Detroit Lions: What can be learned from drafting Teez Tabor?

Detroit Lions response

Reaction to the Tabor pick was immediate. Bob Quinn was quick to defend both of his Florida picks from days one and two (Jarrad Davis was taken in Round 1) but he went out of his way with regard to Jalen “Teez” Tabor.

Quinn said that the sprint times caused him to do additional research, which fans would hope it would do. In particular, Quinn said that he watched more film on Teez Tabor than he had ever done for any prospect before. Quinn estimated that he had watched 14 games of Tabor’s at Florida, according to Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett.

Further, Quinn differentiated between timed speed and game speed, saying that Tabor had “reactionary athleticism” which allowed him to diagnose and react to plays as they happen in enough time to offset his lack of timed speed. Quinn also gave additional insight into his findings per the Detroit Free Press.

"“If you don’t have those anticipation, instincts, awareness, route recognition, all those things, I think I put those higher up than how fast the guy ran at the combine.”"

Why it made sense

Before we get into the arguments that defended the pick, KCW will say that Tabor looked like he should be drafted. His experience, skills, and production earned him a shot at being a member of a team in the National Football League. It was largely the opinion of many that he should not have been selected as high as he was in the draft, KCW included.

So, much of the argument is not whether or not he could play but whether or not he was worth a 2nd Round pick. It’s an important distinction. No one’s saying he shouldn’t have been selected at all but that the value of the 53rd overall pick was greater than his personal skills warranted.

Many articles from all over the Internet trumpeted Tabor’s skills and instincts and how he’d fit into the Detroit defense. The main defenses centered around intangible, difficult to measure aspects of his game.

There is an argument for him in that he looked like a starter in many ways, size, pedigree from a Power 5 conference, experience, and production in college. Tabor did operate in off-man coverage and run a similar style of defense to what the Lions were using.

ESPN’s Sports Science claimed that he had elite reaction times in several categories. Overall, they compared his ability to Dre Kirkpatrick of the Cincinnati Bengals and the University of Alabama. At the time of his draft, Kirkpatrick was a first-round pick.