Lions 2023 Draft Class

[CookieG]

The Lions did what was right for the Lions.

 

They followed the old Bill Walsh maxim in drafting.."I don't want to hear where you have the guy slotted, I want to know how he helps our team".

 

They already built their Oline into a very good one.  They wanted a RB who could turn a 5 yard gain into a 20 or 30 yard gain; They got that.

They knew they couldn't overhaul their entire defense in one season or one draft so they concentrated on their run D. They went from 29th in run D in 2002 to 2nd in 2023;

They got an early start in building their defensive secondary;

They absolutely nailed their choice in a TE.

 

The results aren't even arguable.  This is a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in forever, 2 years ago they won 3 games.

 

This year, they were within a whisker and a 2nd half meltdown of making it to the dance.  Few expected them to win their division..much less be in the NFC championship game.

 

Damned, there are about 25 teams that can be criticized for their draft choices...the Lions aren't one of them.  Rather than worry about whether they can afford Gibbs 5 or 6 years  from now...maybe they should pay attention to what the Lions got right...because they got an awful lot right...

 

I can guarantee that other GMs are going to revisiting the Lions draft history for the past few years, to figure out how they did it.

 

 

 

 

[GunnerBill]

2 hours ago, CookieG said:

The Lions did what was right for the Lions.

 

They followed the old Bill Walsh maxim in drafting.."I don't want to hear where you have the guy slotted, I want to know how he helps our team".

 

They already built their Oline into a very good one.  They wanted a RB who could turn a 5 yard gain into a 20 or 30 yard gain; They got that.

They knew they couldn't overhaul their entire defense in one season or one draft so they concentrated on their run D. They went from 29th in run D in 2002 to 2nd in 2023;

They got an early start in building their defensive secondary;

They absolutely nailed their choice in a TE.

 

The results aren't even arguable.  This is a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in forever, 2 years ago they won 3 games.

 

This year, they were within a whisker and a 2nd half meltdown of making it to the dance.  Few expected them to win their division..much less be in the NFC championship game.

 

Damned, there are about 25 teams that can be criticized for their draft choices...the Lions aren't one of them.  Rather than worry about whether they can afford Gibbs 5 or 6 years  from now...maybe they should pay attention to what the Lions got right...because they got an awful lot right...

 

I can guarantee that other GMs are going to revisiting the Lions draft history for the past few years, to figure out how they did it.

 

 

 

 

 

What would have been better for the Lions is drafting a stud corner with one of those first two picks.

 

I have LOVED their draft work in 2021 and 2022 and I loved their second round in 2023. But a running back and a 1980s linebacker with two top 20 picks is bad draft strategy.

Edited February 1 by GunnerBill

[FireChans]

On 1/30/2024 at 11:47 AM, MJS said:

They had a great draft. And they proved all the "draft gurus" who hated their draft wrong. Good for them.

I’m not sure they did. Gibbs obviously had a great year, but trading up for a top 12 pick is about value, not having one good rookie season. 

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, CookieG said:

The Lions did what was right for the Lions.

 

They followed the old Bill Walsh maxim in drafting.."I don't want to hear where you have the guy slotted, I want to know how he helps our team".

 

They already built their Oline into a very good one.  They wanted a RB who could turn a 5 yard gain into a 20 or 30 yard gain; They got that.

They knew they couldn't overhaul their entire defense in one season or one draft so they concentrated on their run D. They went from 29th in run D in 2002 to 2nd in 2023;

They got an early start in building their defensive secondary;

They absolutely nailed their choice in a TE.

 

The results aren't even arguable.  This is a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in forever, 2 years ago they won 3 games.

 

This year, they were within a whisker and a 2nd half meltdown of making it to the dance.  Few expected them to win their division..much less be in the NFC championship game.

 

Damned, there are about 25 teams that can be criticized for their draft choices...the Lions aren't one of them.  Rather than worry about whether they can afford Gibbs 5 or 6 years  from now...maybe they should pay attention to what the Lions got right...because they got an awful lot right...

 

I can guarantee that other GMs are going to revisiting the Lions draft history for the past few years, to figure out how they did it.

 

 

 

 

If the Lions miss the playoffs next year because they have zero DB talent, will we revise this take?

 

I get that long term thinking isn’t sexy in the NFL. But James Cook had a better yards/touch in the NFL than Gibbs did. And James Cook was an end of the second pick while they traded up for Gibbs to #12.

It’s just bad strategy. It doesn’t mean the player isn’t good. I love Gibbs, he has tons of pop and is fun to watch. 

KC picked CEH at the end of the first as a luxury pick in a move that was pretty roundly criticized. They won the Super Bowl two years later, and are back in another one. It was still the wrong pick from a strategy perspective.

[OldTimer1960]

On 1/30/2024 at 12:11 PM, Dubie54 said:

What a difference maker this draft class was for the Lions:

 

Round 1, Pick 12 — RB Jahmyr Gibbs

Round 1, Pick 18 — LB Jack Campbell

Round 2, Pick 34 overall — TE Sam LaPorta

Round 2, Pick 45 overall — DB Brian Branch

 

The rest of their draft was not much but these 4 guys were amazing, particularly Gibbs and LaPorta. I think LaPorta could become another Kelce type dominant TE for years.

 

It sure would be amazing if we could find 4 guys who could step right in at Saftey, WR, LB and DT draft this year. 

 

 

Those 4 picks occurred significantly before the Bills’ 2nd pick.  Not really a realistic expectation for the Bills to hit like that.

[TBBills Fan]

On 1/30/2024 at 12:43 PM, ngbills said:

Not just 2023 draft. Look at 2021 and 2022. Brad Holmes has done an excellent job. In  these three years they added:

 

QB - Goff (Trade)

RB - Gibbs (2023 Draft)

RB - Montgomery (2023 Free Agent)

WR - Williams (2022 Draft)

WR - St Brown (2021 Draft)

TE - LaPorta (2023 Draft)

OL - Sewell (2021 Draft)

 

DL - Hutchinson (2022 Draft)

DL - McNeil (2021 Draft)

LB - Campbell (2023 Draft)

LB - Anzalone (2021 Free Agent)

LB - Barnes (2021 Draft)

DB - Branch (2023 Draft)

DB - Joseph (2022 Draft)

DB - Sutton (2023 Free Agent)

 

Plus a bunch of other guys that see the field all brought in the past couple seasons. 

 

 

Is that 15 of 22 starters damn nn

[Flipnmi]

On 1/30/2024 at 12:19 PM, Billl said:

La Porta is already the second or third best TE in the league.  Great pick.

Not sure about that, but La Porta did have a really nice year.  I really liked him last year and was hoping we could get him in the 2nd round. That said, his skill set is more redundant to Knox's, so at this point, I believe Kincaid gives us more diversity at the position and I also believe Dalton will prove to be the better of 2 very good players in the long run.