2016 NFL Draft - Round 1 - Detroit Lions

OT Taylor Decker

In my forum, late at night on the 24th or April, I did my Lions mock for this year http://badnetrat.proboards.com/thread/9487/lions-draft-mock-today instead of posting it here. It's a little late but I shall paste that post now:

1st round:
OT Taylor Decker Ohio State; alternates include: Ronnie Stanley Notre Dame and Jack Conklin MSU

2nd round:
DE Jonathan Bullard Florida; alternates include: Emmanuel Ogbah Oklahoma State, Shilique Calhoun Michigan State, or a S Karl Joseph West Virginia

3rd round:
S Jalen Mills LSU; alternates include: Justin Simmons Boston College, or a DE Matt Judon Grand Valley State

4th round:
C Max Tuerk Southern California; alternates include: DT Hassan Ridgeway Texas, among many many others.

5th and 6th rounds:
RB Darius Jackson Eastern Michigan and DT Justin Zimmer Ferris State among others.

7th round:
QB Josh Woodrum Liberty among others.

Some undrafted guys:
Ben McCord TE Central Michigan
Nick Beamish C Central Michigan
Sharrod Neasman SS Florida Atlantic
Alex Huettel OG Bowling Green
Perez Ford OLB Northern Illinois
Lars Hanson OT Sacramento State
Brett McMakin OLB Northern Iowa
Mike Rose DE NC State
Chris Mayes DT Georgia (or there are 4 other DTs I like as well)
Johnny Holton WR Cincinnati
Blake Frohnapfel QB Massachusetts
Frankie Williams CB Purdue
Mike Jordan CB Missouri Western State
Jay Lee WR Baylor
Ryker Mathews OT Brigham Young

and I still haven't had the time to research as much as I usually do. I did get my big board done, with 1191 names on it. Unfortunately, I didn't get to review nearly as many as I would normally do and it don't look good for the next 3 days either.

Still, needed something in writing to show against the actual happenings from later this week.


And, as you can see, I got round 1 right on the nose for the Lions after all. I had also, in other threads, added a WR in Mitch Mathews to the undrafted list and a center to the 4th round in Isaac Seumalo... in fact I put Isaac Seumalo ahead of Max Tuerk and the others above, making him the pick I truly hope the Lions make.

If the Lions can somehow add DE Bullard or DE Ogbah in the 2nd; S Jalen Mills or S Justin Simmons in the 3rd, then snag C Isaac Seumalo or C Max Tuerk in the 4th along with the rest of my guys listed above I would be one of the happiest draftniks on the planet.

What tomorrow (and the next day) brings remains to be seen, but for tonight we have to get familiar with our new (probable) Right Tackle; Taylor Decker. First off, he's from Ohio State, but let's not hold that against him. he's 6'7" tall (tall) and weights in at 310 pounds (also big). I have him at 14 on my big board and since he was drafted at 16 he is neither a reach nor a sleeper. A former scout for the Bears (of 30 years) had him 12th on his board. There should be no issues with anyone saying he was taken too soon, or that he dropped, or any other derogatory remark in that regard. So without any further ado, some links and comments about offensive tackle Taylor Decker.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/taylor-decker?id=2555206 "Tough guy who scouts believe has the locker room presence and field demeanor to be an instant leader along an offensive line."

http://thehuddlereport.com/archive/2016profiles/Taylor.Decker.htm "His natural leadership skills and his football intelligence are outstanding. His ability to understand blocking assignments like an offensive line coach is more mature than most players coming out of college and these strong attributes will help to make him an outstanding lineman for the team that selects him. He has solid athletic talent and uses good techniques"

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1983776/taylor-decker "Decker started the last 42 games for the Buckeyes, splitting time between left and right tackle, and was part of a senior class that won 50 games at Ohio State. He had a rough debut against Buffalo's Khalil Mack (Oakland Raider top-five pick in the 2014 NFL Draft) in his first career start, but has been an ascending talent since, learning from past mistakes and developing his skill-set.

He has reliable character, a can-do attitude and pro-ready make-up that fits NFL locker rooms. Decker can struggle at times with speed off the edge, especially flexible rushers who can bend underneath him, but he has the frame, balance and forceful hands to neutralize quickness and control the point of attack. "

Okay, so he's big, strong, smart, a leader, is coach-able, healthy, and has no off field issues... in other words, a potential permanent fixture on the OLine and quite possibly will become the best player on the Lions offensive line before his 2nd year. Not sure what you were expecting for the 16th pick in round 1, but for me, I'll take this upgrade to the line any time. Sure, if you read the cons in the links above you will see he has things to work on, which college kid doesn't, but do they all know they actually do have to work on it? This kid does, and he will.

Day 1 of the Lions 2016 draft is in the books, and I am glad I got to see it happen. The upcoming two days could really make things interesting, should it go anywhere near as I suspect it will. Even if it's not the players I envision at this point in time, I have a feeling I'll be happy with the results. Before today I wouldn't have said that, by the way, I was leery as to what Quinn was all about. But, he did not panic and move up like some teams did. He did not snag a guy who dropped because he was suddenly a "good value" yet had warts. He held his ground and got a very solid football player that will in fact help the team win games. Bodes well for the next couple of days if you ask me. Here's to a great start!