten. They very well could put together a season like Michigan State did last year, where the defense leads the way and the offense puts up enough points to come away with some wins.
When it comes to the NFL Draft, there are some organizations that just straight up get it. The team that sticks out in my mind and easily had the best draft is the San Francisco 49ers. Before we get too much into that, let’s be clear, I don’t like grading drafts. You don’t know how good players will actually be and you should really wait until three years after a draft to grade it. I mean hell, look at my evaluation from 7th grade on the Lions 2003 draft, talk about jumping the gun…
Ah to be young and ignorant again…that’s why I just like to pick some knee-jerk reaction winners and losers. No grades, just teams that did a very good job of identifying needs and picking very good players. Obviously this has serious faults as well, but it’s not as bad. I think this year, more than normal because of the depth, a lot of teams did a very good job. It was the hardest time I’ve ever had cutting down the list and finding “losers”. I included six winners, as well as six honorable mention, so you might as well just call it a “Top 12 List”. You might recognize some of these teams from last year too.
Over the past week while I’ve been in Washington D.C./Arlington, VA I’ve managed to put this together. The overall winners and losers posts of the NFL Draft will come later this week, so keep an eye out for those. Overall, I thought the draft was a solid draft, a lot like last year to be honest where I liked their 2nd and 3rd round picks quite a bit and didn’t love the first round pick.
In a year like this, I’m extremely open to who the Detroit Lions are going to take. It’s a very deep draft and I think there quite a few very good players. My ideal scenario would be to trade up for Sammy Watkins or to trade down, but if the Lions were to trade up for Jadeveon Clowney or Khalil Mack, that would obviously be great.
When it comes to picking at #10, I’m okay with them taking Mike Evans (though he won’t be there), Anthony Barr, Aaron Donald (also likely won’t be there), HaHa Clinton-Dix, Justin Gilbert, Taylor Lewan, Zack Martin, Kyle Fuller, Jason Verrett or Odell Beckham Jr. Yes, it would be a bit of a reach for HaHa, Gilbert, Martin, or OBJ, but if that’s the guy they want and they can’t trade down, then I’m cool with it. Like I said, I’m pretty flexible since there are quite a few solid players available in this draft.
For this Mock Draft I will not be making any trades, but I will indicate which teams are most likely to trade with three stars. I’m also going to be picking as if I was the GM for each team and then will indicate in italics the player that I think they’ll actually pick, aka covering my ass when they don’t do what I think they should. The videos I’ve inserted are highlights for the players that I would choose for the team, with the players in italics following. Just remember, there is no such thing as a “safe” draft pick and this is all a crap shoot at this point. Most of the italics picks are based off of things that I’ve heard or read, but most of it could be a smokescreen. In the end, no one really knows what’s going to happen on Draft Day and that’s why it’s the best.
Unlike the ridiculous depth in the Western Conference, there are a few teams that are on top of the East and they will control the playoffs. I expect that it’s going to be a lot chalk this year.
Atlantic Division:
#1 Boston Bruins vs. #4 Detroit Red Wings
Sporting Charts Matchup Comparison
The Detroit Red Wings went 3-1 against the Boston Bruins during the regular season and two of those wins were without Pavel Datsyuk and the third was without Henrik Zetterberg and Datsyuk. I’m not saying that the Red Wings will beat the Boston Bruins, I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be so quick to write off this Red Wings team. This is the worst matchup the Bruins could have had in round 1 because their styles are so contrasting. If the Red Wings can play with a full lineup and Jimmy Howard can play well, their puck possession style could give the Bruins fits.
But, we’re not dealing in hypotheticals here. If Henrik Zetterberg and Jonathan Ericsson don’t play (which they likely won’t), a seven game series in that short of a time span could be too much for the Red Wings to handle. The punishing style of the Boston Bruins could wear them down and if Tuukka Rask plays like he should, the Bruins would be able to get out of this round with the win. In the end, I think that Tuukka Rask will outduel Jimmy Howard and the lack of Zetterberg and Ericsson in the lineup will prove too detrimental for the Red Wings down the stretch. Bruins in 7
The Daily Traub 