What does one of the best Draft experts out there think about the Detroit Lions haul?

what do the experts think of the Lions draft let's find out you are locked on lions your daily Detroit Lions podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's happening everybody last day of April 8 Tuesday April 30th and Wednesday May 1st Matt Derry with you it is locked on lions on the lock on podcast Network your team every day get an opportunity to talk to Trevor Syma today from Pro Football Focus our Budd that covers the NFL draft we will do that momentarily first locked on lions as you welcome you in today is brought to you by Monopoly go I admited I've got a competitive side and I'm a big fan of Monopoly go it's fun to play the mobile hit Twist on classic Monopoly so join your friends and download Monopoly go now free on the App Store or Google Play find us on Twitter at der speaks lockon Lions Matt dery Facebook fan page and again thank you for subscribing over 11,000 subscribers now on our locked online's YouTube channel we talked about all the picks yesterday and recapped today let's get Trevor syca with us from Pro Football Focus nobody better than Trev kind of breaking down this whole thing he's been a busy man but joins us today Trevor great to see you Matt always good to be on with you my friend I appreciate you having me as always what you think of what the Lions did Trev I I didn't want to give away your grades and everything else that you put out on PFF but uh if you're looking at three days and and what Detroit did what' you think it's got to be an a it's got to be an a for the for the Detroit Lions if you want to say A+ you can say a plus because I love what they were able to do on day three as well I mean when you look at this team and you look at uh where they are in their winning window was kind of that cornerback position that everybody went into this offseason and said man if they upgrade that corner position I feel like the rest of the roster is right there to definitely uh continue to make that Super Bowl run and hopefully get over the top well they use basically every asset they possibly could now all of their assets but to say they had a guys in free agency they had a guys in trades and when it came to the NFL draft they even double dipped on two really good Corners who I think are not just talented Corners because here's the thing you could sometimes have team needs that you really got to hit in a draft but you could tell like teams that maybe force taking this guy because yeah they're talented and everybody says they're talented and you want to bring them onto the roster but they don't exactly fit what you're trying to do Teran Arnold and n St Shard Jr fit exactly what the Lions want to do they are players who could play up in man coverage but most importantly they're tough they will tackle they are very highly competitive players they've got good ball skills to them I think uh Arnold can be a potential CB1 at the NFL level and re Andis RAR Jr I think some people looked at that pick and they went ah man is that a little redundant at this point and if I wouldn't call it that at all that's not the word that I would use if you look at their 2024 situation you say to yourself okay well we've got veterans on the roster we got plenty of bodies there but you even look into the not so distant future and even in 2025 Andis R Shaw Jr and and tyion Arnold could both be their starting to outside quarterbacks I mean Emanuel Mosley's on a one-year deal uh Meek Robertson's on a two-year deal but you know you can probably get out of it next year if if it's not working or you could just keep him around for depth if you really like what he's been able to do Carlton Davis in the last year of his deal so to me this was these were two fantastic pits picks not just because they were straight at the needs of exactly what they wanted but also because they made sense longterm the players they drafted were really great so I think top to bottom it starts obviously at the top with the guys that I mentioned there but then you know you even go down to day three like getting guys like Christian mahogany and McKai Wingull I mean those are steals at that point in the draft so a true job well done by Brad Holmes who uh well he's getting pretty good at this isn't he he is I want to go over all the guys with you but was there a favorite pick was there a guy you mentioned Wingo that was kind of my favorite because I thought that was a steal in the sixth round um is there somebody that stood out the went oh man I just absolutely love that pick yeah I think that both of the guys honestly that were picked in in the sixth round for them Christian mahogany and Makai Wingo made a ton of sense for this team I mean you look at what Wingo has been from LSU he was kind of this Iron Man that was playing basically every single snap when he was out there before he got hurt and when you look at him within the Lions defensive line depth chart he's going to be more of a rotational player but I think that's perfect right this is a guy who has the talent level to be able to play whenever you need needed to he's got the experience to play early on in the Downs he's got he's got a lot of experience to be able to play as a third down specialist as well I think that's probably where he's used best uh because of his quickness how quick his hands are how violent his hands are how quickly he gets off the ball it just all lends itself to being a really good third down pass for a specialist type of interior defensive lineman and they've got the beef on the interior defensive line right they've got Alene mcneel they bring in DJ reer but that pass rush specialist I think he could fill that role and then mahogany man I mean you lose Jonah Jackson this this off season and um you you've got some uncertainty along the interior offensive line moving forward and look I understand that Mahogany's game is a little bit up and down like he's got a lot of really great uh positively graded run blocking plays but he's got a lot of negatively graded ones as well so it's kind of a roller coaster for him but that power profile that he brings it's exactly the type of football that the Lions want to play so genuinely I I think my favorite selections are those two guys that they got in the sixth round because again it just shows just such a job well done identifying the types of players that you want to bring in and them capitalizing on that in the sixth round with two guys who I thought should have both gone way before where they ended up drafting uh getting getting drafted I should say it was huge for for for them NFL draft analyst Trevor siko with us from Pro Football Focus PFF of course.com um you mentioned before about all the you know Arnold and rake draw starting in a couple of years based upon like you said MOS and a wony your deal you're somebody that keeps an eye on the Bucks pretty closely could that also be a a situation where they go look Carlton Davis has not been healthy the last few years right and so they want to make sure they cover their bases there yeah absolutely you know I think that Carlton Davis has had some really good years in this league but there's no doubt about it over the last couple of years he hasn't been durable he hasn't been available he's been hurt um and it's just his play is D because of it you know I when you get out there in the middle if you get hurt in the middle of the season a lot of times you're playing through pain when you're just trying to get back out there and he just was not that same type of a corner but you go back to those Super Bowl years you know I think he was playing at a very very high level a CB1 type of a level and you you love the length you love the mentality he's somebody who wants to cover the other team's best receiver he hasn't been able to do it as well as he believes that he could do it over the last couple of years but yeah there's no doubt about it and that's why you know again like some people might look at the N St sh junr thing and might be like okay is this a little redundant you just went back to back corner you've already traded for one you've signed a couple and that's why I push back on it I'll say no I don't see it like that at all that's not how I see this instead I see it as great insurance and I see it as a great situation for rraw and for terion Arnold as well to I mean there's no guarantee that either of these rookies will start right away but it's a great situation to be able to give them a little bit of time to get into their own because I think they are both very very talented and they'll be able to figure it out I think rake straw specifically this is a really good situation with the patience that you could have with him because his speed I think is the biggest issue of his game and with that being said you've got to be able to anticipate really well to make up for a lack of long speed at the NFL level especially at corner so you don't necessarily want to throw him out there right away because he sitting there guessing and he's not used to NFL speed well he doesn't then have the recovery athleticism to be able to not get burnt and that's what you don't want obviously with these rookie Corners that you're trying to avoid so him specifically getting to come to this team and not have to start right away I think could be a really really good situation for him in the long run um why did he drop to 61 you think there were some more other Corners Melton and a few others taken in front of him that I think surprise some people is it that 40 time uh that you think hurt him yeah I think it is and it's just because Corner specifically just demands top tier athletes at the NFL level and anytime you give anybody any sort of Doubt um it's always going to creep in the back of their mind as well is this person really is this a a player that we really want to invest in when we know that that is one area that you can't improve right I mean it's it's just very seldom that you get guys who go from college to the NFL level and they get faster like it just doesn't really happen it's one of those things that uh you say you can't teach is that that athleticism so anytime that you have detractors or weaknesses you know ceilings that you can see that aren't as high as you wish with athletic uh abilities was tough at the cornerback position so that's why I say that that it's a really good situation for him because I think that Andis RW Jr can be a starting cornerback in the NFL a really good tackler really smart football player um understands spacing so so well as an off coverage Defender and that could be something that is start worthy at the NFL level and and I I just think that it's um it's going to take some time for him to figure it out we'll get into a little round four of course the Lions didn't a third round pick but a couple of picks that they moved up to get in round four I want to get Trevor's thoughts on that we'll do that coming up next right here on a Tuesday locked on lies and let's tell you about our friends at Monopoly Go game off right we got to pause here to talk more about Monopoly go I know what you're saying flag on the play you already talked about that but there's just so much good stuff in this game I've told you my wife is addicted to playing this Monopoly go you can team up with friends for time tournaments where you work together to build up each other's boards the more you win together the more awesome prizes you unlock and there's so much to get unique stickers you can trade with friends to complete albums for big prizes cool new playing pieces to travel AB boards with hilarious emojis for taunting friends when you smash the smash their buildings or even Heist their vaults plus Monopoly go feels new and exciting every day with constantly changing tournaments and challenges a ton include their own unique mini games like digging for Treasure or a robot penko machine and there's always new timed events that help you win big like massive multipliers for everything you win or even rent frenzies there's always something fun to discover in Monopoly go so get off the bench go download it now for free on Google Play or on the App Store game on with our friends at Monopoly go Trevor syca with us Pro Football Focus upgraded the Lions gave them an a said Detroit uh there are some other teams in the division we'll ask Trevor about the I know got high grades and high marks as well I'm interested in hearing what Trevor thinks of Minnesota because that's either like a or F right Trev we'll get to that tell me about round four Lions had no fourth round picks going into Saturday yet here they are wheeling and dealing and moving up to get a couple players that some folks thought were reaches giovan Manu and C vaki let's start with a big offensive tackle how much did you know about him I really didn't know much I'm going to be honest you know when I had to kind of look him up after he got drafted in the fourth round cuz you know if you get an international player drafted in the seventh round or you know priority free agent it's like all right well you know maybe they'll have a chance but when you get drafted in the fourth round you're expected to be somebody that's a high developmental player University of British Columbia is where he's coming from 6'7 over 300 pound 350 pounds I should say was clocked at below a 5.0 40 yard dash I mean like this dude's a a crazy athlete for his size so I don't know a lot about him but obviously when you have that kind of an athlete at that size it's somebody that you want to invest in and then their other pick a guy that know a lot about about is cion iaki the safety SL running back out of Utah now this is somebody who W you know attended Utah went on a two-year Church mission so he's a little bit older of a prospect you he hasn't played a ton of football but man as a safety he's such an enforcer over the middle I I liked him a lot as a safety but then you have those two games that he actually had to play running back this past year and he was great in one of the games they used him a lot as a receiver out of the back field and he got an elite overall receiving grade and then the other time they just kept handing the ball to him out of the back field and I believe he had a close to an elite rushing grade in that game so he gets announced as a running back which was shocking to me because I asked him specifically at the combine because I I'm a big fan of his game and just his overall athleticism I said I was like Hey walk me through the weeks that that they wanted you to play running back was this something that they had talked to you about previously and he kind of joked around with me he's like no he's like I I just kind of showed up to the facility on uh on on Sunday and all of a sudden my name was in the running back depth chart and they're like hey we need you to play running back for us this week and yeah I asked him about playing running back at the NFL again when he was at the combine he kind of laughed he's like no he's like no I'm a safety for the NFL level I'm I'm not going to be playing running back and here they announce him as a running back so look I always felt like he could be both I think he was good enough and he showed his allaround athleticism enough to be both and you know the reason why I think that vaky goes in the fourth round is because if you do believe that he can play both positions even just at a backup level you save an entire roster spot right because you have a player who you're going to carry on your roster and if you believe he he has the physical ability the smarts you know he's training a little bit at both positions to be a serviceable backup or a rotational player at both spots you get to bring in an entirely another player into your team and that's huge for those active game day rosters and those 53 man rosters that you carry throughout the season so I can see why they prioritized him maybe a round earlier than other other organizations did because he does give you that flexibility where are you on all right maybe they could have gotten vaky in the sixth round maybe they could have gotten Manu later it's like they're trading future threes and and and and stuff to move up it's almost that they're definitely in go for it mode uh but how did you like kind of the the the trading up to get those guys yeah again they're in go for it mode right and I think that you you said it correctly you know you're in situation where you could even go to the top of the first round right doing some wheeling and dealing to get up to go get Teran Arnold and I think it's a great job by them to do that and honestly when I I looked at the Detroit Lions draft last year it was a lot of players that I liked but I questioned the prioritization of how they ended up getting on the Lions roster well the Lions very clearly it didn't matter right it didn't matter that they took a running back at the 12th overall pick it didn't matter that they you know took Sam leapa all over a Michael Mayor right it just it didn't matter they they got the football players that worked well for them and we saw incredible early return on investment so I can sit here and say well you know from a numbers or a values perspective they're giving up a lot to go get these guys but at this point genuinely who am I to kind of question how they go up to get the players that they are clearly valuing at certain spots and certain roles as they are in a winning window and on a Super Bowl run so to me I just think that it matters the most that they got the right players on their team because we saw it matter so much from last year's class that you have to give Brad Holmes the benefit of the doubt he has earned that at this point so it's honestly just uh I felt like they were just getting aggressive for the guys that made sense for them you mentioned before about Arnold and rraw and kind of this quarterback craziness that the Lions have really been all over since free agency uh the Lions Brad Holmes had said we had those two guys as greated as our top two corners even ahead of a guy like quinan Mitchell how how did how did you grade out the corners and you know where where were the guys that the lions got in your mind maybe top five top 10 yeah I don't know look I I think a lot of GM say say that again like I just like I just said we got to give Brad Holmes the benefit of Doubt not he's he's fantastic GM at drafting but um I don't know to say that to say that Ray straw and and terion were your two top corners I guess it can't be too far-fetched because again you know when I think about I I I do a lot of research on teams before the draft because I don't just do mock drafts you know for fun they are fun for me but at the at the end of the draft cycle I really am trying to be very accurate I'm trying to predict exactly where these guys are going to go and just listening to the Lions coaching staff I would say over the course of this off season very clear that they have a type when it comes to any defensive player but specifically their Corners toughness competitiveness and tackling were the three words that I continue to hear from Lions coaches about the types of secondary players that they gravitate towards um Teran Arnold isn't afraid to come up and Tackle you he's not he's not afraid to get up in your grill he's one of the most competitive players that we had in this class and like I mentioned Andis rraw Jr I think Cooper dein's probably the only other Corner that tackled better than him and it's just because he's got a little bit more weight to him right so I think that if you're looking at just pure tackling Corners I think that rraw would be close to the top of the list and maybe they just love R Straw's football IQ as well so look I I would be uh interesting if you had Rik straw Jr graded above a guy like Quan Mitchell or a guy like coer de jeene but again for the exactly what the Lions want it's not really far from the things that they've said leading up to the draft so um I don't know if I believe that he was their CB2 but he could have been very well in that first tier of Corners that they really wanted to come away from because you got to think about this too the draft is over 250 players long a lot of teams have like 60 to 70 players on their board right they identify the players that will fit what they want to do and so when you do that when you condense the draft class down to 60 to 75 guys you are weeding out a ton of players and as shockingly as it might be that might be some of these top players that end up going in the first round to some other teams but they just wouldn't fit there and the lions for as much success as they have had very clearly have a type of player that they want they gravitate towards them they will draft them wherever they think they need to to get them on their football team so hey you know what maybe they did have in R TR Jr is their CB2 I could see a world where it's possible but um you know I just think it's so different from every team to team and I'll say this about terion Arnold what a great kid I mean just the interview with Stacy dalees at the combine uh grabbing the microphone and Detroit and kind of just playing the crowd a little bit um I just the talk about a culture fit he just looks like a guy that's going to just be easily beloved in that locker room you know 100% 100% agree with you I love it I absolutely love it all right uh more with Trevor we got to do one more break then we come back I want to hear about the division I want hear what he thinks of the Bears uh people crowning the Bears all of a sudden the bear bandwagon is a filling up we will talk about that coming up next as well here on lockdown lies But first you know this everybody NBA playoffs going on NHL playoffs baseball's in full swing Tigers playing two today want to get on on the action there's only place one place to go and that is FanDuel your place to bet on every game right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed that's 150 bucks win or lose bet on everything from slap shots to home runs to slam dunks all on an app that is safe secure and easy to use tonight I got my eye on Pacers bucks tonight my Pacers can we get it done against the Bucks and Rick Carl's on to round two or does Milwaukee stay around want to put some money down on the game check out what they have at FanDuel what are you waiting for visit fanduel.com lockon and make your first bat an automatic win FanDuel America's number one sports book I Trevor no real surprise this Trevor Sigma with us by the way from PS F no real surprises at the top of the draft McCarthy kind of Falls where we everybody thought um but what are your thoughts on Chicago getting Williams getting a Dun and all of a sudden people in Chicago think it's a playoff team yeah look I I could definitely see Chicago being a playoff team now look they're rookies they haven't played in the NFL yet and and I think that uh you don't want to jump the gun too much but a lot of the rest of that Bears team was ready to compete that's not to say they were the best in the world at every single spot but they were good enough especially in the NFC to compete for a playoff position they just didn't have the quarterback to do it now they do and now they upgrade the wide receiver room even more they bring in Keenan Allen they bring in Roman dun they've got Cole KT you've got good running backs now you got a solid offensive line uh and you added even Kieran amagazi who I from Yale who I think could be a really good swing guard tackle player for you it's a defense that was borderline top 10 last year depending on kind of what metrics and what stats you were looking at so I I absolutely think that this team is not unrealistically dreaming too high to say to themselves hey let's make the playoffs next year I really do think that that is something that is a reality but of course when it comes to who's going to win the division I I don't think that they're as close to where the lions are and I think that that's still uh the crown that is going to stay in Detroit uh I mentioned Minnesota before there's people that are like I hated the McCarthy pick what are they doing why are they moving up one spot they got you know Denver kind of messed with them uh by by faking trying to move up what's your take on the Vikings and and why did Dallas Turner drop in their laps yeah look I I don't see the McCarthy pick as a negative at all whatsoever this was one of my favorite Prospect team fits that I had before the draft I think it's a really good situation for him to sit and learn he doesn't have to start week one they have Sam darnold there I like the idea of McCarthy getting to work with Kevin oconnell and so I actually like the fit a lot and honestly sure all right they traded up one spot maybe sea Payton played a little uh played a little mind games with him to get them to move up that one spot but I think the important thing is they didn't moveed to four or five right because that's what a lot of people had them doing in the mock drafts before the draft began is trading multiple first round picks to move up to number four or number five to make this happen and instead they kind of sat back were patient about it um let the board come to them and they only had to move up one spot to go get McCarthy so I like that and look I think Dallas Turner is immensely talented but he is still somebody who when it comes to passer win rate consistency overall pressure consistency like that's all it's all still work in progress for him and I understand that you watch the combine and you go hey well that's the kind of player that we would want to uh that we would want to take a chance on and absolutely I can I could totally see that from them but you know there's a reason why he was not a Surefire top 10 pick like we said that he was going to be I still think he could have been a threat to go number eight overall to the Falcons if they wouldn't have picked a quarterback there but uh you know him lasting to 17 I just think the pass rushers overall lasted a little bit longer than I thought that they would have with latu going 15 and then verse going 19 so that run of those top three pass rushes in the draft just ended up being a little bit later than we thought but hey Vikings saw their guy and they jumped up from 23 to go again give me your thoughts on Green Bay's draft uh kind of old school going like the linebacker in the safety but they added a lot of athleticism on that defense didn't they yeah no and I think that really the only big complaint I have about the Packers is they draft Jordan Morgan who I think is probably going to be a guard for them over Graham Barton who I think think would have been the better interior offensive line player now Brian guten the general manager in Green Bay he's certainly got a type of offensive lineman and it's those guard tackle versatile players and I think Morgan has more tackle versatility than Barton did so it's sort of just it's very guten Coons esque to pick that player over Barton but you know Javon board I think is going to be a great addition to their secondary as a nickel Defender can free up Jer Alexander I think edrian Cooper can start right away right next to Quay walk so you got a lot more athletic in that area and you you draft Tyron Hopper a little bit after that I like Marshon Lloyd as a compliment to Josh Jacobs as well so a lot of just good football players that I feel like the Packers were able to draft and when you got what you think is the answer in Jordan love at quarterback it makes sense that you're just kind of supplementing it with these different additions um throughout the roster so it's very part for the course for what we felt like the Packers were going to do but it was a good draft what's the biggest heads scratcher was it it Atlanta at eight or was there were there a group of picks that you just said what is this team doing no I it has to be Atlanta you know that that definitely has to be it because you I can see a world where the penck selection works out but there's a lot more realities a lot more plausible realities where you sit here in a year from now maybe not even a year from now six months from now you sit here scratching your head and go well sure would have been nice if we had a pass rusher that we drafted at number eight or sure would have been nice if we had a corner that we drafted at number eight cuz that's the thing man this team needed corner Corners they come out of this draft they don't even really draft one so if this team gives up a lot of passing yards per game a lot of people are going to point the finger at that number eight overall pick could have had the number one corner in this draft could have even traded back and got the number one corner in this draft so the penck selection got to be the biggest head scratcher to me and uh what was it the Raiders and Niners I know a lot of people were blasting uh what they were doing did you agree with that assessment um you know I I I look at the Raiders and I say okay well you were kind of in a tough spot anyways right I mean they weren't going to I I I didn't love the idea of them trading all the way up for a quarterback because they were at 13 and it was going to be such a a high price for them to do that and instead they just you look they take a player that I had raid in the top 10 at number 13 and they take another player who I had in my in the 20s at number 44 and Jackson parus Johnson so it wasn't exactly the draft that I thought for the Raiders um but it's hard for me to criticize it too much because I think they got really good football players with those first two picks now the delar glaze pick in the third round had a big time reach for me but after that it was kind of the solid draft for the Raiders and then yeah 49ers you take piol because I think you want that flexibility with whatever they're going to do with dbo Samu or Brandon iuk and I think that it was true that they've been on the phones a little bit um trying to get a deal done with one of those guys and either to have them you know get a get a really good value for them coming back or really get a get a contract deal done with him so I understood it but again like I like the reonardo green pick as well I like the Dominic puny pick as well so maybe a little bit redundant at Wide Receiver right now but it was more of a long-term pick for a team that is clearly already in a winning window so they're doing things pretty good Trev great to see you thanks so much for doing this as always we always love your Insight and we'll talk again soon appreciate it Matt anytime Trevor syo with us Pro Football Focus the best when it comes to the draft you're on a Tuesday lockdown Lions don't forget Thursday Ross Tucker will join the show

Channel: Locked On Lions

Views: 25,137

Keywords:

Id: fb56fzuT_lk

Length: 27min 21sec (1641 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 30 2024