Detroit Lions 2011 Draft: Five Players Martin Mayhew Should Not Target
Are you overloaded with suggestions about who the Detroit Lions should draft this year? Me too.
Would you like a reason to argue with me in the comments box? I’ll be happy to field your questions, comments and seething blind hatred.
Are you ready for a slight change of pace on the typical draft speculation article? Good, I’m ready to write one.
With that said, here is my list of players that the Detroit Lions should not, under any circumstances, pursue in the draft.
Akeem Ayers, LB, UCLA
1 of 5
You can call me a hypocrite if you like. It’s true, I published a mock draft article no more than a month ago that had Ayers sitting pretty in the No. 13 spot.
So I changed my mind. Sue me.
It’s not just me, though. Ayers’ stock has been plummeting since the combine, amid questions about his work ethic and toughness. Sadly, I have joined the ranks of those who just find Ayers too soft. All the talent in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t bother to apply it.
And besides, would Ayers, a man facing questions about work ethic and toughness, really fit on a team with Jahvid Best (played through two turf toe injuries), Ndamukong Suh (rookie All-Pro who fought double teams all year), and Kyle Vanden Bosch (is Kyle Vanden Bosch)?
You could argue that the workmanship will rub off on Ayers, but isn’t it more the Lions’ style to take the guy who is already a hard worker? Is the Lions’ culture already so changed that it can rub off positively on its players (like New England or Pittsburgh)?
At this point, I feel much safer continuing to build the Lions’ locker room with talented, hard-nosed players who study the playbook and give 100 percent effort on every play.
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
2 of 5
There are two things that I will not deny here.
One is that Mark Ingram is a talented young running back. The other is that the Lions need a good downhill runner.
The problem? Ingram is going in the first round and for the Lions to pick him would be a waste of a first-round pick.
I don’t know if it would be a waste of Ingram’s pick or the one used in 2010 to select Jahvid Best, but it would certainly be a waste of one of them.
Think about it. First-round picks are supposed to provide the greatest impact to an NFL team. By putting two of them in a backfield together, at the same position, cuts their touches (and thus their effectiveness) in half.
Besides, Ingram has what it takes to be a great north-south running back somewhere, but so do a lot of undrafted free agents.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at Pierre Thomas’ career track.
Now recall that he plays on a team with Reggie Bush, the player Jahvid Best finds himself most often compared to.
Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
3 of 5
The hot phrase of the offseason for the Lions this year has been “trade down.”
And that’s why the Lions can’t draft Julio Jones; he’s the Lions’ best chance to trade down.
Julio Jones is by far the hottest commodity on the WR market this year and there is only a limited chance he’s off the board in the top 12 picks.
By contrast, there is virtually no chance of him making it to pick No. 15, as the St. Louis Rams are eyeing him and salivating as though he were an injured wildebeest (or, to make it appropriate to St. Louis’ team name…a fresh patch of grass?).
That means any team in the bottom half of the draft that wants to add the draft’s top WR is going to half to trade up to at least pick 13.
This isn’t to say that the Lions don’t need a WR in the draft. In fact, my last article speaks to the contrary. But taking a WR in the first round with far greater personnel concerns looming? That hearkens back to a darker age in Lions history.
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Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
4 of 5
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to get Peterson. But not for what he’s going to cost.
Peterson is a consensus top five pick. The Lions are picking 13th this year. Trading up that far in the first round is going to take at least two first-round picks (this year and next) and maybe another one somewhere (a third?).
Now is not the time for that. The Lions need to be stockpiling picks and bringing in more talent, not mortgaging all their picks to put it all on red. As it is, the Lions only have five picks this year. Taking less than that is a move in the wrong direction.
After all, trading a bunch of high draft picks for one player always works out, doesn’t it? Ricky Williams for an entire draft, Jay Cutler for a couple of firsts and some starters, Brady Quinn for a first and a second…
Any Quarterback
5 of 5
They’re in the minority, but we’ve all heard them once or twice.
They are the trolls who think Matthew Stafford’s career is over and the Lions need to start looking for a replacement before a strong gust of wind knocks his shoulder out of its joint again.
They think a series of freak injuries over two years is enough reason to give up on the massive potential Stafford shows when he plays.
They think it’s time to go after Ryan Mallett with the 13th overall pick.
They make me channel my inner Mike Wilbon.
Stop it.
Look, I’m not blind to the facts and I’m not going to say that Stafford’s injuries are irrelevant. They concern me, too.
But just so we’re clear, we’re discussing the merits of dismissing a 23-year-old quarterback drafted No. 1 overall, into whom the Lions have invested tens of millions of dollars, after two years.
Even his critics admit he’s talented and hardworking, but brittle. Those aren’t the reasons to give up on the man billed as the future of your franchise.
It’s logic like this that gets people sent back to the broadcast booth after eight years of running a proud professional franchise into the ground.
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