Tyron Smith

Tyron Smith made his Lions visit yesterday and is a strong candidate to become the Lions first round draft pick on April 28. Let’s take a look at him:

Tyron Smith, OT, USC
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 307 lbs.
Arm Length: 36 3/8 in.
Hand Size: 11 in.
40-yard dash: 4.88 sec
225 lb bench press: 29 reps

NFL.com combine profile overview:

Smith is one of the best prospects on the hoof in this class. Blessed with an ideal NFL frame and has the outstanding feet and athleticism necessary to be a starting left tackle. Does a great job staying in front of speed rushers, locks on and sustains, and can anchor against the bull rush. Shows solid power in the running game and is really productive out in space. Football IQ is lacking. Fails to find his target at times in the running games and is a tick slow recognizing blitzes. Smith could come off the board early in the first round due to his rare physical gifts.

(more…)

You’ve been my close friend for over four decades now. We’ve been through thick and thin. No matter how many times you’ve disappointed me, I always come back to you. Like a victim in a abusive relationship, I forget about the constantly numbing lows ( Lynn Boden, Charles Rogers, Terry Fair and anybody from the fourth round and lower) when you acted without rhyme or reason and only remember the fleeting glorious highs ( a set of running backs with the initials B.S.) when the rest of the NFL applauded our wise choices.

I remember the first time I heard about you. We, the Lions, had just selected the Heisman Trophy winner Steve Owens. At the time I thought that meant that were were automatically going to the Super Bowl. I didn’t know that Heisman Trophy winner was another name for Average NFL player. In 1974 I couldn’t sleep at night wondering who we had drafted with the first pick that day. Back in the stone age of media when there weren’t updates every three seconds, you had to wait until the morning paper hit your porch. There on the front page of the Free Press sports section was a picture of Ed O’Neil, no, not the guy who played the Al Bundy character on Married…With Children, but I TOTALLY can understand why you would think that, I mean HE DID score four touchdowns in one high school game. That’s when I started poring over every selection that was printed. It would be days before my mom could pry that paper out of my hands.

(more…)

We’d like to thank the Backfield Radio crew for the invitation.

Like what you see? Give SideLion Report a “like” on facebook, become a follower on twitter, or grab our RSS feed.