Good King Robert Quinn
Good King Robert Quinn looked out, his roster uneven
With the big names not about, most fans interest leavin’
Dimly shon one name that night, with his forty stool
Grit and hustle his delight, punt coverage his fuel
Late Round Draft Picks
Day three is when teams win Championships. Day three is when the guy who makes that one key block for your kick returner; that guy who makes one catch that will define the rest of his life and get him a free agent contract he could never live up to with another team; and that guy who never plays a down, but could have if he had to, come from. These are the guys whose name nobody but fans of the team will ever know, that guy you’re looking for in training camp to take a step in 2018 and become a player. Teams that win superbowls get useful players on day three, and teams that remain at the bottom of the league draft guys that can’t make an NFL roster. Day three defines your team’s depth, it’s backbone.
Matt Ioannidis is one of the least natural athletes I think I have ever seen excelling in football equipment. He’s not ever going to wow anyone with anything but power, but he’ll define the terms “high motor player” and “character guy” all day. He will give whatever team drafts him 100% of what he has every second of every game. I half expect that if dying on the field were going to somehow result in preventing a first down, Matt Ioannidis would choose death and never think twice about it. When you look at a player with all the natural gifts one could ask for, throwing their talent in to the bowl of a bong; Matt Ioannidis is one of the guys that you wish could have been given those gifts because if he had the athleticism of one of those players, he would become J.J. Watt. There is going to be a team that picks this guy, and gets an honor student at the defensive tackle spot. Ioannidis is a guy that will play five to seven years in the league, and then become part of a network’s third tier broadcasting team (He was a communications major after all), or a defensive line coach, almost immediately.
Matt Judon isn’t just a freak athlete, this kid is a football player When you watch his highlight video, it’s not the quick twitch plays that impress. Well, they do, he flies past linemen like they are not even there on numerous occasions at that level of competition. It’s the plays where he doesn’t get there but disrupts the quarterback’s throwing lanes. It’s when he gets burned on a running play and instead of giving up, he turns and runs behind the back until he has to make a cut, and then puts that running back in the dirt. It’s all the plays where he resists the temptation to go leave his responsibilities and chase a play, making the tackle when the running back cuts back. Love this kid, and whatever team takes him with a late round pick is getting a player.
One Draft Day Trade:
Rumors swirl that the Browns would like to move back and stockpile picks. So let’s say that the two Quarterbacks go at the top of the draft, the Chargers take Deforrest Buckner, the Cowboys Take Ezekiel Elliot, the Jaguars take Myles Jack, the Ravens take Jalen Ramsey, and the 49ers take Paxton Lynch leaving Laremy Tunsil just sitting there at 8. A big, juicy, mouth watering solution to the Lions pass blocking problems. You know the narrative, you’ve been hearing it for years; draft the Left Tackle, move Reiff over to the right side, kiss a girl on the mouth, drive a really fast car, win the Super Bowl. It’s not the likeliest of draft day scenarios, but other than Elliot I don’t think a single one of these players is a reach at their pick. Even with Elliot it’s only because he’s a running back, and Jerry Jones doesn’t care about your opinion or mine, his team needs a running back, and this is the best one. I don’t think it’s likely, but I can see it. If you particularly hate the Elliot pick, just plug Joey Bosa in there, they need one of those too.
How much is Matthew Stafford’s blind side worth? Recall Safety Dan running out the back of the end zone while Jared Allen laughed in all our stupid faces, and answer that question again: What is going to be there later in the draft that is more important than keeping Matthew Stafford upright and healthy for 16 games? What would it take to get to 8 and keep that blind side turf burn free? Assuming the trade chart value holds, the trade would look something like: Cleveland gets picks 15 and 46. Detroit gets pick eight, and Cleveland’s fifth round pick this year, or fourth round pick next year. I would lean toward the latter given the six late round picks the Lions already have in this draft, but having three fifth round picks, and two tradeable sixth round picks would give the Lions ammunition if they wanted to get back in to the fourth round to get some of that last group of defensive tackles likely to have any impact as rookies.
The justification for this is that there is a massive difference between Tunsil and any offensive tackle that might be there at 16, even if it is Conklin, the two just don’t compare. So the question becomes, is the drop off from Tunsil to Conklin worth approximately a 50% chance of drafting another starting player? Playing the long game, looking at the probabilities of the draft, pick 46 has about that chance of producing a good player. My leanings go toward stockpiling picks, but it’s an interesting question isn’t it?
Merry Draftmas to all and to all a good night. @a5hcrack in the twittersphere, and on /r/detroitlions
