tukafan21

Lions were never going Freeling over Miller for the same reason we wouldn't have taken Miller had Freeling not been on the board. Miller is a career RT Lions have a hole at RT, we have a hole at LT. If we took Miller, it would have been for him to backup Moton until he retires and/or we release him, so the best case scenario is it would have been a wasted 1st round pick for at least 1, if not 2 years. At least Freeling has a shot at playing this year without injury ahead of him, he absolutely can win the LT job if he earns it, but Miller would have never supplanted Moton this year unless he got hurt.

I'll say the same thing this year that I said last year, wins and losses aren't important. The only important thing is coming to a decision on Bryce one way or the other. If he looks amazing but we find ways to lose, who cares we lost, we have our QB of the future. If he looks terrible but we find ways to win, who cares that we won, we have to replace him. And that's not me saying I don't want to see us win next year, just saying that wins/losses are secondary and far less important this season than coming to a 100% conclusion on what Bryce is for us. Having said that, the only way I'll be okay with giving him an extension instead of replacing him is if he is a borderline MVP candidate and at minimum, an unquestioned Top 10 QB in the league next year. Even just a season of slight improvement won't be enough for me, that's still not good enough to warrant a big extension, he has the team around him, he needs to show why he was the #1 overall pick, if not, good bye.

I think we go Theineman in this situation

Bryce Young. It really is as simple as that, if he can't improve, we will be worse next year even given the upgrades elsewhere. Frankly we got lucky in a number of our wins last year, if the Bryce plays the same as he did and we don't get those breaks, we're a 5-6 win team. 6 of our 8 wins were by just 3 points, another by 7 (agains the Jets), and then the Falcons blowout. It's very easy to see how this team goes backwards just on that alone, regression to the mean is a real thing when you have that many close games in one season.

Here's the thing, I like the draft we just had, and while a lot of what to like about it will be seen a few years down the line, we still basically need Hecht and Brazzell at minimum to be starters week 1, and hopefully Wheately and maybe Freeling as well. We were a sub .500 team last year and we're still not yet a contender, there is no way we can leave a draft with only one starter coming out of it, and that being a 2nd round NT. In reality, teams have 3 starting WRs now and Brazzell should be #3 over XL, as if he can't beat out XL coming out of camp, my expectations for him will drop from what they are right now. Hecht is going to have every opportunity to take that starting spot at Center and I hope/think he will do so. And Wheately just has to beat out Scott.

ehhhhhh I get it, as a pass catcher he's an upgrade over what we have right now, but I'm also much higher on our TE room's potential than many on here. Plus, our big WRs in T-Mac, Brazzelle, and Coker already take on some of the roles that TE's play on most teams with a smaller WR room anyways. Bringing in an oft injured 30 year old instead of giving snaps to the young guys to see if they can turn into a long term TE solution just doesn't make sense to me. If we were in an actual SB window, totally different story, but we're still a few years away from that right now and Njoku wouldn't be around then anyways, so we need to roll with the youngsters and see what they are. Given the size we have at WR, I like rolling with young/cheap TE by committee anyways, use that cap space elsewhere.

Would have liked to take a swing on a QB, but if he can make an impact on ST as a rookie, will be a good pick

Can’t hate getting ESPN’s 82nd overall player at 151

Did we just land our starting Center in the 5th?!?! This will be a home run pick if he ends up as that, freaking love it

Well seeing as we just took the guy I was hoping we would take instead of trading back, so I’m good with it now haha

Eh, if we can find a starting center right now, then I don’t agree with that. Moving up 30 picks in round 5/6 will give us a chance of drafting a player who might just make the roster instead of getting cut after camp. But when only 1 center was drafted before today, I think whoever we have as the next best center would have been a better move.

Stop trading back and just take the top center on the board already

Exactly, if he's getting past his man, they're going to have to keep a safety deep on his side of the field just in case. As even if it's like you said, Bryce needs to throw it quickly with a ton of arc, if the defense doesn't keep a safety deep, you can take those shots and his speed will burn you. I'm talking myself into liking this pick... IF, and it's a big if... Horn Jr or Metchie are able to be that quick twitch guy in the slot for us this year. If one of them can't adequately fill that role, then I'm going to have wished this was a WR in that mold instead. But if one of them can be that for us, then I really like this pick and the potential (and sure, part of it is thinking he could be a real weapon with a new QB next year).

Honestly, I think we have a chance at having a very fluid set of roles. All 3 of T-Mac, Coker, and Brazzell seem like they can bring something from both the outside and the slot. We saw last year how well T-Mac did when we would line him up in the slot and get mismatches, especially the quick slants (something he was great at in college too). Problem was that he was just far too valuable for us on the outside as for most of the year we didn't have anyone else who could remotely play that role until Coker came on strong late. I very well could see us line up with any of the 3 in any spot in the formation depending what we're trying to accomplish on the play.

Exactly He's only a Coker replacement if he absolutely blows up by the end of 2027 and we have to choose between paying 2 of T-Mac, Coker, and Brazzell, and even then, it still might be Coker if he keeps progressing himself. That's why I was so against a WR in the 1st, as it would guarantee one of them is gone by then. If a 3rd rounder forces us to make that call, totally worth it, but you don't want to get into that position with 1st round picks, they're too valuable.