Lions Draft: Restoring The Roar
The Detroit Lions are on the rise. I have been saying this for about 15 years now, but for the first time I am actually convinced of it. Going into the 2011 draft the belief was that the boys in Honolulu blue needed to draft a cornerback and a linebacker in order to have a complete roster.
Well GM Martin Mayhew never makes need his top priority, instead he takes the top talent left in the draft. He stuck to this method this year drafting Nick Fairley, Titus Young, and Mikel Leshoure in the first two rounds. This leaves the team with weaknesses which still need to be addressed, but they added talent that will contribute immediately. So what is the early grade on the Lions draft class? A-.
1st Round, 13th Pick Overall
Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn
Fairley at first glance is a puzzling pick for Detroit. Everyone expected the Lions to fill a glaring need at CB by drafting Prince Amukamura out of Nebraska. Instead they took Fairley who surprisingly slipped out of the top 10.
"There were other guys (on the draft board), but in sort of our dream scenario, it was Nick Fairley falling to us," Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said. When asked how the team would handle having 3 starting defensive tackles, Mayhew said, "They'll all play. I think it's great to have three of them because they can stay fresh," Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said. "Ndamukong played over 950 plays last year and that's a lot of plays. It helps our pass rush for those guys to be fresh and it helps our run game. I think we all saw last year, late in the year, the impact that our defensive line had on our defense. It allowed us to win some games."
Fairley will clearly make an immediate impact, and while they passed on Suh's teammate in Amukamura, there are plenty of CB's that Detroit can target in free agency.
2nd Round, 44th Pick Overall
Titus Young, WR, Boise State
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