NYLion

There goes Benton.

Same here. Him or Adebawore and I'm good for the rest of this draft. Keion White still there too.

The Lions have ridiculous depth on this roster. RB, TE, LB, the entire secondary, WR when Jamo returns, starting O-Line is high level. Loaded Really want to see a D-Lineman at 55, some good names could be sitting there.

Probably one of the 5ths

LOVE the Brian Branch pick. Not the most athletic but he's a playmaker and has that Dawg that this staff, and fans, will love. Valuewise this makes up for the 1st rounders. If they took Branch at 18 and Campbell at 45, it looks fine.

Ok gotcha. I can see why this would give people Hock flashbacks but I think LaPorta is more dynamic. Of course it was hard to tell because Iowa didn't have a QB worth a damn but he looks the part.

Backup TE? Who's ahead of LaPorta on the depth chart?

100%

I knew the Lions would pick a TE in the 2nd and I don't hate it. More weapons for Goff is a good thing, the offense is going to be STACKED when Jamo returns and that's pretty exciting even if the TE pick isn't super exciting. Need to get some mean fat guys for the trenches now.

They're a Tight End factory and offensive line factory so they've had plenty of successful offensive players at the NFL level.

That's not "uh oh" at all, Best was a great player the rare times when he was healthy and already had injury red flags coming into the draft that I believe Gibbs doesn't have. I'm not championing the pick (I've made my negative opinion on these picks known) but if Gibbs is a Best level player, that's a good thing.

He's a MIKE. It does make the Anzalone signing a little more confusing now because they both play the same exact position. The linebacker room is all of a sudden very crowded along with the running back room so I'd have to think there's some maneuvering to be done to clear up the clutter.

Also, I wonder if Holmes would have taken Gonzalez had the stupid Patriots not sniped him at 17. That was probably the biggest gut punch for me tonight, seeing him so close to the Lions and then hearing his name called right before 18. Oof. If they were that high on Witherspoon, I'd have to think that Gonzalez was a consideration had he been there at 18. Now I'm hoping for Porter at 34 but, of course, the Steelers are drafting 32 so you just know they'll take him.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm baffled by this draft and not just the Lions but in terms of the Lions picks, took two players at less than premium positions way before they were projected to go. Of course, there's a lot of variance in every teams' board especially in this draft where there are very few legit 1st round talents but my first reaction to both picks was "WTF?". I actually thought they would trade up for Gibbs late in the 1st and might take Campbell at 48 but 12 and 18 I did NOT expect. This seems very "smartest guy in the room" but we'll see, I'm just a fan so what do I know and Holmes has a good track record so we'll just trust in him. I'm not sure why they had to throw the 3rd in to the Arizona trade even with a 5th coming back. I thought 6 for 12+34 alone was fair but, again, what do I know, I'm just a fan. I do like that they have three 2nds so I assume we'll see some trench heavy picks tomorrow but it's Holmes so who knows. Also, Swift has to get traded now I'd think. They didn't draft Gibbs at 12 to redshirt him. This is Montgomery and Gibbs backfield now. Also, passing on Carter and allowing the Eagles (a team they're chasing) to get him could be a fatal mistake. Then they get Nolan Smith, Eagles just killing it.

You draft for long term stability at a position, not for next year. The Lions have one corner signed beyond next season in Sutton so it's a long term need even if Witherspoon might not start right away. With that said, I agree that I'd pass on corner at 6 but Witherspoon might very well be BPA with all of Anderson, Carter and Wilson likely gone so I wouldn't hate it. Guard is another long term need, not a fan of taking one in the 1st but if it's in a trade down scenario I don't think it's that bad. I honestly don't see many scenarios that will make the fanbase really happy outside of Anderson or Carter being taken. The draft is bereft of high impact players and one of the few high impact players available is Bijan Robinson which most would hate because he's a RB but I personally would be fully onboard with at 18.

How is that idiotic? Witherspoon is the most likely pick at 6 (just about everybody is mocking him to the Lions now) and Torrence seems reasonable if they trade down.

Get out of my head. I was also thinking that they trade up for Gibbs but into the 1st round ahead of Dallas not in the 2nd. I predict Witherspoon (I think a consensus is forming there) and Van Ness at 18 with them giving up 48+55 for 25+late pick perhaps so... Witherspoon, Van Ness and Gibbs. Not ideal but not the worst either.

Spoelstra is the best in the business and I'm not sure it's all that close. It does help when you have arguably the best clutch player in the league in Butler but that guy can coach, always squeezes the most out of his players.

A healthy Giannis and it's a different story although Miami is really tough minded. I know they lost Game 4 with him but he didn't seem quite himself.

There has been some fun games but there's not a lot of drama when you know who's winning the series. Wolves-Nuggets was fun for a few games but we knew who was winning that series, Hawks-Celtics was a fun Game 5 but it's just delaying the inevitable same with the Clippers had they pulled out Game 5. Kings-Warriors and Lakers-Grizzlies have been hugely entertaining because of close games and drama but when half the series are already decided before they begin, it's hard to get too excited for that IMO.

I think the chances of Richardson becoming a superstar are remote. QBs with that level of inaccuracy succeeding at a high level in the NFL are big outliers. I'd take the limited physical package of Young (the size outlier) with very high processing skills and accuracy over the more toolsy Richardson (the accuracy outlier) even for upside not accounting for floor. I see the upside for Young vs. Richardson as something like Brees vs. Newton. I know who I'd take between those two.

This is my issue with the NBA as opposed to other sports in the 1st round. Every year, it seems like around half the matchups are foregone conclusions either due to mismatches or injuries. There was no way the Clippers were beating the Suns with the injuries, that the Nets would beat the Sixers, Wolves over Nuggets or Hawks over Celtics (the Celtics basically gave away Game 5). The playoffs usually get better later on as the matchups even up but the 1st round is the weakest of the major sports IMO.

Goff and Ryan are multiple Pro Bowlers that led their team to a Super Bowl. Even the best prospects of all time had that level of QB as a floor, there's no guarantee that any prospect will be a perennial league MVP candidate. Stroud's ceiling is in that Goff/Ryan tier IMO, I don't see elite NFL QB upside.

Yeah, they got swindled. And 17 spots up to 6 should be more expensive than 20 spots up to 12.

My issue with the Minnesota offer is value. That's the type of offer I'd expect from a team in the mid 1st (15-18 area) but to drop 17 spots and to, on top of that, hand a QB to the Vikings I'm asking for their 2025 1st in addition. If not, I'm perfectly content staying at 6 or dealing with somebody else.