Detroit Lions 2012 Draft Review
By Jeff Risdon
The 2012 NFL Draft was hit-and-miss for many teams, and the Detroit Lions were no exception. Then-GM Martin Mayhew scored with a couple of picks but also missed the boat with some injury-related reaches.
Riley Reiff came first. At No. 23 overall, the offensive tackle from Iowa went right around, if not a little later, than most projections at the time. He’s never been as good as the Lions hoped but also has been a lot better than most Lions fans believe as the starting left tackle for almost all the last four seasons.
Reiff is expected to kick to the right side now that 2016 first-rounder Taylor Decker is in the den. Right tackle is more suitable for Reiff’s skill set, so there is a fair chance he clicks and gets a decent second contract in Detroit. The players taken in the next few picks have also become largely average NFL players, guys like Dont’a Hightower, Whitney Mercilus and Kevin Zeitler. Harrison Smith has emerged as a great safety for the Vikings, but A.J. Jenkins and David Wilson are already out of the league.
Two players remain in Detroit from the 2012 NFL Draft after four seasons. Both Riley Reiff and Tahir Whitehead have proven solid selections and are important starters on the 2016 Lions. The rest of the haul just did not work out for Martin Mayhew, part of the reason why Bob Quinn is now running the Detroit Lions.
The second round saw Mayhew gamble on the health of the NCAA’s all-time receptions leader, Ryan Broyles from Oklahoma. A healthy Broyles would have been a great long-term answer in the slot.
Alas, the injuries that curtailed his Sooners career kept mounting. He tore the opposite ACL as a rookie from the one he did as a senior at Oklahoma. The following year, it was an Achilles. For a guy who relied upon quickness in and out of breaks to make his mark, they were too much. Broyles was a (relatively) healthy scratch in much of 2014 before getting waived. His career is now presumed over at 32 catches and 2 TDs.
Go four picks in both directions from Broyles and the No. 54 overall pick…
- Isaiah Pead
- Jerel Worthy
- Zach Brown
- Devon Still
- Peter Konz
- Mike Adams
- Brock Osweiler
- Lavonte David
Six of those eight have already been kicked to the curb by the teams drafting them. The final two, Osweiler and David, have signed rich second contracts, though Osweiler did so despite just a handful of starts for the defending champion Broncos. In the spirit of full disclosure, my choice in the moment for the pick was Konz, who is now out of the league after flopping miserably at center for the Falcons.
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With the First Pick
The third round is the one that stings me personally. I was a huge proponent of the Lions taking Bill Bentley, the hard-nosed corner from Louisiana Lafayette. He had loads of great tape and stood out in Senior Bowl practices for his feisty nature and quickness in small spaces.
Unfortunately, Bentley couldn’t stay healthy. After earning the slot role early on, a series of injuries ruined his career in Detroit. Shoulder, concussion, knee, they all conspired to force Bentley out of the league after three seasons. He was always a good tackler but never developed much as a cover man in his limited healthy times.
Detroit traded the fourth-round pick to San Francisco, who selected Wake Forest center Joe Looney. In return, the Lions netted the picks that became Ronnell Lewis (eight picks later) and Jonte Green (sixth round).
Garbage in, garbage out. Looney is now fighting to make the Cowboys–his third team–as their final reserve offensive lineman, his NFL life hanging by a thread. Lewis was a schematic misfit from the start in Detroit, a pass-rushing outside linebacker with no real skills other than being a pretty fast and strong. In Detroit’s 4-3, he had no role. He was cut in 2013 training camp.
Green had a few nice moments as a rookie, a pleasant surprise of relative competence when thrust into the action. That was his career apex, as he just never developed. Interestingly, the pick the Lions used to acquire him was once traded for future Lion Reggie Bush in a move that ultimately landed the Dolphins new Texans running back Lamar Miller. Got all that?
The fifth round brings us one of Mayhew’s brightest moments as Detroit Lions GM. In a trade with the division rival Vikings, Mayhew picked up current starting linebacker Tahir Whitehead, as well as reserve backer and special teamer Travis Lewis. Whitehead has steadily progressed while playing both inside and outside, and the defense last season notably ticked up when he made his way back into the starting lineup. Lewis signed as a free agent with the Vikings, ironically enough, but was recently released.
Minnesota used the acquired picks on wideout Josh Boyce and defensive end Trevor Guyton. Boyce was traded in a package of players to New England for a pick that became Cordarrelle Patterson, but saw the Patriots get rising star LB Jamie Collins and starting CB Logan Ryan. The TCU speedster caught 9 passes as a rookie but that’s it. Guyton didn’t even make the Vikings as a rookie. Score one for Mayhew.
The Lions GM wasn’t done dealing in the fifth round. He sent a fifth and a seventh to Oakland to move up and select corner Chris Greenwood. A speedster with great length and high potential, Mayhew tabbed the Albion project with hopes the D-III star would develop into something special.
It never happened. Slowed by an abdominal injury and then a lack of confidence, Greenwood played in exactly 3 NFL games. He’s been out of the league since Dallas quickly gave up on him in late 2013.
Take back the point you gave Mayhew on the Whitehead trade. Oakland selected Jack Crawford and Nate Stupar with the acquired picks. While linebacker Stupar has bounced around and is now on his fourth team in New Orleans, he’s at least still active. Crawford is now with Dallas, but he’s done pretty well for a fifth-round pick. The defensive end from Penn State had four sacks for the Cowboys last year and could begin the 2016 season starting, thanks in part to suspensions and injuries.
Detroit did initially have one other selection in the 2012 draft, but it was forfeited as punishment for a (flimsy) tampering charge against then-Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham.
Two players remain in Detroit from the 2012 NFL Draft after four seasons. Both Riley Reiff and Tahir Whitehead have proven solid selections and are important starters on the 2016 Lions. The rest of the haul just did not work out for Martin Mayhew, part of the reason why Bob Quinn is now running the Detroit Lions.