On multiple occasions, I have ripped the Detroit Lions for making one of the worst picks in this years NFL Draft. I might even rank it one of the worst in recent years. Let’s look past the bust players who are easy targets for this type of category. I’m not talking about Jamarcus Russell or Mike Mamula here. I’m talking about a pick that made absolutely zero sense in my mind and I can not comprehend why someone would do this.
The Lions drafted a long snapper…
Let me say that again. The Lions. Drafted. A Long Snapper.
Granted, the selection of Baylor’s Jimmy Landes was the 210th overall pick, but I could make an argument for nearly any of the 43 players taken after him.
This is not me hating on Landes by the way. Congratulations to him on being drafted. This is me ripping the Lions front office.
Any who, back to the Lions front office.
With the retirement of Calvin Johnson, Detroit needed to add wide receiver depth to help Matthew Stafford. They did bring in Marvin Jones and still have Golden Tate, but can you truly rely on either to be a legit number one option? After those two, you are looking at Corey Fuller, Jeremy Kerlsey, TJ Jones, and Andre Caldwell. No overwhelming names to be found there.
When you look at a general NFL Draft board, several names remained available almost immediately following the selection of a long snapper.
Most notably, Michigan State’s Aaron Burbridge being taken three picks later. Detroit had the chance to get an electric receiver who had seven touchdowns and 1300 yards from scrimmage last year. He provided a deep threat option with a 4.56 40 time and elite quickness down the field.
Six more wide receivers were drafted after Burbridge. Daniel Braverman, Kenny Lawler and Charone Peake are all legitimate NFL receivers who, while not fully replacing the loss of Megatron, could provide receiving depth and options for Stafford.
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Also worth mentioning, the Lions run game was not fairly productive last year. Ameer Abdullah failed to impress in his rookie year and the options of Theo Riddick and Zach Zenner do not scare me at all.
Pro Football Focus ranked Joique Bell the Lions best running back last year, but he is still a free agent.
Oh, I should also mention the Lions ALREADY HAVE A LONG SNAPPER ON THEIR ROSTER.
It’s not like teams are dying to draft long snappers and someone will jump over you for one.
Centers are back up long snappers in emergency situations. Why not save a roster spot and use your center or a back up offensive lineman?
To make matters even worst, this was a compensatory pick. This means the Lions lost someone in free agency and failed to replace them, thus earning a later draft pick depending on the value of that player. The player Detroit lost that could easily be the player they are receiving this draft compensation is Nick Fairly.
I must stress this one last time: This is about how inept the Detroit Lions front office was with this selection of a long snapper in the sixth round of the NFL Draft and opting to not draft a wide receiver despite losing one of the greatest NFL wide receivers of all time.
If you are looking for the perfect example of a bad value pick, look no further than the Detroit Lions taking a long snapper in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.