The Lions trade down five spots with Denver to draft Duke University guard Laken Tomlinson. What the Lions got for their 23rd overall pick was a former player Manny Ramirez and a pair of 5th round picks, one in this draft and one in next season's draft.
As the draft played out Thursday night one thing seemed obvious, the Lions were not in position to draft a big named star unless the player had some red flags. La'el Collins the big offensive tackle from LSU is being questioned about the murder of his ex-girlfriend. Although the police have said that he is not a suspect it is still a red flag.
About Laken the person. Seems to be a tremendous young man with his head on straight. Highly motivated and intelligent. Looks to be a leader on and off the field. The kind of guy you hope that your daughter would bring home. He graduated from Duke majoring in evolutionary anthropology and psychology and wants to attend medical school.
About Laken the player. 6'4 330 lbs, He is smart and very strong, but he also has some technique flaws. He is durable starting 52 straight game and has a nasty streak to him. All the things in want in your offensive linemen. The only question is how will he fit with the Lions and their blocking scheme?
Like I said earlier Tomlinson started 52 straight games but all those games were at RG. The Lions are in need of a LG. Does it really matter what guard position he played in college? Yes, somewhat. Right guards are asked to be road graters and run blockers, the Lions have that in Larry Warford. What the Lions will ask Laken to be is more of a pass blocker and know who to give support to, the left tackle or the center. The Lions employ a hybrid of sorts in their blocking schemes. They trend to go zone blocking for the most situations but they also use man on man techniques as well. It will be a lot to ask a rookie player to do and how well Laken can learn to be a left guard will go a long way for an offense that was 17th in the NFL last season in yardage while allowing Stafford to be sacked a career high 45 times.
Overall my grade on this pick is a C+. I actually gave Laken a B+ but considering the trade that brought back Manny Ramirez an aging under producing vet that will cost the Lions 3 million towards this season's cap really downgraded this pick for me.
Just me thinking outside the box a little here. I think almost all Lions fans expect Laken to play LG. But what if the FO brought him in to play RT? That would make more sense with acquiring ManRam who is a far better LG than he is RG or C. Seems to me that Laken skill set might be closer to a RT than a LG at this moment. Why would you make a trade for a player and pay him 3 million to be an insurance policy?
ReplyDeletegood questions,. I wonder what it means for the oline too as the guy I am seeing Laken compared to , Warford , was great in the old oline scheme but didn't he struggle before getting injured in the new scheme? will they be changing scheme? man ram coming back is a good addition but hilarious and mayhem wondering why they let him go… wash't he a part of that decision?
DeleteI like they went lineman, and don't mind if it was a reach- especially if he ends up being good. the trade for some added picks was nice. I wonder how it was so easy to happen after all these years of being told it's hard to trade down … was it because the Lions never were in the right spot to trade from?
the new blocking scheme relies more on finesse, that is why Sims, Dom, and Warford all struggled with it and Reiff who is more athletic did fine with it. Tonight will be interesting seeing if Ali Marpet or AJ Cann is still on the board when the Lions draft. To me both of those guys would be better LG prospects
ReplyDeleteif they double down with those guys I think I'll be happy about it… spending resources on the oline, not a bad thing even if the picks bust
DeleteI love this write up. Far and away more even handed than I would be able to produce in reference to this kid. I think he was a reach. A big reach at that. Yes, he fills a need but that need has been filled far later in the draft than the late first round of the draft. Just look at Warford. We got him in the third and he worked out just fine.
ReplyDeleteThis pick screams desperation reactionary drafting to a problem. It does not scream BPA or anything close too it.