Quote:
Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue
I missed the Arnold discussion the first time around. Super happy with it. It was a perfect match of BPA and need.
I was, also, a fan of doubling-down on CB in the second round with Rakestraw. It was the team’s biggest area of need and the board fell in such a way that there, also, happened to be value at each pick. You can never have enough cornerbacks and the veterans on this team are mainly on one year deals (Davis and Moseley), have injury concerns (same two guys) or are unproven as full-time starters (Roberston and the rest). Drafting Arnold and Rakestraw make a ton of sense and, if they work out, could bring some long term stability to a position group that has rarely ever been stable.
The only thing that I've found a bit worrying is that all of the talk about Arnold and Rakestraw is about how much "dog" they have, their attitude, swagger, willingness to tackle and press, but very little on their speed and actual ability to cover people. They seem like perfect culture fits for the Lions and I love their willingness to hit and tackle, but if they can't cover NFL WRs then...
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Agreed. I was getting flashbacks of Okudah (who I loved as a pick but the knock was that he didn't have the speed) and Teez Tabor (same draft as JRM if you can believe it). But I trust that the Lions staff have a plan on how to fit them into the defense or fit the defense to them.
On doubling down with Rakestraw, I was a little worried in the moment but Rake felt like another steal even if we end up "overstocked" at CB. There wasn't an edge rusher worth snagging at the time and we got Wingo later. Or, we could have gone OL but we end up with Mahogany later.
I will say, though, I wasn't crazy about giving up so many draft assets for a long-shot OT in Manu and an ... I'm-not-sure-what-position guy in Vaki. I don't have any particular player that I think we should have taken instead. It just seemed like a lot to give up for those guys. Trust the Villains, I guess.