To Understand the Detroit Lions' Draft, First Understand the Lions

It has been four days since the draft. I’ve had mixed feelings on its results, so much so that I needed to sleep on it—four times—to feel enough at ease to write about it.

I sense a lot of discontent in the wake of the draft. Much of that, I imagine, was latent aggravation with taking Matthew Stafford first overall, which kind of soured the whole draft for many.

I’m not hearing many complaints about Stafford anymore, partly because they're futile now. Obviously, this is part of the healing process.

Like the period after an election, this is the part where we all realize our petty arguments over who's best to lead us for the next several years have become moot. We have our guy, and it’s time for everyone to throw our support behind him, whether we wanted him or not.

Having said that, it occurs to me that not many people were big fans of taking Brandon Pettigrew at 20 or passing on Rey Maualuga at 33. Understandable.

Ghosts from the past seemed to rise up when the defense-challenged Lions took a wide receiver/return man in the third round. Past mistakes make that pick look bad.

Many elements of the Lions’ 2009 draft are hard to understand, but if you want to understand the Lions’ draft class, you have to first understand the team.

The justification for the Lions passing on Maualuga at 33 has been that the Lions were picking on “talent, not need.”

Since the pick, I have heard all manner of negative analysis on the USC middle linebacker by analysts determining why a projected mid-first pick slid to the second round.

Apparently, Maualuga is a non-versatile two-down linebacker with character concerns, who struggles in pass protection and may have failed a drug test. I have heard any number of these things from various sources, and I don’t really know which to believe. There are flip sides to each argument.

What I do know, however, is that Jim Schwartz picked the guys he wanted. Schwartz is a former linebacker, and came up as a linebackers coach, so he knows what he’s doing passing on Maualuga and Ohio State MLB James Laurinaitis.

Louis Delmas will be a good player, and that’s all that matters at this point.

See, the problem is that many Lions fans think we were heading into the draft to fill holes. But what Schwartz means by “talent, not need,” is that he is not filling areas of need on a team—he is building a new team.

There is no existing area on the Detroit Lions’ roster that would not benefit from a significant upgrade. Even in those few areas with a solid starter, there needs to be significantly more depth.

At one point or another, every Lions fan heard the mantra last season: “There’s no one area to point to; the Lions are just completely devoid of talent.” It’s true—the Lions are a talent wasteland, with an oasis or two scattered throughout.

Therefore, there is no wrong position to pick, as long as they bring talent.

Yes, the Lions needed offensive line help. Yes, they needed defensive line help. Yes, they needed a legitimate middle linebacker. But that doesn’t mean their other positions are set to go. The Lions’ roster was split into two areas entering the draft: needs and major needs.

Nobody is expecting the Lions to compete legitimately in 2009, so it is perhaps easiest to think of this team as the 2009 expansion Detroit Lions. They’ve even developed new uniforms and logos to help with the transition.

Like any expansion team, they got the first pick in the draft and had to choose someone to build the franchise around. Also like an expansion team, the Lions are made of 10 percent football players and 90 percent overpaid league throwaways. There is no talent anywhere, so they picked the best players at any position they could.

Ultimately, this draft cannot be judged on its own merits. Since a top-five pick next year is likely, consider this as a first half. There are far too many holes in this team for Schwartz to have filled them all in one draft. What wasn’t filled this year likely will be next year, after Schwartz has had a year to get acquainted with the team and its abilities.

Schwartz needs that year. There are players on the roster that still have an opportunity to contribute consistently, and a year’s worth of practice and play will help him get a better feel for where the roster is as a whole.

Recently drafted players like Ikaika Alama-Francis and Jordan Dizon were drafted with significant roles in mind, and thus far, few of them have seen any significant field time.

Cliff Avril is one of few recent draftees that found some consistent playing time in 2008, and he rewarded the Lions with five sacks (four of them fumble-sacks) despite only starting four games.

While five sacks is not a phenomenal number for an NFL defensive end, remember that this was with relatively little playing time, on a team with a pass rush that was in the dredges of the league.

If there is a possibility that Schwartz can pull that type of production out of Dizon, Alama-Francis, or any of the existing young players on the roster, he needs to take that chance. For each raw talent on the roster that can be converted to a solid role player, or even strong starter, there is one less draft need next year.

Yes, I said next year. I’m already looking forward, because next year should be the draft fans were expecting this year. Next year, we will have needs to fill.

This year, the team itself was a need. Through the draft, the Lions have infused some talent, but there is still much work to be done.

The 2009 season will be interesting, only in that we will be able to better assess future team needs, and the 2010 draft will address those needs. Assuming everything works out as Lions management intends, 2010 will be a season in which the Lions can make a decent run at the NFC North, or at least an 8-8 record.

Until then, enjoy your 2009 expansion Detroit Lions.

Dean Holden is the "Voice of the Lions" on NFLTouchdown.com. Check it out for in-depth analysis on the Lions and all 31 other NFL teams.