Detroit Lions 2018 NFL Draft: First round analysis of Frank Ragnow

Steady on

Quinn said that he had his eye on “five or six guys,” unnamed. Generally speaking, this list would be based off of projections about the picks preceding ours. In our starting draft slot, nineteen players would get selected prior to the Lions pick.

We would also root for more quarterbacks, or any other position that we don’t need, to be drafted. For instance, if five quarterbacks get picked by other teams, the Lions get to select from a better pool of talent at other positions. Fourteen non-quarterbacks would then be selected, instead of fifteen or sixteen.

Detroit Free Press writer, Dave Birkett, also quoted Quinn as saying:

"“Playmaking and dependability would be two things,” Quinn told the Detroit Free Press. “You want dependable players in this program. If you’re taking them in the first round, they should be good players, right, or I shouldn’t be standing up here. But I think dependability is something that’s really key with durability, ability to learn, competitive nature. Does he love football? Passion.”"

There’s nothing earth-shattering there, but that’s how Quinn thinks. He’s very measured and level-headed. Quinn will do something pretty conservative and fairly predictable when he pulls the name of anyone he intends to draft.

If you look at the players he’s selected before the 2018 draft, he values experience in big conferences, players who’ve played a good amount of football, and who look steady. All of his prior, early picks have been from Big Ten and SEC schools and none carried a ton of risk. They were all players who produced at high levels in Power Five conferences.