I’ve had a few days to analyze the picks and think them over and I must say that I still cannot get over the Detroit Lions picking a punter in the 5th round. So here is a short rant before analyzing each pick:
Drafting a punter in the 5th round is just a lazy pick. They took a punter over Kenjon Barner and Andre Ellington and then drafted Theo Riddick. There is a 0% chance that someone would have taken that punter if they didn’t take him right then and if someone does draft him, who cares. It was that pick that showed the Lions organization doesn’t actually draft by best player available, even though they claim they do. They actually don’t have any sort of logical draft strategy. Once Denard Robinson got picked, they clearly didn’t know what to do, traded down and then realized they didn’t have a plan B and panicked.
The biggest issue is that in order for teams to be successful, you must be able to draft well late. Hitting on 1st and 2nd rounders is how you stay out of the Top 5 (usually) but drafting well in the 4-7 rounds is how you win championships. Just look at the Packers, Patriots, Giants, 49ers and Ravens. Look at any organization that isn’t as inept at drafting as the Detroit Lions. There were numerous players the Lions could have taken instead of a punter. Jesse Williams from Alabama, would have added depth at defensive tackle. Ricky Wagner an offensive tackle from Wisconsin to help add depth to the offensive line. David Quessenberry, Cornelius Washington, Bacarri Rambo, the list just goes on.
Only TWO punters were drafted and when you have limited picks, it’s ignorant to draft a punter. You can get steals in the last rounds and something tells me that this dude isn’t going to be the next Ray Guy. And even if he is, I don’t care, I’d rather find the next Terrell Davis or Alfred Morris. If the Lions had 15 picks and they used one of their compensatory 7th round picks on a punter, I wouldn’t care. Hell, even if they used a compensatory 7th round pick on a punter this year I wouldn’t have cared. But a 5th round pick is still a viable round to pick players that can contribute in some sort of fashion. Sure Nick Harris sucked last year, but he only punted the ball 67 times. Oh and this kid, Sam Martin, has never held for a left footed kicker before which is what we have with David Akers. Ridiculous. This pick greatly frustrates me, not because punters are unimportant, but because the Lions need other players at other positions. It’s almost the type of ineptness that makes me wish the Lions miss the playoffs and then they clean house. Almost.
Now onto the important stuff.
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