MITCH ALBOM PONDERS HOW THESE O-LINEMEN BECAME SO POPULAR
Even with the draft’s fifth pick, the Lions can’t catch a break
Lions Luck.
You know what it means. Loosely translated, it’s whatever can go wrong usually will, including bad things (an 0-16 season), innocent things (a coin toss) and even supposedly good things (like a No.5 pick in the draft).
That’s where the Lions select tonight. They earned this spot the old-fashioned way – by losing. A lot. They were 4-12 last season.
Most years, a team with that bad of a record will need a spark from the glamor positions – quarterback, running back, wide receiver, pass rusher.
But guess what? It just so happens the Lions are fine in those spots. Got a great young quarterback, Matthew Stafford, the No.1 pick four years ago. Got a superstar wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, the No.2 pick six years ago. Got an explosive young pass rusher, Ndamukong Suh, the No.2 pick three years ago. Got an exciting new running back, Reggie Bush, the No.2 pick seven years ago.
Usually, with those jobs filled, you’d figure a No.5 pick is like having a No.1. Let the other teams fight over the passers, rushers, catchers and sackers. When No.5 comes, you’ll have your choice of the best player in the country – at whatever position you need, right?
Wrong.
Lions Luck.
Lucky to get the third-best tackle?
This year, of all years, there are no quarterbacks, no running backs and no wide receivers in the 10 best players, according to Scout Inc.’s ranking system.
And in almost every mock draft, not a single quarterback, running back or wide receiver is projected to be in the top four picks.
You know how many times that’s happened this century? Zero. You know how many times a quarterback has been No.1 the last four years? All four.
But this year the Lions need an offensive tackle. And guess who’s projected as the top pick in the draft?
An offensive tackle.
Guess who’s projected as a No.2 pick in the draft?
An offensive tackle.
As completely ludicrous as this sounds, the Lions must be hoping the third-best offensive tackle will “fall” to them at the No.5 pick.
How do “fall” and “No.5 pick” and “offensive tackle” land in the same sentence?
Lions Luck.
Of course, Detroit is in this situation partly due to the retirement of Jeff Backus and the departure of Gosder Cherilus. Cherilus was a first-round pick in 2008. He never worked out. Backus had been here forever. He hung ’em up.
Thus a team that used its No.1 pick last year to select an offensive lineman (Riley Reiff) now finds itself looking for … an offensive lineman.
Lions Luck.
Lucky to land in the top 10 again?
Here is where it stands. The highest-rated player, according to many draft experts (and when I say many draft experts I am stopping at the first 400,000 draft experts) is Eric Fisher, the OT from Central Michigan. That’s right. Central Michigan. You probably never heard of him until recently. There are folks in Mt. Pleasant who never heard of him. It’s hard to get famous when your helmet is mostly a foot off the ground.
But Eric Fisher – who could drive to Ford Field – is projected by many analysts as the top pick tonight, joining players like …
Peyton Manning and John Elway in the history books.
Which means he won’t be driving to Ford Field.
The second projected pick then is Luke Joeckel, the OT from Texas A&M.
Joeckel is 6-feet-6, 306 pounds. Fisher is 6-feet-7, 306 pounds. So, by my calculations, that’s 13 feet and 600 pounds worth of player that the Lions won’t get – even though they pick fifth.
They could get Lane Johnson from Oklahoma, who is 6-feet-6, 303 pounds and is, get this, a converted quarterback. How a quarterback winds up at 303 pounds is a story in itself.
And we may be telling that story tonight. Or we may see something completely unexpected. That’s the thing about the draft. It’s 364 days of predicting, and one day of asking yourself how Mel Kiper Jr. could be so off and still have his job.
It’s unpredictable. But one thing is not. Lions Luck. How else does a team get a top 10 draft pick eight times in the last 11 years – and still need another one?
Contact Mitch Albom: 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com. Catch “The Mitch Albom Show” 5-7 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).
MITCH ALBOM PONDERS HOW THESE O-LINEMEN BECAME SO POPULAR
Even with the draft’s fifth pick, the Lions can’t catch a break
Lions Luck.
You know what it means. Loosely translated, it’s whatever can go wrong usually will, including bad things (an 0-16 season), innocent things (a coin toss) and even supposedly good things (like a No.5 pick in the draft).
That’s where the Lions select tonight. They earned this spot the old-fashioned way – by losing. A lot. They were 4-12 last season.
Most years, a team with that bad of a record will need a spark from the glamor positions – quarterback, running back, wide receiver, pass rusher.
But guess what? It just so happens the Lions are fine in those spots. Got a great young quarterback, Matthew Stafford, the No.1 pick four years ago. Got a superstar wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, the No.2 pick six years ago. Got an explosive young pass rusher, Ndamukong Suh, the No.2 pick three years ago. Got an exciting new running back, Reggie Bush, the No.2 pick seven years ago.
Usually, with those jobs filled, you’d figure a No.5 pick is like having a No.1. Let the other teams fight over the passers, rushers, catchers and sackers. When No.5 comes, you’ll have your choice of the best player in the country – at whatever position you need, right?
Wrong.
Lions Luck.
Lucky to get the third-best tackle?
This year, of all years, there are no quarterbacks, no running backs and no wide receivers in the 10 best players, according to Scout Inc.’s ranking system.
And in almost every mock draft, not a single quarterback, running back or wide receiver is projected to be in the top four picks.
You know how many times that’s happened this century? Zero. You know how many times a quarterback has been No.1 the last four years? All four.
But this year the Lions need an offensive tackle. And guess who’s projected as the top pick in the draft?
An offensive tackle.
Guess who’s projected as a No.2 pick in the draft?
An offensive tackle.
As completely ludicrous as this sounds, the Lions must be hoping the third-best offensive tackle will “fall” to them at the No.5 pick.
How do “fall” and “No.5 pick” and “offensive tackle” land in the same sentence?
Lions Luck.
Of course, Detroit is in this situation partly due to the retirement of Jeff Backus and the departure of Gosder Cherilus. Cherilus was a first-round pick in 2008. He never worked out. Backus had been here forever. He hung ’em up.
Thus a team that used its No.1 pick last year to select an offensive lineman (Riley Reiff) now finds itself looking for … an offensive lineman.
Lions Luck.
Lucky to land in the top 10 again?
Here is where it stands. The highest-rated player, according to many draft experts (and when I say many draft experts I am stopping at the first 400,000 draft experts) is Eric Fisher, the OT from Central Michigan. That’s right. Central Michigan. You probably never heard of him until recently. There are folks in Mt. Pleasant who never heard of him. It’s hard to get famous when your helmet is mostly a foot off the ground.
But Eric Fisher – who could drive to Ford Field – is projected by many analysts as the top pick tonight, joining players like …
Peyton Manning and John Elway in the history books.
Which means he won’t be driving to Ford Field.
The second projected pick then is Luke Joeckel, the OT from Texas A&M.
Joeckel is 6-feet-6, 306 pounds. Fisher is 6-feet-7, 306 pounds. So, by my calculations, that’s 13 feet and 600 pounds worth of player that the Lions won’t get – even though they pick fifth.
They could get Lane Johnson from Oklahoma, who is 6-feet-6, 303 pounds and is, get this, a converted quarterback. How a quarterback winds up at 303 pounds is a story in itself.
And we may be telling that story tonight. Or we may see something completely unexpected. That’s the thing about the draft. It’s 364 days of predicting, and one day of asking yourself how Mel Kiper Jr. could be so off and still have his job.
It’s unpredictable. But one thing is not. Lions Luck. How else does a team get a top 10 draft pick eight times in the last 11 years – and still need another one?
Contact Mitch Albom: 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com. Catch “The Mitch Albom Show” 5-7 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).
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