Day 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft and the Detroit Lions

The Lions started out day 3 with three draft picks. Eventually they would trade from 181 to 188 and gain pick 237 in the seventh round for a total of four draft picks. I haven't had time yet to do much research on any of the day 3 picks, none of them who were I had thought the Lions would draft, so I am unprepared to go into detail on any of them without researching first. In the end they drafted pretty much every position I figured they would with one exception, no backup offensive tackle and/or backup offensive guard. I guess they had to save something for 2023 on the line of scrimmage.

In round 5, at pick number 177, the Lions selected TE James Mitchell from Virginia Tech. He has no RAS score as his injury prevented him from completing all the drills necessary to produce a score. He'll start out as a backup, learning the craft and working the gym while on an NFL diet to build body mass. His versatility and coachability will allow the Lions to mold him into a great player for the team. If you want to read why I am saying that, read this: https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/james-mitchell/0D6sbufrAw Once you read that you can easily see the appeal to the Lions in acquiring his various talents. Remember though, he's a round 5 pick on day 3, he was not drafted to be a ready-to-play-on-the-first-day kind of player. I had him ranked at 220, a full round later then when he was taken. I can live with that, teams (all teams) were taking players from all over the place ranking-wise.

As I said earlier, at 181 the Lions opted to trade down 7 picks to 188 and gain a mid-7th round pick. At 188 in the 6th round they selected with one of their two picks in this round; LB Malcolm Rodriguez from Oklahoma State. Malcolm has an elite RAS score of 9.28 and I had him ranked at 173. He will play middle linebacker but also be able to handle coverage tasks, a skill many LBs tend to lack. For a 6th round pick it appears at first glance that there isn't much work to do for the coaches, but I think the fitness guys need to get to him first, then the position coaches. For the complete details read: https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/malcolm-rodriguez. In the end, I'm looking forward to watching his development on defense in the middle of the field.

The other pick in round 6 was at pick 217, where the Lions selected DE James Houston IV. I looked up his RAS score, and they have him listed as a LB. His RAS score is 7.92 but I did not have him included on my original board, so I am adding him. Some have him graded as a 7th rounder or undrafted free agent. I believe the Lions took him due to the interest in him from Dallas. My normal sources have no info on him, so I went to the opposition. This will give you all the details you need to see what the Lions have to start working with: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/lists/james-houston-2022-draft-profile/. He's raw, but he's an end of the 6th round draft pick, so that matches up fine. If he can match up with offensive opponents eventually he'll prove to be a good pick as well.

With the acquired pick in the 7th round, the Lions drafted CB Chase Lucas of Arizona State. My board listed him as a nickle cornerback with an RAS score of an elite 8.89. I also had him ranked at 218 on my board, ahead of both TE Mitchell the 5th round pick and James Houston, the second 6th round pick. The Lions drafted him 237th overall, I would imagine they were surprised to still find him available. My source shows him to be rated as a 4th round pick, a bit more than I had him, due to his speed, but I'm not sure if his instincts won't completely negate that shortcoming. Read up on him here: https://thedraftnetwork.com/sr-prospect/chase-lucas-9c4b09df-21b8-4138-b2a9-3db995fbfc7a/. This player may turn out to be my favorite of all the players selected on day 3 by the Lions.

There are the specifics of each pick, my next blog post will be more of a general overview of the entire 2022 draft, and perhaps the state of the roster with these additions, I'm just waiting now for the list of undrafted rookies the Lions sign... my board has quite a number of options there that the Lions might be interested in, but they have room for only a few (unless they make cuts or trades). The next few days should prove as interesting as the past few days.

Day 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft and the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions didn't make any more trades on day 2 of the draft. Instead they selected two players that should help the team in positions of need. In fact, I put those very needs in my estimated depth chart weeks ago. So here is my take on the 2nd and 3rd round picks for the Lions this year.

At pick 46 (from last night's trade with the Vikings) the Lions selected DL Josh Paschal. The NFL at the time showed him as being a DE, but he can play anywhere on the DL and my source has him listed as a 5T defensive tackle, a postion I expected the Lions to draft to rotate with Brockers (and evenutally replace him). Paschal was 88th on my board, and he would not have made it to pick 97 (along with many others) so this was their 2nd round target. Paschal has an RAS score of 9.7, which means he is an elite athlete compared to other DL candidates in this draft. TheHuddleReport had him at 71 but they have no bio on him, so I had to look elsewhere. The only link you need to read to see why the Lions drafted this player is right here: https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/josh-paschal. If after reading all of that you don't understand the pick, then you don't understand Holmes.

Next is the Lions pick at 97. Safety Kerby Joseph was ranked 100th on my board, but doesn't have a RAS score due to limited information. TheHuddleReport.com also has no bio on this player, so once again looking elsewhere. Choosing the same site, with a slightly less than glowing bio, here is the read on the Lions late 3rd round pick, which is technically about what you would expect from a player at that spot in the draft. https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/kerby-joseph/wGwqSPGAxb Personally I think, in a year or two, he'll become a good safety, but he's not ready to start just now.

Since that was it for the Lions picks, this should be the end of my blog entry, but allow me to toot my own horn a bit. Each year I check to see how my top 100 does against Mel Kiper and others, and this year is no different. My total for 2022 was 82 right. I won't know the score of the competition for a day or three, so we'll see how I did then. Meanwhile, one other bit of info if I may.

RAS is a score that compares one athlete to the others. It consists of things like 3 cone, and 40 yard times, and long jump, and height and weight, and so forth. It is completely factual. From data less than 2 months old. Above average is usually 5.0 or higher, meaning a good athlete (not football player, athlete) is from around 5.0 to about 7.9, the higher the better. An elite athlete is 8.0 or higher, maximum of 10.0, again, the higher the better. It is no more possible to know if a player with a high RAS will do well in the NFL than an interview or a flip of a coin would. However, NFL teams DO like athletic players, so even though RAS might not prove good or bad players of football, it does have a tendency to help determine if a player will get drafted, purely by accident really, teams don't use RAS score as far as I know.

Oh, I forgot my point. There were 105 selections in the first 3 rounds of the 2022 draft. At 100 I had 82 right (drafted before pick 101). The next 5 picks were taken from my board ranked 93, 74, 58, 209 and 158. That means a total of 20 picks were beyond my top 100 list after 105 picks. Of those 20, eleven were elite, seven were above average to real good, and two were not scored due to lack of information. That leaves none at average or below average. I'll say that again. Of the 20 players taken later then my rank of 100, not one was an average to below average athlete. Does that mean they will have successful NFL careers, you got me, but they did get drafted. There are more elite and good athletes remaining, but there are also 4 more rounds of drafting to go, what happens next should be interesting.

As for the what the Lions will do, my guesses at this point, a cornerback, a backup offensive tackle and/or guard, and a blocking style tight end. Instead they could go in any direction, this is just my guess. Saturday will show what they are really thinking.

Day 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft and the Detroit Lions

Day 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft is in the books. The Detroit Lions came away with their original number two overall pick (no trades) and chose Edge Player Aidan Hutchinson (the number one player on my big board) from Michigan. He is a Campbell/Lions type of player. Loves the game. Never stops. Wants to keep getting better. All the things the Lions want in a player. For his bio, check this out: https://www.thehuddlereport.com/blog/?p=2118

I figured that either Walker (first overall pick by the Jaguars) or Hutchinson was going to be the Lions pick almost a week ago, and that is how it worked out. Hutch was the overall number one player on my draft board and the Lions got him with the second overall pick. If they can coach him up, and I have no reason to believe they can't, he could easily become a Lion to remember for all those watching during his career. As with any draft pick, he could fail utterly, but it is much harder to fail if you are willing to work hard, play hard, and learn from good coaching.

Yes, I like the pick, though I would have liked about a handful of other options too. One of those "can't go wrong" things, possibly. There are no guarantees in the draft.

As the night proceeded suddenly it was announced the Lions had traded up, to 12, from 32. I dreaded learning what it cost. I only realized later on that the Lions traded with a division rival in the Minnesota Vikings. A huge no-no. You don't trade with division rivals. The Lions did, and according to the value charts, actually came out on top, if you care about that sort of thing.

The cost to move up 20 spots in round 1 was to move down 12 spots in round 2 AND to completely give up to the Vikings the 2nd overall pick in round 3 (number 66). I don't know yet who the Vikings will take at 66, and that will play into the value of this trade heavily, but for now just know I absolutely HATE trading two draft picks for one draft pick. That's like trading two dollars for one dollar in my book. True it doubles the odds that you have a counterfeit buck, but I just don't care for it in a general sense.

So the Lions trade two picks to move up and then select a wide receiver. Not just any WR but Jameson Williams, who tore his ACL just a number of months ago. So an injured player. In the first round. Trading away two picks to do it, along with moving down 12 spots in round 2. I was/am not happy about that.

Now, having said all that, Williams is a very fast WR (when his knees are working). He gets open, is a bit underweight but not under height (you can't grow taller but you can gain muscle mass), and he has good hands and plays fearless, when he can actually walk. So it may take some time to heal, to get into condition, to learn the NFL from an injured position which is harder than from a healthy position. But eventually, it is quite possible, the pick will be a huge difference maker on a team that needs that sort of player. There are asteriks all over the place on this pick, it is a gamble, it was a target, it might work out great, or not. Most believe it will work out great, I have no reason to think overwise, but I'm a Lions fan, my thinking on this type of situation might be rather skewed, to say the least.

Williams was the 13th player on my board, despite his injury. The Lions selected him 12th. So the tally to date is, got the 1st place player second and the 13th place player twelth. No reaches, no falling into the lap. The Lions are worse off for round 2, and lost out an early third round pick, so there is ground to be made up, and I'm curious to see what is made of day two. Nervous yes, but curious also. Who will they target next and what will the cost be?

Oh, and Williams bio? Here you go... from the same source... https://www.thehuddlereport.com/blog/?p=2290 and you might note, that at 1.40, it makes him the best player in the draft based on film alone (no defensive player scored above 1.41 and no offensive player either). So at least one person thinks the Lions did fantastic, and others will surely follow.

Me? I'm still upset about the trade. The drafting of an injured WR in round 1. And having to consider I just might be wrong. That part really sucks.

The 2022 Detroit Lions Roster, What are the Real holes in it?

In order to complete this blog entry I visited the Lions depth chart at https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/pfdepthchart/DET and then compared that to what a team needs at https://www.nfl.com/news/ranking-each-position-s-importance-from-quarterback-to-returner-0ap3000000503855 based on importance. Free agency is about half way over (pre-draft) and the Lions have 9 picks in the upcoming draft so allow me to talk a bit about what the team has and needs (as far as starters go).

QB Jarrad Goff. Do I think he's the complete answer at quarterback? Probably not. But he will be the starting QB for 2022 regardless, and if he proves to be better than in the recent past, he might be the QB in 2023 as well. Meanwhile, the rest of the team needs to be worked on and at some future point, whoever is at QB, will benefit from these improvements.

Designated pass rusher 1 (RDE/ROLB) The actual position depends on what defense the team operates. The Lions are paying Romeo Okwara to be the starter here, with Michael Brockers and him rotating in and out. To this point that isn't working too great, considering the importance of the position, and Brockers is looking to maybe hit free agency next year. A first round draft pick at this position is not entirely out of the question.

Left tackle Taylor Decker. Lions extended his contract and he's been playing the position very well (when not injured). I doubt there are any plans to insert a different player at this position any time soon.

Left cornerback Amani Oruwariye. There is talk about extending his contract this year and his play has improved each of the past two seasons. He isn't exactly as household name or called an island, but until he loses a step he should remain the top CB for the Lions.

Wide receiver 1 DJ Chark. If he can stay healthy this new Lion could prove to be the solution to the top WR position on the team. I am uncertain though if he's the pro bowl type or if he can stay healthy, so depth here is a major concern (his backup is Kalif Raymond).

Defensive tackle Alim McNeil, last year's third round draft pick, is the current favorite to be filling the 6th most important position. He will need to improve his run defense and command double teams to prove it though, and it's unknown if he can do that. Next to him plays last year's second round draft pick Levi Onwuzurike, a much larger player, perhaps better suited for the double team and run stuffing role... but boy if the both of them could up their play and both do well, the defensive line would be boosted an aweful lot.

Running back D'Andre Swift, when healthy, is a force to be reckoned with. The Lions have pretty good depth at RB as well, I don't foresee too much draft capital being spent here.

Designated pass rusher 2 (LDE/LOLB) Charles Harris was re-signed to fill this role, and he was improving last year as time went by, he gets rotated in and out with Julian Okwara (3rd round 2020). Should the improvement continue for both of them this position could be considered well outfitted.

Middle linebacker Derrick Barnes, the 4th round pick from last year, needs to take that next step if he's to be the main starting MLB for the Lions. If the Lions are in the 3/4 scheme he would play next to Alex Anzalone and at times Jarrad Davis. The depth at LB is about as questionable as the starters, so a draft pick or even two at LB isn't out of the question, but neither is the Lions saying they are set out of the question. It all depends on how well they feel about who is going to step up.

Tight end TJ Hockenson is set to have a great season, just like last year, if he stays healthy. There is a lot of potential in the depth behind Hock, no one knows for sure though if they will produce (or can block well).

Free safety Will Harris is definitely a weak link in the defense and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Lions look to upgrade the position and make him fight for his starting role.

Weak-side linebacker Jarrad Davis, if that is what he ends up playing, can fill a gap and blitz. I'm just not sure he is the full time answer for the Lions, and I wonder if the Lions are wondering that too, enough to use draft capital on LB (as explained earlier).

Right tackle Penei Sewell was last year's first round draft pick and after a rocky start proved to be every bit a great RT for the Lions. I fully expect that development to continue and the Lions not worrying too much about this position.

Right cornerback Jerry Jacobs? Ifeatu Melifonwu? I fully expect last year's other 3rd round draft pick to win this positional battle, even though Jacobs played okay later in the year last season.

Right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai plays RG quite well, but was signed to a RT contract. The cap hit to cut him was too steep before and now he's proven his worth at RG (and emergency backup RT) so for now that position seems to be filled.

Wide receiver 2 or possession receiver Josh Reynolds won the job late last year when Quentiz Cephus went down with an injury. I think the Lions consider this position filled.

Center Frank Ragnow along with backup Evan Brown is about as solid of a position on the roster as the Lions can get. No changes foreseen.

Strong safety Tracy Walker III was recently re-signed and is set to fill this starting role.

Strong-side linebacker is probably Chris Board but no one is sure who will be the starter or even if it matters as the Lions aren't likely to play with 3 LBs on the field at the same time too often, they might, but it's not likely.

Left guard Jonah Jackson is not all pro material, yet, but he seems to be holding his own. If the rest of the line plays better then he does the OL will be pretty good for both the run and the pass.

Nose tackle Alim McNeil and John Penisini were talked about above, I think the Lions are pretty much set at this position.

Wide receiver 3 or the slot WR Amon Ra St-Brown was last year's 4th round pick and even as a rookie proved he is the starting slot WR. I look forward to watching him be a 2nd year player for the Lions.

Kicker Riley Patterson proved me wrong and became a solid kicker for the Lions last year. I think they actually found a diamond here.

Punter Jack Fox has also proved to be the guy at punter. No changes foreseen here either.

Return specialist Igwebuike? Raymond? or someone new? Lions haven't exactly proven they have the perfect return specialist just yet. If a draft pick can also return he might be more coveted then an equal player who can not.

The last two not mentioned in the article the Lions are also set at, Long Snapper Scott Daly did well last year as did Fullback Jason Cabinda who was re-signed to that position.

So what upgrades are needed? It differs for different people. I'd say the Free Safety for sure, a designated pass rusher, and a cornerback are up there, in no particular order. Followed closely by a deep receiving threat, a linebacker or two, and perhaps more cornerback depth, heck depth everywhere, but only depth that can actually beat out the current depth players.