T’was the Night Before Draftmas
T’was the night before Draftmas and all through the place, not a GM was sleeping, not even Ryan Pace;
The prospects on big boards, were hanged there quite well, with lists of projections all blown to hell;
Fanbases were rabid, with love for their teams, web-based player rankings, to fuel their dreams;
There are 56 lines to that song, if you guys want to finish it up be my guest (make sure to share what you’ve done with it on Reddit in /r/detroitlions), but that’s all I’ve got. To trade in the draft, a team needs to have a partner, and while the conventional wisdom is that trading back is a more likely path to draft success, there has to be someone available for the other team to trade up for. My dream scenario for the first round is that the Lions trade completely out of it, in to the early second, and pick up a king’s ransom in the process, setting Bob Quinn up to remake the roster in his vision over the next two seasons. So with that in mind I decided to take a look at a couple scenarios in which that could happen.
The Titans on the Clock at 15; Two Players They Covet are Available
There has been a lot of hubbub about Hargreaves not being the type of player a lot of teams are willing to spend a high pick on, but the Titans have shown they are willing to run with a group of corners who stand at 6′ even or less. This scenario would fill their two biggest draft needs in rapid succession. If both Hargreaves and Conklin were available at 15 they’ve got the picks to make the move, and depending on what reports you read they may just see this exact scenario. They have three second round picks, and have said that they may utilize that to move up. Everyone seems to think they mean back in to the top ten from pick 15, but if the chance is there to get two players they covet, I can see this deal being a good one for both sides.
The Titans have picks 33, 43, 45, 64, and 76 and according to the Mighty Draft Chart, 43, 45, and 76 would be enough Value and the Lions would have to send a late rounder back. I am not going to lie; if I’m the Lions I do that trade. That would give the Lions picks 43, 45, 47, 76 and 95 in the first three rounds. That could easily turn in to OT Shon Coleman (A great RT prospect), DL Jonathan Bullard (a player that fits the DE role across from Ansah perfectly), SS Darian Thompson (all he does is pick off the ball and hit people like a train), OC Nick Martin (backup plan for three other young players), and DT Javon Hargrave (any other year a high second round pick in my opinion). There is no player that has any chance to be available at 16 that I would take over a combination of Coleman, Bullard and Martin, I would expect all five of those players to be starters for the Lions in a year.
See you tomorrow for: The Eight Days of Draftmas: Two Late Round Gems. @a5hcrack or on /r/detroitlions. This series is going to get pretty hairy by the end.. Merry Draftmas to all and to all a good night!
