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keep one of the league’s top playmakers
in Balance Discussion Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:45 amby elaine95 • Farseer | 399 Posts | 3990 Points
ALLEN PARK Qadree Ollison Jersey , Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Lions have been nothing if not persistent in the NFL draft.The Lions picked an offensive lineman in the first round for the fourth time in seven years. Then they took a running back in the second round — the fourth time since 2010 they’ve drafted a player at that position in rounds one or two. They eventually moved on to the defense, but for Detroit, this draft was clearly an effort to improve the running game.“I think it’s supply and demand,” general manager Bob Quinn said Saturday. “Look at the board, I’d say, quite honestly, there was much, much more depth along the offensive line and at running back than there was at pass rush, and the pass rushers came off pretty early, and then there’s a huge drop-off.”Detroit picked center Frank Ragnow of Arkansas , running back Kerryon Johnson of Auburn and safety Tracy Walker of Louisiana-Lafayette on the draft’s first two nights. The Lions entered Saturday with only two picks left, but they traded into the fourth round and took defensive end Da’Shawn Hand of Alabama.Then Detroit added offensive lineman Tyrell Crosby of Oregon in the fifth round and fullback Nick Bawden of San Diego State in the seventh.Crosby faced some questions about his injury history, and he wouldn’t say how many concussions he’s had. Neither did Quinn.“I don’t actually know off the top of my head,” Quinn said. “But he came in, another guy that had the physical at the combine, passed the physical at the combine, came in here for a visit a few weeks ago, met our doctors and he’s cleared.”Some other things to know about Detroit’s draft:KINDRED SPIRITS: The Lions made two trades with New England, moving up eight spots in the second round Friday and then trading into the fourth Saturday. That makes six trades between Detroit and the Patriots since Quinn took over the Lions after the 2015 season.Quinn had served in a variety of roles in player personnel for the Patriots.“It’s really easy to work with people you know, right?” Quinn said Friday night. “You call some teams and it would take like 30 minutes to do a trade because they can’t make a decision. I’m just telling you how it is. Some teams you can call and you can get it done in like 30 seconds.”SEC FOCUS: In his three drafts, Quinn has picked eight players from the Southeastern Conference. That includes five of Detroit’s six picks in the top two rounds in that span.“I know I’m in Big Ten country here. I’m going to tread lightly here. The SEC has a great brand of football Ed Oliver Jersey ,” Quinn said. “I think when you watch SEC football, it’s probably the closest thing in terms of scheme to the NFL.”HALF-DOZEN: The Lions had only six picks in the draft this year, their fewest since they took five players in 2011.POSITION SWITCH: Bawden was another example of Detroit’s effort to improve its running game. He actually was a quarterback at San Diego State before switching to fullback. He said he had to gain weight and started cooking his own meals. That led to a question about what he knows how to cook.“I can cook a chicken, like sweet potatoes, veggies, just really basic meals,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to taking cooking lessons, so I can learn how to cook with all the spices, and all the sauces and make everything really good. But I can definitely cook for myself, but I don’t know if someone else I cook for is going to love it because it’s pretty plain.”STILL NEED: The Lions didn’t address their defensive front until the fourth round and didn’t add any linebackers. They have a top cornerback in Darius Slay but may need to upgrade across from him. Detroit used a second-round pick last year on cornerback Teez Tabor, but he made only one start as a rookie.—— INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — This year’s class of quarterback prospects isn’t as sexy as last year’s group led by Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Nor does it feature the tantalizing talents of next year’s headliners: Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Jake Fromm.There are a few passers who merit first-round consideration, but what teams will see an abundance of at the NFL scouting combine this week are the players who will make their living chasing, corralling and clobbering quarterbacks.“To me, it’s all about big guys,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “Premier talent and depth at the defensive line position, inside, outside, it’s outstanding. And it carries deep into the draft.”It’s not only the rush, but the push.Defensive ends led by Ohio State’s Nick Bosa and Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell are prized pass rushers, but nowadays players such as Clemson D-tackles Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence are just as highly valued for their interior pressure.“I think we’re getting to the point in this league where we’ve become such a pass-first league that you take those guys wherever you can get them Cody Ford Jersey ,” said Mike Mayock , who parlayed a 14-year run as the NFL Network’s draft guru into the Oakland Raiders‘ general manager’s job.Mayock said he’s spoken to just about every top quarterback in the NFL since 2004 and he’s asked them all the same question: What bothers you the most?“And almost every top-flight quarterback says, ‘immediate pressure up the middle,'” Mayock said.“It disturbs sight lines, forces you to readjust your feet. So, I think we’re at the point now where people are throwing the ball so much that you’ve got to find a way to affect it regardless.”Broncos new coach Vic Fangio concurred, saying it’s no longer enough to have two great pass rushers such as Denver’s duo of Von Miller and Bradley Chubb.“You want four guys that the quarterback can feel caving in on him,” Fangio said. “And that’s critical in the pass rush. And that’s an area that we need to improve in.”There’s plenty of those players in Indianapolis for interviews, physicals and testing this week.Despite the down year for QBs, there’s still plenty of intrigue at the position thanks to Kyler Murray, who followed Mayfield from the state of Texas to Oklahoma, won the Heisman Trophy like Mayfield did, and is now following the Cleveland Browns‘ starting QB to the NFL after spurning the Oakland Athletics.“He’s a guy that, once again, people are going say is small and too short, but the kid knows how to win,” Mayfield said. “When it comes down to it, that’s the most important thing.”After committing to football over baseball, the biggest questions surrounding Murray this week aren’t about ability — “Kyler can make every single throw,” Jeremiah insisted — but his height and weight.So his weigh-in Thursday will garner as much interest as anything else this week.Is he really under 5-foot-10? Has he really bulked up to 206?Murray, Dwayne Haskins Devin Singletary Jersey , Drew Lock, Daniel Jones and Ryan Finley all project as a solution to somebody’s quarterback quandary despite the relative weakness of this year’s QB class.The scouting combine always seems to come on the heels of another Super Bowl parade for New England. As usual, Bill Belichick isn’t among the coaches and general managers who will meet with the media, so football’s focus moves on to other topics:BROWN’S TOWN:Where will Antonio Brown play next season? Don’t count out Pittsburgh. Or, for that matter, Baltimore, Cincinnati or Cleveland. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said he’d prefer to keep one of the league’s top playmakers in Pittsburgh. If he does trade Brown, he’d rather deal him out of the AFC North.But …“If a team comes through with the best compensation, we have to balance that out: OK, we’re going to play him twice a year, but we’re going to get the best compensation,” Colbert said.RAIDERS PLANSDon’t expect the Raiders to use one of their three first-round picks on a quarterback after Mayock’s high praise of Derek Carr on Wednesday.“I think it’s really difficult to improve over a franchise quarterback like the one we have in our building right now,” Mayock said.ELWAY’S QB CAROUSELFor the first time in four years, Broncos GM John Elway attends the combine knowing who his quarterback will be. He has a trade in place with Baltimore for Joe Flacco once the league year begins March 13.Just like last year, when the Chiefs had a deal pending that would send Alex Smith to Washington, the Broncos and Ravens are barred by NFL rules from discussing the matter, making for an awkward situation as both teams dance around their franchise’s biggest offseason story line.
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