Detroit Lions Draft: Nightmare Scenarios

Get ready Detroit Lions fans. We are now less than one week away from the NFL Draft.

Earlier today our own Alex Stahl wrote up an article on the Lions draft scenarios in picking both offense and defense. This had me thinking not about the positions the Lions will draft, but the possible cringe inducing nightmare scenarios that could potentially  happen at the draft.

While so far Bob Quinn has done a fine job in his first few months as the Lions GM, we can’t forget that this is a guy that’s never done this job before. He does come highly recommended by the likes of Ernie Accorsi and he did spend years in New England as a scout. But can he get through this draft without making any mistakes or allowing himself to be stifled by other owners? We shall see soon enough. Today I’ve rounded up a few scenarios that would have me waking up in the middle of the night in panic.

I do want to go off topic for just a moment here first. Yesterday the music world went through its own nightmare when the legendary Prince passed away suddenly. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this loss sucks more than most as I have been a big Prince fan since I was five years old and Prince did the entire soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Batman. In my mind, he will forever go down in history as one of the greatest guitarists and performers in the history of music. He also gave us one of the most memorable and emotionally charged performances I have ever seen in my life at the Super Bowl. Check out this great video the NFL put together on that crazy night.

Thank you Prince.

Now back to the Lions.

Giving up too much to trade up

You’ve seen the Rams and the Eagles both trade up in the bast couple of weeks. They gave away a king’s ransom and mortgaged their future to make these moves. This week we learned that Bob Quinn has in fact fielded some calls on trading up or down recently. You have to hope that the Lion won’t jump on this bandwagon and make one these trades that resembles what the Redskins gave up get Robert Griffin 111 back in 2012. We all see how that’s ended up.

If the Lions do decide to trade up, let’s just hope that they are smart about it and don’t give up everything they have for one shot at a player.

Going full Patriot Way

On the opposite side of the last scenario, trading down could be an option the Lions decide to take. Based off Quinn’s past with Patriots, it’s a scenario that could actually happen as we all know the Patriots love to trade down and get more picks. It’s a fine thing for the Patriots to do. They have been in the NFL’s top tier for the last 16 years. They are generally a player or two away from winning the Super Bowl every year.

This is a bad move for the Lions as they need the best talent they can get. Frankly they don’t have a great need for more pick as they have ten currently. If the Lions want to move down a few spots here and there, that’s fine. But dropping your first round pick is an absolute no no.

Drafting based on hype

This happens to GM’s all the time and in every sport. Just ask Joe Dumars about Darko Milicic. He bought into all the hype and Denver completely tricked him into passing on Carmello Anthony by expressing what now seems like a fake desire to trade up for Darko. Joe bit and we all know how things ended up.

Bob Quinn has to make sure this doesn’t happen to him. especially in the first round. For example Mike Mayock really likes Jack Conklin and has hyped him with comp that he couldn’t possibly meet early in his career. Ignore it Bob. Yes the Lions need an offensive tackle. But not this one. Just Say No to Conklin like we here at SLR did earlier this week.

Drafting the hometown guy just cause he’s the hometown guy

Another thing Joe Dumars was guilty of. He drafted Mateen Cleaves simply because he played for Michigan State. Cleaves was everyone’s guy after he led the Spartans to a national championship the year before. I hate to harp on Jack Conklin, but just because he’s from Michigan and it would be cool to see an athlete play for the team he grew up watching, doesn’t mean you should make that move. The Lions did this with Jeff Backus and we all saw how that worked out.

Taking the guy you want more than your scouts

I don’t think this is something that Quinn would ever do. One of the first things Quinn wanted to do was get the Lion scouting affairs in complete order and have the connection with them that the previous GM didn’t. Both Matt Millen and Martin Mayhew are perfect examples of guys that picked how they wanted despite hesitancy from the rest of the scouts. Titus Young and Charles Rodgers is what you come away with. So I speak for all Lions fans when I say please come together on each pick and know it’s the right move for the team instead of thinking it is.

What do you think Lions fans? did I miss any nightmare scenarios? Be sure to leave your comments below or come chat with me on Twitter @SLR_Mike.