2023 NFL Draft

[moldyoldie]

Wow, they got Hendon Hooker in the third! Holmes is a drafting magician!

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They also took DT Broderic Martin out of Western Kentucky at 96. 330 Pounder.

[moldyoldie]

It's like the Lions flip-flopped rounds, we take projected second-rounders in the first and projected first-rounders in the second and third! That's considering Hooker to be QB #2 in this draft barring his ACL.

I shut things down last night thinking our boys were done for the third round after taking Hooker, but noooo, Chef Holmes was preparing dessert and traded back up at the end of the round. I have to read up on this defensive wide-body Martin.

From what I can tell at this point, we have only two picks in Rounds 4-7. I'd like to get a big speedy WR since that room is suddenly depleted after Bettinggate. Looking at you, A.T. Perry of Wake Forest.

[MWmetalhead]

I'm not particularly happy with the selections the Lions made last night. They drafted the wrong guy at TE (the jackasses should've drafted Mayer) and gave up too much capital for Martin. I'm not that much of a fan of the Hooker pick, either. In my opinion, they should've used that pick for a guy who's actually going to see appreciable playing time this coming season, not a guy who may or may not be a QB of the future. I realize I'm in the minority in terms of holding that viewpoint.

The one pick from yesterday that I do really like is Branch.

Pivoting back to day one, PFF gave the Lions low scores for each of their two first round selections (although, an argument could be made PFF was too harsh on the grade for the #18 pick, especially since LB is a position where the Lions needed more talent):

https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2023-nfl ... ound-picks

[moldyoldie]

For what it's worth to anyone, following the Hooker pick draft guru Daniel Jeremiah tweeted that the Lions have taken five of the top fifty players on his big board.

On Broderick Martin, PFF deems him to be "a discount store version of Jordan Davis". I take that as praise.

[MWmetalhead]

Jake Moody to the Niners in round three. Interesting that a kicker was drafted so early, but Moody is worthy of such a selection.

[moldyoldie]

Jake Moody to the Niners in round three. Interesting that a kicker was drafted so early, but Moody is worthy of such a selection.

Only worthy to a team who has everything and can afford the luxury. I love it that they can win with Mr. Irrelevant at QB -- so much for the unquestioned primacy of the quarterback position.

[MWmetalhead]

Tough to argue with any of that.

[MasterB]

I really liked Brian Branch pick thought he would've also been taken in the 1ST surprise he fell to us at pick 45, and I like the Hendon Hooker pick which would've gone sooner if he didn't get injured.

[moldyoldie]

I'd like to get a big speedy WR since that room is suddenly depleted after Bettinggate. Looking at you, A.T. Perry of Wake Forest.

Well, we didn't get Perry, but we did get another big deep threat out of the ACC, Antoine Green of UNC in the 7th round.

We didn't get one of the top-rated guards, but this big RT Sorsdal out of William & Mary looks like he could compete for a backup O-lineman role with Stenberg who's been a big disappointment. We still have Nelson. It looks like they're happy with Vaitai and/or Glasgow at RG.

In my opinion, Holmes hit this draft out of the park! Keep an eye on the UDFAs brought in, that's where the true hidden gems are found. CB Jerry Jacobs is a prime example.

[MWmetalhead]

Lions draft grades from national outlets:

Sporting News ranked the Lions' draft sixth best overall and assigned a grade of "A."
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/new ... ohxjoz37yv

Chad Reuter of NFL.com was highly critical and assigned their picks a grade of C+:
https://www.nfl.com/news/2023-nfl-draft ... l-32-teams

PFF.com softened its remarks of a couple days ago and graded their total draft B+:
https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2023-nfl ... -teams#DET

DraftKings liked the picks as a whole and gave the Lions a grade of A-:
https://dknation.draftkings.com/2023/4/ ... ns-jaguars

The New York Post lwas very unpleased with day one (which it graded a "D"), and gave the Lions a "C" grade overall:
https://nypost.com/2023/04/29/2023-nfl- ... xan-score/

[MasterB]

I saw an article on Yahoo today giving the Lions an F for their draft overall.

[moldyoldie]

I saw an article on Yahoo today giving the Lions an F for their draft overall.

I saw that article. Once again, it was based on the arcane notion of "positional value" and a player's positional ranking, not on how a player fits within a team's scheme, positional needs, and "culture". The writer readily admits his grade could be proven to be topsy-turvy in time.

[MWmetalhead]

A grade of F is unreasonable. My grade probably would be a B or B-.

[MichMash]

Keep an eye on the UDFAs brought in, that's where the true hidden gems are found.

The Lions apparently signed UDFA QB Adrian Martinez, the former four-year starter at Nebraska who transferred to Kansas State as a fifth-year eligible. Good dual-threat QB at Nebraska. Interesting note in the PFR link below that Martinez can serve adequately as a scout-team QB who can mimic other running QBs (namely, Justin Fields) in practice.

https://www.profootballrumors.com/2023/ ... with-lions