Grading the Detroit Lions 2022 Draft

[Motor City Sonics]

It's absurd to grade a draft before anyone has played a game.   It's nearly as absurd to grade it after the draft class' rookie season. 

3 years is fair

With that in Mind.   

Round 1 -  ED Aidan Hutchinson.    A+    Game-changer.  Let's hope he stays healthy

Round 1 - WR  Jameson Williams   B+.   Rocky start with injures and suspension, An A+ when he's on the field

Round 2 - ED Josh Paschal   C+    Hasn't been healthy enough, and he doesn't change games, but a solid rotation guy

Round 3 - S Kerby Joseph  A+   He's another game changer

Round 5  -  TE James Mitchell   D  - He didn't make an impact, even for a 5th rounder

Round 6 - LB  Malcom Rodriguez  A-   For where they drafted him, he's been a very positive player

round 6 - LB/ED James Houston  B   One trick pony, flash in the pan, but for a 6th round guy, we got something good

Round 7 . CB  Chase Luas Inc -  He was a 7th rounder, what do you want? 

 

A

 

An outstanding draft.  4 positive impact players, 2 of them stars.   If Josh Paschal can be a little better, then this is kind of an epic draft.

 

This is why I don't really question what appears to be some strange picks this year after the first round.    I completely trust Brad.  He turned this team into one of the best in the NFL - THROUGH THE DRAFT - in 3 years -  and it does get harder when you pick later, the cost of being really good.      With this year's draft they had fewer mid-level picks because they moved picks to go get specific guys they wanted.    If they wanted those specific guys, there must be a reason for it.   And as others have said - Brad has built the roster so well that they really don't need those picks anymore.   Not many places to put them.    

 

[MichiganCardinal]

Aidan Hutchinson: A+

Can't ask for anything more. His injury possibly cost us a Super Bowl. I hope he gets the DPOY that he was on track for last season.

Jameson Williams: B  

A lot of bark and little bite until last season when he finally showed his potential. There might still be meat on the bone too, which makes this a difficult grade. The off-field struggles and immaturity (both on and off-the-field) negatively impact this grade too. I worry about paying him the kind of salary that he will demand, and that has to impact my grade for a top-ten overall pick.

Josh Paschal: C    

I'd like more out of where he was drafted at #46 overall. Looking at the players drafted after him, there are a handful I would prefer. Part of me still wonders if David Ojabo would have been the pick, reuniting him with Hutch, if he didn't go to Baltimore the immediately preceding pick. Health has been part of it, but I agree with the assessment of him as just a rotational player, which you hope for more in the 2nd round. At the same time, I think there is part of him that is doing what he's there to do. He first and foremost plugs the run. He does it well when he's out there. I would just still like to see more.

Kerby Joseph: A+  

Love myself a good bounty hunter pickup in the late 3rd. He's possibly the best safety in the league, even if his faulty reputation hurts him.

James Mitchell: D  

I expected more out of Mitchell. His lack of contribution and exit stage left was disappointing.

Malcolm Rodriguez: A   

You can't ask for more out of a 6th rounder. He's not a revolutionary player, but he's the kind of guy you want on your team.

James Houston: B

What an enigma this guy was. If you had told me in the middle of his run of sacks that he'd be the first Holmes draft pick released in the era, I'd have figured he committed an atrocious crime off the field. It's hard to grade him higher than a B when he's not on the team anymore, but he gave us some entertainment for a little while, and what more can you ask of a 6th round pick?

Chase Lucas: B

He's still in the league, so hard to grade harshly. Would be better if you can find someone who can contribute on your team, but you can't win them all.

Overall: A-

It's not 2021, which I graded an A+, but it's still a very good draft - the kind that leads to championships. They did their job in picking up a game-wrecker at #2 overall, and then effectively added to the team, in a significant way, with Jamo, Kerby, and Rodrigo, along with no true busts before the 5th round. Still, the Jamo and Paschal picks leave a little something to be desired, and I'm not sure either will be here past this year. I'm not saying I could do a better job, I couldn't. But I think an A means like damn near perfect, and I don't think it was quite that.

[RedRamage]

I'm with MC here vs. MCS.

Regarding rating philosophy: In situations like this I think we're evaluating the front office, not the players, so things like pick round/number definitely come into play here. A decent player picked in round 1 isn't good. That should be a star player. A decent player picked in round 6 is very good.

Injuries aren't always easy to predict, unless the player has a history of them in college. Then it's fair to knock the front office for a player who's oft injured in the NFL.

Off the field issues are tricky too, but I think part of the front office's job is to evaluate who is mature enough to be given multi-million dollar contracts and will handle it well.

Now having said all that:

• Hutch is an easy A+.
• Jamo is a B for the reasons MC states. If you trade up and draft a guy high in the first round you better be sure of his physical talent and his mental make up. The mental side is holding me back from giving Jamo a higher grade.
• Paschal gets a C- from me. Injury history that the FO (I think) assumed wouldn't be a big deal, but has. When he's been healthy he hasn't performed great.
• Joseph: A+ only because there's no grade higher. a 3rd rounder who's performed like a 1st.
• Mitchel: D makes sense... you don't necessarily expect a star player in the 5th, but he should at least be a contributor and he never really was.
• Houston: B+ Yeah, he was only a flash in the pan, but for he flashed mighty bright and he was 6th round pick. I look at it this way: If we drafted a guy in the 6th round who was a roll-player who gave us 2 sacks a year for 4 years... who wouldn't say that that's a value pick in the 6th round? 
• Lucas: B- He's a 7th round pick so any regular production is a bonus, but... we never got great production out of him. Even when our CBs were dropping like flies Lucas still didn't see much action at all. I won't expect more than depth for a 7th round guy... but when we really needed depth he still wasn't the guy they turned too to play corner, so I'm knocking him down a bit on that.

Over all I'm going with an A- as well. You got a star in Hutch, but 2nd overall should be a star. You also got a star in the third round, so those right there are great results. But you also have another high first round that hasn't quite lived up to that high of a pick imho, and your 2nd rounder has also been spotty. That drags down the score just a touch.

[MichiganCardinal]

Comparing to 2021 as well, we didn't really get anything out of our UDFAs after this draft. Obinna Eze has hung around the league, and is now with the Jets. Everyone else we pick up as UDFAs is either retired or playing in the Great White North.

In 2021 we picked up Brock Wright and Jerry Jacobs as UDFAs.

[RandyMarsh]

I give it a B+. The Jamo pick is really the thing keeping it from an A for me. 

He hasn't been a complete bust and I still think he is going to be a difference maker but as of now he hasn't produced nearly as much as you want and expect from a person drafted that early. Also even though it didn't cost that much it still cost something to trade up so you need to factor that in as well.

If he puts up another 1K season with a bunch of impact plays next year like he did this past one I probably will bump that grade up but as of now I can't give that pick anything more than a B- or C+.