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Lions Need To Draft A Safety; Robertson Needs Another Good Outing
The Lions would be wise to take a safety within the first three rounds of the draft. The best safeties available as far as I’m concerned are Louis Delmas from Western Michigan and Patrick Chung from Oregon. Delmas didn’t help his cause by reportedly scoring just a 12 out of 50 on the NFL’s Wonderlic test, which gauges aptitude. Also reportedly scoring a 12 was another potential Lions draft choice - linebacker Rey Maualuga from USC.
To me, that could be a good thing for the Lions - if either drops down in the draft as a result. Football smarts matter. Not sure you can rate that aspect of the game based on an intelligence test.
Random Thoughts
- If you look at the struggles of the Pistons, they aren’t just rooted in the Allen Iverson trade. I thought they had some young players - Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, Arron Afflalo - who would have more of an impact this season. What I don’t know is whether they aren’t that good or if Pistons coach Michael Curry just hasn’t done a good job of developing them.
- Don’t kid yourself. The Red Wings goaltending situation remains tenuous. Chris Osgood’s soaring confidence level hinges on not having any more stinker games before the playoffs begin.
- What a day to televise the Tigers game back to Detroit, eh? I don’t care if it was just an exhibition game, getting no-hit like that was embarrassing. Good thing is most of their hitters will be back in the lineup soon from the World Baseball Classic. The Tigers need another good outing from Nate Robertson to justify his apparent spot in the starting rotation. The way Justin Verlander threw Sunday was encouraging. Still don’t see how Jeremy Bonderman is going to be ready for the start of the season, though.
To me, that could be a good thing for the Lions - if either drops down in the draft as a result. Football smarts matter. Not sure you can rate that aspect of the game based on an intelligence test.
Random Thoughts
- If you look at the struggles of the Pistons, they aren’t just rooted in the Allen Iverson trade. I thought they had some young players - Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, Arron Afflalo - who would have more of an impact this season. What I don’t know is whether they aren’t that good or if Pistons coach Michael Curry just hasn’t done a good job of developing them.
- Don’t kid yourself. The Red Wings goaltending situation remains tenuous. Chris Osgood’s soaring confidence level hinges on not having any more stinker games before the playoffs begin.
- What a day to televise the Tigers game back to Detroit, eh? I don’t care if it was just an exhibition game, getting no-hit like that was embarrassing. Good thing is most of their hitters will be back in the lineup soon from the World Baseball Classic. The Tigers need another good outing from Nate Robertson to justify his apparent spot in the starting rotation. The way Justin Verlander threw Sunday was encouraging. Still don’t see how Jeremy Bonderman is going to be ready for the start of the season, though.
posted by Pat Caputo at
2:19 PM
6 Comments:
Pat,
I don't know if the Lions are really fishing for a starting safety. Bullocks looked awesome last year for only being one year removed from a major knee injury. This is the year that players usually recover from one of those, so you can expect him to be back to him self now. Alexander has looked like he will be a good starter as well.
If anything, I would think the Lions will grab another safety for depth, because even if one of them falters Henry can step in and play.
It really doesn't appear to be a big position of need, especially when it isn't a position of real strength in the Draft. Now, if they are in position to draft Mays next year, then I am all for them doing that. I just don't see either Delmas or Chung as an obvious upgrade over either Alexander or Bullocks.
-Marty
I disagree Pat. The defensive line is a mess. Two of the top four picks should be used on DTs. Another, the #65, should be used on a MLB. I like Scott McKillop of Pitt there. The other pick is of course #1 which should be used on one of the two Left Tackles [I like Monroe].
I thought Pearson was okay last year.
Marty,
I'm not as sold on either one of those players as you are. Bullocks seems like he is a little better, but Alexander is a stretch as a solid starter. They might move Henry to safety, though.
Caputo
Stoptherun2009,
It will interesting to see whether the Lions take a really big defensive interior linemen in the draft or go for more quickness. It will be a tell-tale sign of what type of defense they intend to run - whether they will slant a lot. It appears they will play more gap control based on the Grady Jackson signing.
Caputo
Pat,
You are probably right about Alexander. He was pretty raw when they drafted him, and has made some great plays, but also made some boneheaded plays as well. Plus he is coming off a spinal injury. It is hard to ever really recover from that, so I could see the Lions wanting to replace him.
I really like Bullocks though. I watched the first few games after he came back just paying attention to him, and he was everywhere on the field. He seemed to know where the play was going 90% of the time and was always around the ball (he looked like the best player in the back 7). I expected him to have a down year, similar to how Sims played, but he impressed me from the get go. He didn't seem to show any sign of his injury, while every other player I have seen coming off a torn ACL looks tentative and uncomfortable their first year back.
It's too bad the season doesn't start for quite a while. I can't wait to watch some football again.
Did Ernie Sims have some sort of undisclosed injury last year? He looked like he was uncomfortable and tentative, as if he were coming off a major injury.
-Marty
Pat Thanks for responding. If the Lions do take two DTs [as I think they must] what about getting a plug type [Ron Brace] and an athletic type like Hood, Magee, Marks, etc.?
I just don't see that the Lions have any DTs past Grady Jackson [Fluellen?].
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