LogFAQs > #954345655

Detroit Lions

DT Claude Wroten (S2, 27th)
CB Jonathan Wade (S3, 30th)
OLB Wesley Jefferson (S4, 26th)
OLB Willie Williams (S5, 13th)
FS Tyvon Branch (S6, 21st)
WR Marques Colston (S7, 32nd)
OT Joe Staley (S8, 9th)
QB E.J. Manuel (S9, 12th)
MLB Perry Riley (S9, 28th)
DE Margus Hunt (S10, 15th)
CB Darius Slay (S11, 14th)
DE Joey Bosa (S12, 15th)
QB Jared Goff (S13, 5th)
TE George Kittle (S14, 22nd)

As I should, I follow draft plans that teams give me to the letter when given specifics, but when given plans to select BPA, I have on occasion gone slightly down from the #1 available prospect. The Lions wanted BPA, which would have led them to a QB when they had a 30-ish Peyton Manning. I went with Wroten, and whatever ethical issues one may have with what I did, Wroten is sure to be Hall of Fame bound. He started his career off with a bang being named co-DL of the Year as a rookie, and since then, he's been one of the best two-way DTs in the league averaging over 50 tackles and nearly 8 sacks a season as a member of the Lions, Panthers, and Ravens. He is one of four players to record more than 100 sacks during B8NFLL and is currently tied for the second-most among active players (102).

Wade is no longer in the league, but I feel like he might have made a Pro Bowl or two. He won a SB with the Lions in S6, and that's really all I can recall about him.

Another player who has since retired and whose career I remember little about. I think his starting job in Detroit was fluid. He also played with the Colts before returning to Detroit and ending his career where he started.

Williams won Defensive Rookie of the Year, and I don't think it was the same season, but he also recorded 14 sacks in a season, which may the best or tied for the highest mark by a LB in B8NFLL history. He's never been much of a tackler, but he has over 50 career sacks to go along with a dozen or more INTs, FFs, and FRs. He's still going strong as the OLB leader on the team seemingly his entire career.

Branch has started all 142 games he has played in for the franchise, and while his stats do not stick out, the fact that he's maintained his upper 80s rating despite playing on some really bad defenses post-S6 SB season suggests he's been good in coverage.

Alternating between being the #2 and #3 WR on the team, Colston has been adequate, averaging over 350 yards a season on 12.2 YPC. Still his play never warranted his paycheck, and after 8 seasons, he has hit the free agent market.

Staley was the top backup OL to begin his career but eventually succeeded Kevin Shaffer as the blindside blocker. He had a rough S11 with 39 blocks against 8 sacks allowed, but he's been solid ever since with 114 blocks against 11 sacks allowed. He has never been a high block guy, but he's been great at limiting sacks.

It isn't like I keep a mental note about a team's worst decision ever, but the Lions trading of DT Claude Wroten for the S9 #12 pick always stood out to me because I thought it was a bad decision from the start trading away their best defensive player. That pick turned to be QB E.J. Manuel, and if you are asking who, exactly.

Riley was taken in the same draft as Manuel. He lost his starting job to and was outplayed by a player taken in the third round of that same draft. It's like Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins except neither stuck around for long as the Lions traded for Bryan Vinson. They would certainly like a do-over on both of their first round picks in S9.

Hunt has been excellent in the run game averaging almost 50 tackles a game, but he has 11 sacks in five seasons and little disruption elsewhere. His development has hardly gone anywhere, but he's hanging in there.

Slay has twice as many sacks (8) as he does INTs (4) in his four seasons. He's the top CB on the team, so he has that going for him.

After the Lions D showed serious signs of improvement in Bosa's first two seasons with back-to-back 10 sack affairs where he was just as effective as Hunt in stopping the run, Bosa's passrushing skills took a huge step back (2) as the Lions D regressed to something closer to what they had mostly been experiencing for the several seasons before Bosa's arrival.

Goff had a surprisingly effective season as a rookie posting an 81.4 passer rating on over 2700 yards with a 16:12 TD:1NT ratio on over 62% completion. His sophomore season was a relative disappointment. The dip in completion % was small (61%), but his passer rating dropped to 71.3 after throwing almost 500 fewer yards, 5 fewer TDs, and 3 more INTs. Who knows what to expect his third season.

For a backup TE, Kittle had a surprisingly great season as he had 11 rec for 138 yards and a TD, but still, he was a backup TE. I would advocate a TE in the first round only in certain circumstances given the position's low impact, but I certainly wouldn't advocate drafting a backup TE in the first under any circumstance.
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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
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