Detroit Lions Draft Targets: Pick or Pass OL

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

The 2016 NFL Draft is so close you can feel it, but we’re still not there yet! In the mean time, we’ve been looking at the athletic profiles of players that have been mocked to the Detroit Lions to see if there are any similarities between the 2016 classes and pro bowlers of seasons past. We’ve already looked at linebackers and defensive tackles, but it’s time to tackle a position that has been bothering the team for years. Offensive line is an odds on favorite for the Detroit Lions to select this year, but it’s a strange year for the line in terms of prospects. We’ve seen players jump and drop in the rankings nearly daily, so it will probably come down to preference. But how did they measure out when compared to pro bowlers? Once again we’ll be using RAS and pro bowlers from 2005 to 2015.

Due to his local product status, Jack Conklin was one of the first offensive tackles mocked to the Detroit Lions. His fit in Detroit is a topic for another day, but his athletic profile is fairly impressive. Any time a player measures near one of the best to play the game this generation, you take a second look. Jack Conklin doesn’t play like Joe Thomas, but he measured out like a less explosive but more agile version of the 9 time pro bowler which explains why many a draftnik is salivating over the thought of what Conklin could become. /

Only slightly less often than Conklin is another Big 10 prospect, Taylor Decker, the guy. It was a bit tougher to find an athletic profile match for Taylor Decker given how his measurements were all over the map. Since I couldn’t find one, I found a player with a similarly mixed profile. Brandon Albert is more of a pass blocker first, as opposed to Decker being primarily a run first guy, but they compare favorably in that they are similarly explosive (each had an explosive measurement above and below average) and fleet of foot for a tackle. Decker is unlikely to become a similar type of player to Brandon Albert, but his dedication to the game (He has spent a good deal of this offseason with LeCharles Bentley trying to improve his footwork) is an admirable trait that will endear him to coaches and improve his chances of becoming the same caliber of player. /

Like Taylor Decker, there wasn’t a great athletic profile match for our third tackle, Ronnie Stanley. Stanley measured below average for RAS and there has only been one offensive tackle since 2005 to make a pro bowl who was also below average, so I decided to use him even though the side by side isn’t a clear comp. Michael Roos was at the edge of our study (He was drafted in 2005, the first year of RAS data), and he was the only OT since that time to make a pro bowl with a score below 5.00. Stanley faces a similar uphill battle in the NFL, but he has one thing working for him that Roos didn’t have. Whereas Roos was a big, agile tackle whose speed pulled his score way down, Stanley measured at or above average in nearly every area. It was only his agility scores that pulled his score down and on tape his agility doesn’t look like too much of a problem. Working against the Notre Dame product is that Roos is the only tackle, of the 16 pro bowlers I have RAS data for, that measured as poorly as Stanley did. It’s not a great trend, but perhaps he can overcome it. /

A fraction of an inch and only a few pounds are all that separate our next prospect (and last OT) from former 49ers left tackle Joe Staley. Staley was and remains one of the most athletic left tackles to play professional football and his upside was apparent day one. Jason Spriggs, similarly, shows incredible upside. Unlike Staley, however, Spriggs has quite a few kinks in his game he’ll need to work out. Spriggs may be the 2nd best pass protector in this draft class, but it’s also very possible he’s one of the worst run blockers. Much of his issues appear to be in his head, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a team take him high and try to develop him into a top tier blocker. /

Another one of this draft class’ elite athletes for their position is recently mocked Ryan Kelly. The SEC center is one of the better blockers in this class for any position, so it’s a good thing the tape matches the hype. I found it funny that recently I saw it mentioned that he wasn’t a ‘combine warrior’, when in fact Kelly measured above average to great for literally every combine measurement. His athleticism carries over on tape, much like Buffalo Bills alum Eric Wood. This is one of those cases where the comparison is more than just the numbers, too, as Kelly can bring the type of technical ability that Wood is known for in addition to his elite measurables. /

What do you think, Lions fans? See anybody who meets a profile you like? Let us know in the comments or get ahold of us on Twitter @SideLionReport, or pester me for all your football mathing needs @MathBomb!

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