Draft Picks: Round 1, Pick 1; Round 1, Pick 20 (from Dallas via the Roy E. Williams trade); R2, Pick 1; R3, 1; R3, 18 (via Dallas); R5, 1; R6, 1; R6, 20 (via Dallas); R7, 1
Roster Strengths: OLB, WR, RB
Roster Holes: QB, CB, OT, OG, DE, FS, SS
What they should do:
The Lions are the first NFL team ever to go 0-16, many of those losses came via blowouts, the front office is in disarray, and there is no quarterback of the future currently on the roster. Atfirst glance, Detroit would seem like a team destined to remain in the cellar for at least a few more years. However, in our estimation, the Lions are far from being the least talented roster in the league. Armed with several returning young, talented players and plenty of prime draft picks, Detroit is a few shrewd moves away from being a very competitive, perhaps even feared, football team not in the distant future, but as soon as next season. Skeptical? Ask all of the teams that chalked up a 'W' when they saw Atlanta on the schedule in 2008 how that worked out.
Move #1: Trade for Matt Cassel.
Our first move as pretend GM in Detroit? Trading our second 1st round draft pick (20th overall, from Dallas) and our 3rd rounder (or 4th if New England would bite), to the Patriots for a Mr. Matt Cassel. With no quarterbacks in the draft that we deem an immediate solution to our quarterback problem, choosing to trade for our franchise QB in Cassel over rolling the dice by drafting one is not a difficult decision to make. Not to mention Cassel's prototype build, huge potential, proof of effectiveness, and 4 years studying under one of the greatest QB's of all time.
So why would Bill Belichick accept this trade offer? Tom Brady is coming back. Belichick values picks over veteran players, especially if he has a capable replacement (in this case, a top 5 all time player at his position in Brady), and this is the draft position that Belichick prefers the most - he doesn't want to overpay like the teams in the top 10, so he gravitates towards the 15 - 25 range in the draft. We agree with Belichick on this philosophy, but we feel like we have the opportunity to really better our team by moving this pick.
So this leaves us holding the first overall pick, fresh off a press conference announcing the new quarterback to lead the Lions out of the wilderness. What do we do next? We protect our investment.
Move #2: Draft Andre Smith
LT, Alabama
The Lions has several glaring holes on the roster, and while we filled a huge one by bringing in Matt Cassel , we still need to improve a shaky (at best) offensive line. Enter Andre Smith. Smith, an absolutely mammoth (6’4”, 340 lbs) left tackle out of Alabama, is battling Michael Oher, Eugene Monroe, and Jason Smith for the top tackle ranking in this draft class. All should turn out to be fine players, but we here at The Daily Bomb like Smith the most. That’s why we’re shoring up the left side of our line with a battle-tested SEC tackle to protect Cassel ’s blindside. These first two moves should improve our offense by leaps and bounds, so with the first pick in the second round, we’ll turn our attention to the other side of the ball.
Move #3: Draft Clint Sintim
DE/OLB, Virginia
It seems like every year there is at least one pass rusher who falls to the “end of the first round, beginning of the second round” area. Our guess for this year’s is Clint Sintim, who we like a lot as a pass rusher but will be somewhat one-dimensional on the next level. However, we are not looking for Sintim to be an every down player, necessarily, but we expect him to be very effective as a situational pass rusher. Sintim is the type of defender we expect to surprise a lot of people by getting between 7 and 9 sacks as a rookie – and by being a big piece of our plan to reshape our defense. As our first two moves greatly raised our confidence in our offense, we’ll continue to firm up the defensive side of the ball with our 4th move, the 18th pick in the third round.
Move #4: Draft Ziggy Hood
DT, Missouri
We're huge fans of Evander Hood here at TDB. Hood plays with huge determination and a nasty streak that helps him punish blockers on a consistent basis. Combined with a killer spin move, his angry playing style has us sold on Hood's pro potential. He's somewhat underrated and flying under the radar now, and probably will through the draft, which is why we expect (and hope) to be able to snag a great addition to our budding defense here in the middle of the third round.
