http://www.freep.com/article/20090324/SPORTS18/90324028/It+s+in+the+air++Stafford+Lions++No.+1 I gotta say reading this makes me happy. IF we draft him, we'll finally have a franchise QB and CJ will have a real QB throwing him the ball. If CJ can get 1300 yards and 12 TDs with Kitna, Culpepper, Stanton, DanO, and Henson throwing him the ball, getting a real QB will make him one of the best WRs ever. I'm not exaggerating and their is no homerism involved in that statement. I'm serious.
These dipshits haven't learned anything from Matt Millen, huh? BUILD THE LINES. STAFFORD CAN'T HIT JOHNSON IF HE'S ON HIS BACK WITH 3 DEFENDERS ON TOP OF HIM EVERY OTHER PLAY.
No doubt. It sucks if the Lions take a QB at #1, they have to forfeit all the rest of their draft picks. I hate that rule. The line isn't that bad. They do need to replace Backus, and they HAVE to get a left guard. In my biggest fantasies they'd replace Dom, but for some reason every single coaching staff loves him so I must be over-analyzing how he gets zero push at the line and has costly penalties at the worst times. The main reason why the line has been bad isn't just a lack of talent on the line, it's due to QB play. Look at the sack numbers for every Martz led offense. It's always at the top in the league for sacks allowed. Then mix in a dipshit QB like Kitna and Culpepper who are notorious for holding the ball waaaaaay too long because the clock that is supposed to be going off in their head is broken. Those guys are turnover machines because they hold onto the ball way too long and throw the ball into coverage too much. If they draft Stafford, he most likely won't take a snap until at least half way through the season and Schwartz will protect him with a run heavy and short passing attack. There's ways of masking a poor offensive line and good teams do more with less than the Lions have because their coaching is superior.
The best lineman come at the beginning of the draft, and that's J. Smith and Monroe. You build the lines first, and that will help Kevin Smith drastically. He put up 1000 yards last season without a left tackle or guard, and a subpar center. Meanwhile, good quarterbacks are found buried in the mid to later rounds all the time. Did Miami take the QB last year? No, they opted for Jake Long, used him as the anchor to build their o-line, and look what kind of season they had. 12th in total offense and 11th in rush ypg, as opposed to 28th and 23rd the year before, and improved by 10 wins.
On the other hand, this year's O-line class is very comparable to last year's, which was excellent. Jake Long was a tremendous pickup with the first pick, but there was some very good linemen picked up later on in the first round (Clady and Otah come to mind immediately). The Lions have enough draft picks to get similar sort of value. If Miami could re-do the draft with complete hindsight, do you think they'd take Jake Long or Matt Ryan? That's not to say that I think Stafford will be the next Ryan (I honestly know very little about him). But if the Lions believe that this kid can legitimately lead this team into contention in the near future, I think they're perfectly justified in taking him over an OT.
I'm a firm believer that the line has to not be a mess before you draft what you hope is the franchise quarterback. I think Miami would not have changed anything about the 08 draft, and I can't blame them.
Fair enough. However, I think that Detroit has enough first-day draft picks that they can adequately address both needs, regardless of whether they choose a QB or O-lineman first overall. It all comes down to their scouting and judgment, which has been notoriously poor for years.
The odds of finding a QB 'buried in the mid to later rounds' is around 2% over the past 20 years or so. 1-50. That's not good odds. What do you think Detroit has been doing for the past 50 years? 3 QBs drafted in the 1st round in 50 years. That's pathetic. You attitude of just grabbing a QB later and having to draft Olinemen high to get a good player is so far off, and it's completely ass backwards in trying to build a football team. You don't have to spend the #1 overall pick to rebuild the offensive line. You mean the same Dolphins that brought in former 1st rounder Chad Pennington who had his 2nd great comeback season? I attribute the Dolphins great offensive success to having a competent QB rather than just 1 anchor on the edge of the line. It's funny how Pennington choked in the playoffs and the team lost. Why didn't Jake Long just carry them to the Super Bowl? Oh yeah, the QB is the most important position on the football field. A great QB will make a mediocre line look great. Edit: Also you don't think their jump in the running game wasn't getting a healthy Ronnie Brown back and a clean Ricky Williams. A lot of things came together for the Dolphins last year to turn that around. It wasn't just Jake Long. The reason why the Dolphins drafted Jake Long #1 overall is because he was their #1 prospect. The same Bill Parcells drafted Drew Bledsoe #1 overall. You take the best player in the draft that warrants the #1 pick.
What about the Falcons? They had a terrible line the year before and managed to put a patchwork offensive line to protect Matt Ryan. You use good playcalling and teach your young QB not to force anything and just take what the defense gives you and protect the football. It's a winning formula until your QB can learn to read NFL defenses at a higher rate.
Or option B, take the lineman this year, and the quarterback next year. Falls right in with my setting the table theory. A QB that ran hot and cold in New York was brought in and had a career best season in Miami. Why do you think that is? Uhhhhh... no. Ronnie Brown's 07 season was cut short. Before the injury, he was on pace for about 1300 yards. Ronnie Brown was not the x-factor. Which, in this draft, is Jason Smith. He'll be a better LT than Stafford will be a QB.
I saw the line comment that a great QB makes his line look great and the first name that came to mind was Ben. Homer pick and all. Our line fuckin sucked. Max Starks and Justin Hartwig were our best lineman, and they are average at best. So BlazerBlood is 100% right there.
Sacks allowed are not the end all for stats due to several factors such as scheme, playcalling balance, and talent of Olinemen and QBs. But here's something to chew on. 49ers-55 sacks allowed LT-Joe Staley 1st rounder Lions-52 sacks allowed LT-Jeff Backus 1st rounder Bengals-51 sacks allowed LT-Levi Jones 1st rounder Steelers-49 sacks allowed LT-Max Starks 3rd rounder Patriots-48 sacks allowed LT-Matt Light 2nd rounder Rams-45 sacks allowed LT-Orlando Pace 1st rounder Vikings-43 sacks allowed LT-Bryant McKinnie 1st rounder Why didn't all these 1st round LTs protect their QB better? Edit: You stick Peyton Manning or a healthy Tom Brady behind those lines and they don't give up half those sacks. And the reason why Ben gets sacked too much is because he's pretty terrible at throwing timing routes. His bread and butter is freelancing and making broken plays into big plays. If Ben didn't have his size and strength, he wouldn't be in the league. The guys is just ridiculously strong and mobile and can make things happen with his arm and legs. He's like a much bigger Jon Elway.
On a random tangent, how was Gosder Cherilus for you guys this past season? Is he a long-term piece for this team?
He's strictly a right tackle. THanks to our brilliant coaching staff, Gos only played in a little over half the games. I do think he's a rock and he's got a nasty mean streak. He's a keeper, but only on the right side.
But Ben aint a great QB. For every Peyton and Palmer there are ALOT of Harrington's and Young's That is scary and we need this pick to work out.
Stafford in my opinion is a very safe pick. If you look at the long line of busts at QB and you factor in pro-style offenses and experience, the overwhelming favorite in this draft is Matt Stafford. You throw out spread QBs like Tim Couch, Vince Young, & Andre Ware, and you throw out QBs with limited experience like Akili Smith, the bust rate of QBs are much much less. Also Matt Stafford is not only physically gifted, he's one of the most intelligent QBs to come out in a long time. He's been groomed to be an NFL QB since he was in high school. He's a film junky and has been totally committed to football his entire life. He's very mature and wants to be one of the best QBs. . You want the "safe" pick, but every pick has a risk. For every Orlando Pace there is a Tony Mandrich, UT's Mike Williams, or a Robert Gallery. You want to be even safer and throw $35 million guaranteed at Curry and make him the highest paid LB in the NFL and you don't know if he'll be the next Quentin Coryatt or Aundrey Bruce. You've gotta minimize risk, but not so much that you are afraid to take the best player. Matt Stafford has all the tangible qualities and intangible qualities that you look for in a #1 pick. The ONLY knock against him is his inconsistency, but he was only a true junior last year and his growth curve has been great. If we sit him for half a season behind Culpepper and be sure to land a starting LG, and a pass catching TE, and mix in plenty of playaction passes and a heavy dose of Kevin Smith and Mo Morris, Stafford will be fine.
For the sake of the Lions I hope you get to bump this thread and say "I told you so" He didnt show me anything last year. (Allbeit the only Georgia game I watched was the Cap One bowl) Threw alot of INT's even with a great RB and WR's. I would rather get Smith, then draft that kid from Ball State or West Virginia.
