Fantasy Football Daily - Detroit Lions Day 1 and Day 2 Draft Scenarios with Jeremy Reisman | On the Clock! NFL Draft Podcast

Episode Date: March 30, 2023

Brett Whitefield (@BGWhitefield) goes back to his roots and discusses his first love, the Detroit Lions. He and good buddy Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) of @PrideOfDetroit break down some ideal early draft scenarios for the Lions and their five picks in the first three rounds. BRETT WHITEFIELD'S 2023 NFL DRAFT PROSPECT GUIDE IS FREE TO READ WITH A NO-CHARGE LOGIN AT FANTASY POINTS. Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. Use our code FANTASYPTS to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5! https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time to the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Welcome into another episode of On the Clock. I am your host, Brett Whitefield. And today we are joined by Mr. Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit. Jeremy, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Brett.

Good to see you, bud. Good to see you, man. I've been a long-time guest on your show. It feels great to have you on mine. Yeah, it's a roll reversal here. But yeah, I'm always happy to talk football with you. I think you make me a smarter football fan. And I hope that I can do at least a little.

I think there's something I can give you. I'm not sure what, but I think there's something. I mean, you invited me here. So clearly there's something I bring to the table. Yeah. So for those listening, that don't know Jeremy. Jeremy is a beatwriter on the Lions beat. He runs the Pride of Detroit site for SB Nation. He has a fantastic podcast and Twitch stream. If you are NFC North or Lions focused, I highly recommend checking it out. It is it is topped here content. But we're starting a new series on the show as we get closer to the draft. I'm going to be having beat writers on the show representing various teams. They're going to come on. We'll talk about team specific draft scenarios so far to this. point Jeremy we've been having a lot of draft analyst types on the show to talk about you know we will

break down three or four players on a given on a given episode and that's kind of been the format so far occasionally we'll hit like a mock draft review I think we did uh Daniel jeremiah's mock 3.0 on the show last week but now this we're going to be adding this to the mix so hopefully going to get all at least a beat writer from the every team on the top 10 yeah show so we'll talk today we're going to be talking Detroit Lions specific draft scenarios here. And I didn't really prep you with much, Jeremy, other than, hey, just bring some names of some guys you like and kind of an ideal draft scenario.

But before we get into that, I want to ask you, for agency's been going on, but pretty much at the tail end of it now, there might be a couple, you know, minor additions. Although I did see Clayas Campbell pop up as a name the Lions are talking to. Yeah, I think there was a rumor. And then I think it was debunked or like falsely reported or something. But I wouldn't be surprised to see the lines add some defensive line talent still because they didn't do a lot there in free agency.

They mostly retained guys. And general manager Brad Holmes during the owner's meetings this week even said something like, hey, Isaiah Bugs played too many snaps for us last year. Yeah. And so they didn't add anyone to that position yet. So I know Calais is kind of an inside outside guy kind of guy, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them add an inside guy, whether it's in free agency or one of the guys maybe we talk about today. For sure. And when you start to look at the depth chart, and I know Brad just specifically said,

you can't look at the depth chart. But there's not a ton of wiggle room on the D-line. They have a lot of guys under contract, a lot of guys that are making decent money. They just renegotiated two contracts there in Romeo Aquara and Charles Harris. They brought back John Kaminsky. They brought back the aforementioned Isaiah Bugs.

So, yeah, maybe interior D-line. They have a spot there. I know how do they feel about Benito Jones? I don't really know. but it seems like a young, promising guy that could maybe carve out a back and a roster role for them like you did last year. Yeah, I think that's accurate. Yeah, like, do you see any way possible they sign an edge or draft an edge? They've got what, like nine under contract?

It's a good point. I don't think they're going to sign one. I'm not taking edge completely off the board in the draft, though, because that was actually a position Holman specifically talked about. He's like, when I was with the Rams, we just kept adding defensive linemen, and it worked. Like that's how you end up with an Aaron Donald, right? As you just continue to draft guys like that, doesn't matter how many you have on the roster. Because, you know, you look at what the Lions have.

A lot of those guys aren't going to be around. They may have restructured Charles Harris' contract and Romeo Quares. But him, those two probably aren't on the roster next year. Julian O'Quarr might not be on the roster next year. So there's definitely a long-term minor need there. They still have Hutchinson. They still have James Houston. They probably have Kaminsky for the next.

couple years at least. They're not desperate. Yeah. Pascoll and maybe Levi, like, I mean, maybe they're hoping that Levi owns Zerike is healthy. I'm sure they're not banking on that. But I think there's enough future need there to not take it off the board completely. Yeah, I agree with that. And I think one of the traps a lot of NFL teams get into as well is you draft the guy.

He ends up being pretty good, but not great. and then you give them that second contract, and it's very expensive, and you're not really ever going to get more production than he already gave you. So I think continuing, you know, I don't want to say a revolving door, because you do want to retain good players,

but sometimes that contract number gets so high that you're just better off rolling with a younger guy. If you keep adding to that room, it takes the pressure off. It's like we don't necessarily have to resign a guy coming up on contract if we have someone waiting in the wings to take that over. And that's exactly what they did with the Rams for a while. Then they finally hit on a couple of,

guys that were just superstars and then they rolled of that. They had Robert Quinn for a while before his injuries. That dude was a monster as well. So all right, well, let's so they hit the secondary really hard. Do you think that that takes secondary off the board at six? I don't.

Not at all. And it's kind of the same reason, right? Like, you filled your short term need there. You got CJ Gardner Johnson, you get Cameron Sutton, you get Emmanuel Mosley, all those guys. I think the only one that you can guarantee is going to be on the roster next year is Sutton, right?

The other two guys were one-year deals. You don't know how Mosley's going to respond to the torn ACL, and you don't know how negotiate, like I think CJ Gardner Johnson's an amazing player, but you don't know how those negotiations are going to go next year, right? I feel like the Eagles probably signed him to that one year, or they got him via trade, but I'm sure they went in the off-season thing, oh, we're going to lock this guy up. He was an amazing safety. Well, it didn't work out that way.

So you can't, you can't bank on those guys necessarily being bad. obviously Jeff Okuda too is still in the mix. He's entering his final year unless the line surprisingly pick up his fifth year option, which I don't think is going to happen. So still very much a long-term need there. And so I think it's still very much in the mix as high as the six overall pick. And in fact, I think that's one of the more likely scenarios still despite what they did in free agency. Interesting.

I think the mock drafts have still reflected that. There's still a lot of people doing them, Christian Gonzalez or Devin Wetherspoon there at six. the Chauncey Gardner Johnson thing is fascinating because when you heard Brad Holmes talk about him yesterday, it is almost too much transparency because you're like, you're totally nixing yourself, have been able to negotiate with this guy next year. Because they basically said, we viewed this guy as one of the top free agents available.

We thought he would get top end safety money in the market, which is a, that's $15 to $18 million a year, really. Yeah. And they got him for six and a half. Right. That is insane. And it's almost like they're tipping their hand a little bit there.

I think if they view him that highly, they would love to re-sign him, assuming he plays well in their system this year. But you have to wonder if they won't be able to. You know, like maybe another year, another proof of concept year for CJ, and he takes himself out of the market naturally. But all right, let's get more draft focus now. So they did, you know, solidify that secondary, but you're saying it's still on the board.

Ideally speaking, and I know you're not really a QB guy for that. right now. I am and I add. I think it makes a complete logical sense. And I think where I start to push back is the risk it would involve to get maybe one of those top three guys. And you can throw Will Levis in there. Like maybe Will Levis is there at six and you, and you take a shot at him. It's just, listen, like, I'm not a huge Jared golf guy. I think he's good. I think he could probably, I mean, he's taken a team to the Super Bowl. So he could probably. take the lines to the Super Bowl. But he's not an elite guy.

You can owe, like it. And I'm definitely of the belief if there's an opportunity to improve it quarterback, you take it. But I'm also, I also kind of believe in some of the things that the Lions have been saying, which is you can get worse at quarterback a lot easier than you can get better. And that they're in a position right now where they don't need to force it. So trading up to get a quarterback, that's, I think, where I push back.

If their guy is there at six, I'm all bored. I just don't know if that guy is going to be there. right on all right so ideally then who do you think would be you know it's a guy you want at six well i think my dream scenario is that the lions do a thorough character evaluation of jalen carter and decide he's worth it and they are bringing him in for a visit um and um you know it it seems kind of crass to say but i think the off field incident is far less concerning to them than the pro day stuff, right? And maybe even some of the character concerns that they came out even before that.

I know Todd McShay was very vague in some of the things he was saying. But football character is really what matters to this team the most. And that's not something they will budge on. If there's any doubt about Jalen Carter as a hard worker once you get in the doors, that's going to take them off their board. But I don't know. And we can, we can, you know, we can depruder film his, his pro day and nitpick it to, to, you know, no end.

But at some point, you have to realize there's a human element to all of that, too, considering what he was going through. So I don't know. I don't know who he is as a, as a player. There's obviously been some good stories about him as well. And some people that say, like, you know, if he shows up on Sundays, and that, that's all He does, that might be all that matters to the lines. But to me, like, he's just such a, he on the field fit for what they need, right?

He's, he's an interior pass rush. He's a guy who can stop the run as well. He does take some of those snaps off of, I mean, Oly McNeil and Isaiah Bugs were both at one point in the season reppping 80% of the time. And you don't want your big boys like that is not sustainable. That you're going to wear your guys out by week 17 with things like that. Jalen Carter, I think, would slide in and be, I mean, he's arguably the best talent in the draft already. And to put, slide that in it, it may be arguably your only remaining need, you know, pressing need. I think that's an ideal.

I think it's a dream scenario. He is my top graded player in this draft. So getting him at six would be ridiculous. The character stuff, so I'm like an eternal optimist, Jeremy. I try to see the best in everybody. When I read the attorney report about what I actually had. happened on that night. Yeah, I came away feeling a lot better about that situation.

100%. Yeah. And then you do, you think about the pro date. And it's like, well, man, this guy is probably in some state of trauma or mourning. I mean, lost a friend, lost someone who he had worked with at the University of Georgia. I mean, and not only that, he was, you know, assisting in the, you know, I guess the, the, the wreckage, you know, sorting through that with, with the first responders there trying to. trying to help the people out i mean that there's a lot going going through his mind i i would

imagine like it wasn't easy to wake up and go do a pro day considering what he's going through so i like to be optimistic and think that we could dismiss that pro day because of those things um ultimately we don't we probably won't ever have enough information to make that call on our own right we're going to have to do their due diligence there yeah and and that's something that they have a lot of confidence in their process and that's something homes was talking about is like We're very, very thorough with that sort of thing because it's so important to them. Because football character is essential. I mean, you just look at the guys in their locker room, the guys that they've drafted in the past under Brad Holmes.

I'm on R. St. Brown is like the perfect example of the kind of guy that they want because they think the separator between a good player and a great player is that exact thing. It's that football character. It's that and, you know, that live eating and sleep football mentality. And I don't know if Jalen Carter is that guy, but the lines are going to figure out in the next month. Yeah, the term Holmes and Campbell always drop as intangibles, football intangibles. So if he has those intangibles, then he will certainly be on their board. If they didn't go Carter or say Carter ends up not being available to them, that would presume either, you know, a quarterback was there, like a Will Levis or maybe a corner.

Yeah. Probably not Will Anderson. I don't see a world where he's getting to them. but if there was a corner there, are you a Witherspoon guy or are you a Christian Gonzalez guy? Or do you not care? You just think they're both good draft whatever when you like. I mean, I think there's definitely an element of that.

I would not be upset with either one of those draft picks. I do think since we're talking about intangels, since we're talking about football character, I think Devin Witherspoon fits perfectly of what they want to do. And you look at some of the guys they signed and you look at 511, you're like, it's a little bit small for today's. Like everyone wants to be, they're 6-2, 6-3, corners. Lions assigned, I think, two or three guys, maybe all three are under six foot. So I don't think that's going to be a big hang up for this regime. And it certainly isn't for me because he plays big, right? He plays aggressive. He plays physical. And that's that's what the lions are going to want. And the point I like making now, I feel like they're primed to take a young cornerback because they have Cam Sutton in that room right now. The one thing that I thought the lions did a very poor job of. They didn't do

Jeff Okuda, right, is get a veteran in the room. Yeah. It was always a very, very young room, and it almost felt like he had to be the one that carries the burden of being the leader in that room. And obviously, he went through a bunch of injuries his first two years, too. Now they're in a position where they have guys who have not only been around the league for a while, but have had success at the next level. And so I think they're in a great position to take a young corner here.

Whether it is Witherspoon or Gonzalez, it's pick your poison. I almost want to put Joey Porter in that. conversation too because I think he's a phenomenal talent as well but I think I have a slight lean to Witherspoon. Yeah, I agree with that. I've said on multiple pods at this point, I think Witherspoon is a better scheme fit for what they're doing. Although it seems like with Sutton, Mosley, and Gardner Johnson that maybe they're leaning on playing a little more zone next year. I was kind of thinking that too, right? A lot of these guys really excelled in off coverage. Yeah. And sometimes they're still man. They're playing off man, but like they really

do well with a solid back pedal, having their eyes on the quarterback and kind of reading route concepts and things of that nature. Makes me wonder if maybe Witherspoon isn't, because I like him because he's a press man guy. He can come up and press your face, be physical to line of scrimmage.

Christian Gonzalez is more, I know he has the traits to play man, but his experience at Oregon was playing mostly off zone. So, you know, I do wonder if maybe my prior on that was incorrect and Gonzalez would be a better scheme fit. But Yeah, that's something we'll just kind of have to wait and see.

We know that Aaron Glenn is not averse to switching things up schematically, depending on the people we have. I mean, maybe you just want a little bit of both. Maybe you want guys that can play off. Maybe you guys who can play press and a little bit of both guys that can play. I think they're going to mix it up probably more than they have in the past. That much, I think, is almost guaranteed at this point. Early in the year when they couldn't get a passers going,

Glenn really relied on zero blitzes like crazy. And so he had corners out to dry. As the year went on, they did progress a little bit where they were doing that a lot less and so playing some more traditional man coverage, but more too high as well. And I definitely think that everything's on the table for them. All right, let's move on. So we're going to get through. The Lions have five top, you know, day one, day two picks. Basically, we're going to get through all five of them.

So at 18, let's say they go Jalen Carter at 6 at 18, you're probably for sure looking at defensive back there. Yeah. Yeah. I'm thinking Deante Banks. And again, you know, I think it's a culture fit. I think, again, another press man guy who I think, you know, got a little bit more size to him than the previous guys we're talking about, but doesn't really give up any of the athleticism.

Like he checks all the athletic marks, I think. And he's just another, you know, another outside corner guy who, you know, might be able to split inside a little bit. but I think he's going to make his money on the outside. And again, Lions just have a perfect setup system where they have enough veterans around him where they don't have to play these guys day one. I think that's the other point I want to make is like,

they can sit and develop these guys a lot in the way, a lot in the ways that people talk about the Lions and quarterback. I feel like they can do that with a lot of positions. Just draft and develop and let him learn behind a bunch of guys. He'll get some playing time. But I think, I think Lions fans, they see that the Lions have made such progress. They see that they're so close to,

the finish line in terms of being a division favorite, maybe even being in the top three conversation in the NFC, that let's just get this one player in the draft who's going to push them over the top, that's going to come in and immediately contribute. Like, I don't think that's what this team is going to focus on. And I think they are going to look at developmental guys. And maybe that's why you bring quarterback into the conversation here,

whether it's, I know you're a Hendon Hooker guy. Like, maybe that's a possibility here. Brad Holmes has said it multiple times. Like they are not interested in making a run. They are interested in keeping that window open as long as possible, being a consistent contender. And the way you do that is you develop guys. You consider the draft down the road.

You don't consider immediacy. And we can go right back to what Brad Holmes said, you know, this week was like, I don't want the depth chart in the room. I don't want to see who we have at each position. That's not important to me. Let's get guys that I know are going to be here in five years. And so I think Deonté Banks makes sense. right there. Yeah, I'm a huge banks guy as well.

He scores as a top 15 player for me in this class. I have this sneaky suspicion, Jeremy, that he might go higher than people think. Yeah. I could see him going ahead of Porter Jr. I could see him maybe even going ahead of Witherspoon depending on the right team. Because you don't, he's six foot, 200 pounds, absolute freak of an athlete, can play press, can play off. Like he checks out of ball production was insane as well.

Yeah. College better than Christian Gonzalez, in fact. I could see a team thinking maybe he's the second best corner in this class. But if he was there at 18, I'm all for that. You mentioned Hooker. I like Hooker as well. But, yeah, Banks would really, really be a nice fit. What they did in Free Agency really allows them to be flexible to.

Like you said, they're not forced into doing anything. And they really do need to build this for sustainability. Yeah. All right. So they're going back-to-back defensive picks start to draft. in the second round, they have two more picks. Do you think they finally turn the page and try to go offense there? They can.

Yeah. I mean, I think there are a ton of options here that makes sense in terms of fit, in terms of need, in terms of value. You can go the running back route maybe early second. I know some analytics that say you got to wait until the third. I'm kind of somewhere in the middle there. You can go tight end at this point. Sam LaPorte is a guy that I've circled.

Listen, the lines have a bunch of young inexperienced. guys at tight end and they traded away T.J. Hawkins. And I think a lot of people point to that and say, hey, they have to get a tight end. I don't think they have to get a tight end. I think they like Brock Wright. I think they like change Zillstra. Obviously, James Mitchell they drafted last year. And they still kind of waiting to see how that unfolds. But that room can definitely see an upgrade. I think they like those guys, but they could see an upgrade. Leporta is a guy that that I know they've had some interest in. And again, a very athletic guy who can, I think he probably has, you always have to work,

like Iowa tight ends are an enigma to be because sometimes they're amazing. It's, you know, and it's everything you want. You look at, I mean, it's an insane draft history. And so they develop their guys pretty well when it comes to being a two-way guys, but it's not, it doesn't always work on. T.J. Hawkinson, I think is a great example of like, at half working out. Great offensive player.

The blocking never developed like, like I think a lot of people thought he had the potential to have there at Iowa. But I think Leporta is maybe a little bit ahead of where Hawkinson was as a blocker at that time. So I think he makes a lot of sense here. I don't want to toot my own horn here, Jeremy, but I'm going to. Please. I take, this is my podcast and I always take the opportunity to toot my own horn on my podcast. So I was one of the only people in the entire draft Twitter space that raised red flags about T.J. Hockettuckett.

I think I might have been the only one, actually. Yeah. Specifically in space. Like the guy just could not cut it in space. What's weird is because he is an athletic guy. You would think he had the foot speed to mirror linebackers and like on split blocks, those unblocked defensive ends, but he just never could do it at college. And for whatever reason, people thought he was plug and play and he'd be this dominant block. locker in the NFL. I just never saw that.

Laporta loved the player. I think he gives you a lot of the similar elements in the past game that Hawkinson did. And he's probably even better after the catch. Like really good at making guys miss. My only concern with him fitting in with the Lions is, do you look at that tight end depth chart right now? I know Brad doesn't want to do depth charts. But you have Brock Wright, who is semi undersized.

He does play mostly in line though. But they do like to split them out in the slot here and there or it's an H-back type role. Then you have Mitchell, who again is another move tight end, not necessarily an inline guy. Yep. And then you have Zilstrot, same thing. He's like a tight end in a receiver in a tight end's body. Former receiver, yeah. Yeah, former receiver. Leporta is right there with those guys. He's 60, 245 pounds. It's like I love the player Leport and I wouldn't be mad if the Lions decided that was the guy they wanted.

I just, if you're trying to build a complete tight end room, I'm not sure he's the best fit. I think at Darnell Washington would be a probably, yeah. If Darnell was there, I just don't think Darnell is going to be there that late in the second. Yeah. Yeah. But he's definitely like, I guess if we're talking ideal scenarios, yeah, if Darnell Washington falls all the way down to what pick are we at 48? Yeah. Yeah, 100% down with that pick.

All right. So 55, you gave me a few names here pre-show. I think all of them makes sense. Let's just go quickly one by one. guard Steve Avila from TCU. Yeah, I think a guard is definitely one of those positions of relative need in the future. You know, they were able to maintain and retain, I should say, Halapuli Vati Vaitai, thanks to a contract renegotiation that really helped out the lines in terms of draft space or cap space,

but also retaining a guy that they really, really like. That was a guy that Brad Holmes spoke very highly of. So I think the plan is to have him as the starter. They bring Graham Glasgow to back up a couple. couple spots probably, but beyond this year, both those guys are probably gone. So again, you're talking about a long-term need here, a guy that can sit on the bench for a year, sit behind a couple veterans. Again, same kind of concept here where you're developing a guy behind guys who have seen success in this league.

And so Steve Avila, I mean, he could be a day one starter, right? He's a guy that has that much talent. And I think also fits in with what the lines are trying to do in terms of being kind of a eight mallers at 332. And I don't know. I just, I feel like that's such a good schematic fit, character fit, all the things that allow the lines to take a, and listen, I also don't think Steve Avila is going to be here necessarily. I think he might be an early day two kind of guy.

So to see him slip down for the lion's second round pick that comes from the Vikings here, might be a little bit of a pie in the sky fantasy, but I think it's, it would be a great value pick here. Yeah, Avila would be a slam dunk. One thing you didn't mention either is Jonah Jackson potentially needing either an extension or they're going to let him walk. I don't know how they view paying him. But that's a potential decision they're going to have to make as well. If you can play either spot, he can play left guard or right guard.

So that makes it even more attractive because they're probably going to have a decision at right guard next year. They're definitely going to have one at left guard with Jonah's contract expiring. So having a guy like that in the mix definitely makes those decisions easier come next off season. Another guy you mentioned was North Dakota State offensive lineman, Cody Mock. And I called him offensive lineman because he is just that. Went down to Mobile during Senior Bowl Week and played all five positions. And did so very well, actually. So for the same reasons, I could see why you'd want him in the fold.

I think the added upside with him is he gives you that swing tackle potential. Right. And I don't think the lines are necessarily happy with what they have there with Matt Nelson. and really Vaitaibh brings that for this year. But again, Matt Nelson signed a one-year deal. Vitae's deal now ends at the end of this year as well. So they're definitely going to need some depth there in the future. And so, yeah, I mean, that's probably a worst-case scenario with Mock

is that he's an OT3 on your team. But still, that's not an unimportant position on a football team, especially the lines. They certainly like to use those jumbo sets in a lot of situations. Yeah. And honestly, because Mock has the positional versatility, I suspect he'll be drafted probably a little earlier than 55.

Yeah. But yeah, you can get a, if you can get a guy like that, like this tackle class isn't very deep, in my opinion. So, like if they identified that as something, hey, we would like to add a guy to the room that can compete. Like, 55 is probably the last chance they'll get to do it. I don't think they're going to get someone in the third round

that can help this year with that. Oh, sure, you can get developmental guys, whatever. But if they're looking for some insurance, policies in case Decker goes down or Penae goes down. I think that would be the pick. They kind of have to do it. Go ahead, sorry. I was just going to say, and that kind of, that

conversation, I think, is not to back up too far here, but like Skoronsky at 6 is kind of an interesting conversation that I've seen a lot of people starting to have because he can play guard right away for you if you want or be your guard of the future if you want to stick with Vaita for this year. But then

eventually kick out to tackle, right? And And I feel like every offseason we have we have conversations about what to do after Taylor Decker. Well, he's still here. And I know he's under contract for a couple more years. But there's an interesting, I think, value conversation to be had about Skrarnski at 6 because you're probably getting two years of guard, two years of offensive tackle. Is that worth it for the number 6 pick? Hard to say. But then, I mean, you're probably doing a lot of shifting then too, right?

You're probably going to move Panay to left then. Skoransky it right. You never know how that much movement on your office. offensive line is going to work, especially when you already have something that's working pretty darn well. But at the same time, Scronsky is a dude. And so I think it's a fascinating conversation to have. Football character and intangible, Skronski definitely is a fit here.

Yeah. I mean, yeah, he's a guy. I'd be more than happy with that six. Yeah, I think the lesson to be learned is like big guys, big athletic guys that can play football. do not grow on trees. They are very hard to find. Early in the draft, this is why you see so many tackles and edge defenders

and de-tackles go early in the draft. It's because you can't find those guys in the third, fourth, fifth. It just doesn't happen. You can find corners and receivers that can play later because there's a lot more guys that size in the world than there are, Jalen Carter's or Peter Skoronski's of the world. So, yeah, I think prioritizing the bigger guys in the draft,

early in the draft makes perfect sense. And that's something that Brad Holmes has done through two years. Absolutely. And did so in LA as well. All right. Let's do last guy you threw out at 55 was Tennessee wide receiver, Cedric Tillman. I can presume this is because obviously Char could not be on the roster now. They need like a prototype X receiver to come in and play. And Tillman definitely does that well. So I think I like that. Yeah. I mean, that's probably the riskiest pick I've laid out here. And maybe this is a little. bit too much depth charting for for bright Holmes's need and maybe it's not a guy that he has circled but I just I think at some point you have to you have to think long term here the lines

can certainly get by with Jameson Williams Amon Arasame Brown and Josh Reynolds like that's that's a pretty good one two three but I think you know you got to look long term here Josh Reynolds is probably not going to be here long term you still have to kind of wait and see what you actually have in Jameson Williams and they

really just don't kind of have a big bodied guy out there to go wrestle away some jump ball so six three guy they can run pretty good. Seems like it would be a valuable addition. I feel like they've been looking for these sorts of guys. And they had an interest in bringing DJ Chark back, right? So that is a position that they value.

That is a perceived hole on their roster. But again, maybe too much looking into the depth chart when Brattleham specifically said he's not going to do that. Yeah, I think... I would say it's definitely a neat. but it's also a position you we learned early in this this regime that you don't want you don't want to ever not have enough pass catchers on your team right and golf especially if golf is going to be the guy like we've seen him with not a lot of pass catchers it's not pretty right that's true for

most quarterbacks it's not a slam against golf it's true for more back there's like there's not many patrick mohomes in the world that can make what he just had to deal with and win a super bowl with with that supporting cast there's not a lot of those guys in the world so So my friend Steve Pelazola at PFF always says, you should never look at a team's depth chart of past cestards and say, eh, we get enough guys here. Right. It doesn't matter.

If you have five, you should go for a sixth. If you have three, you should go for a fourth. So like I'm totally cool going receiver at any of these picks, to be honest with you, whether it's six, 18, 48, 55 doesn't,

does not matter to me. One name I would throw at you as that prototype X is A.T. Perry from me. Yeah. Is my comp for him is actually. DJ Chark. So if they liked what they were getting in DJ Chark, I think Perry would be a tremendous fit in the offense. How early would you go for him?

I'd go 55. I'd go 48. Really? 48 or 55 right there. Yeah, he's got a firm round two grade for me. So. Okay. Yeah. All right, let's wrap this up with pick 81. This was almost predictable for me. Pre-show when you told me you wanted to go running back here. I knew you'd go running back somewhere with these picks.

Yeah. It makes sense, though. especially if they get this player, I feel like this is really good value. And that's, that's Tulane running back, Taj Spears. Yeah. I mean, I think at some point the lines have to start considering life after DeAndre Swift. And because running back is a plug in play position, they can kick the can down another year down the line if they don't like this. The guy that they want doesn't fall to them.

And thankfully, we avoided the Bijan conversation at 18 here. But, yeah, no, I think Taijay is, I mean, he's got. crazy athletic scores, 5-11. So, you know, probably, you know, we'll bring, I think, a good enough compliment in the passing game to give you also kind of that explosive big play potential that they'd be losing in Dandre Swift, assuming they don't re-up his contract at the end of this year. So again, it's about filling a long-term need here. It's about getting a guy that can sit for maybe a year and have a rotational role in year one. and then you really get the value in those year, two, year three, year four of those working contracts. And yeah, I just think it's a good fit.

It's good value here. If he's available, this might be a situation. Like I'd also 100% throw his ex-sharboning into this conversation, even though he's kind of a little bit of a different back. I think those are both good value picks in the third round, especially with my whole allegiance with the analytical side that you should probably wait until day two. maybe late day two to grab a running back in today's NFL. Yeah, the NFL is cyclical, though. And I think what we've seen, especially lately, is running backs aren't as replaceable as they were. You look around the league at the starting running backs in the NFL, most of them were drafted on day one or day two.

It's actually pretty crazy how capital has kind of swung the opposite direction there. Obviously, you've got outliers like, you know, Austin Eckle, of the world who came out of nowhere. But that is becoming less common at running back, especially with the committee approach teens are taking. Very role-specific running backs. And you talked about Tagee being a DeAndre Swift replacement. Well, like, how many DeAndre Swift's replacement?

How many DeAndre Swifts are in the draft every year? Like, so if that's a role you value, you're going to have to take a guy pretty early because those guys just, you know, there's not a lot of freaky dudes that move like that on planet Earth. So Taje would be a great fit. He went down to Mobile. I think there's some untapped potential there.

in the past game, he went down the mobile and just destroyed everybody running routes. He had a play where it actually looked like he teleported. Those one-on-one drills obviously are designed for the offensive player to win, so it's not super surprising to see players have success in those opportunities. But Tajay was on another level, just shredding linebacker, shredding safeties one-on-one. So I think there's some untapped potential there. Also, for an undersized guy, he handled a pretty big load at Tulane with, out any injuries, nothing.

Right. And we know that's going to matter, especially after dealing with Swift for four years being on and off the field. For sure. For sure. All right. I think that is going to do it, Jeremy. We did it.

We did it. Built the perfect draft. A plus. Built the perfect draft. Lions win the next five Super Bowls. I'm happy. Absolutely. Yes.

Thank you for coming on the show. Where can the people find you? Yeah. You can find me in all the Pride Detroit stuff. Pride Detroit.com, Pride of Detroit on Twitter. As you mentioned, our Twitch page, twitch.tv.tv.tv.com. where we do a bunch of podcasts, like two or three a week, plus occasional player interviews, people interviews, all that sort of stuff.

And then you can find me on Twitter at Detroit Online if you think you would care about some stuff, including football, but not only football stuff. Right on. Awesome, Jamie. Thank you so much for coming on. Appreciate it back. Thanks for doing. again to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast.

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