Throwdowns > Closed

Marlins Fan said 05/29, 01:30 AM
The Lions had 5 draft choices in 2011, and 80% of those picks were spent on bad eggs. Here's a recap, with reasons why the Lions would've been better off taking a pass:

1st round, Nick Fairley

Fairley just keeps getting in trouble, as he has been arrested twice in the past two months. Fairley is looking at an arraignment in July for possession of marijuana and his more recent transgression involved allegedly driving under the influence and attempting to elude police. Fairley, the alleged crown jewel of the Lions' 2011 draft, now has more arrests in the last two months than he has sacks in his career. Pathetic.

2nd round, Titus Young and Mikel LeShoure

I loved Young at Boise St. Perhaps he should've just stayed at Boise. Last Monday Young sucker-punched teammate Louis Delmas during an OTA. Young was asked to leave the Lions' facilities.

LeShoure has been arrested twice this year for marijuana possession, meaning he has more marijuana-related arrests than career rushing yards. Pathetic.

7th round, Johnny Culbreath

Arrested for --what else?-- marijuana possession earlier this year.

5th round, Doug Hogue, is the only exception.

Marlins Fan said 05/29, 11:20 PM
Well I stuck it in my pipe but that **** just wouldn't burn, so I want my money back. Gotta find me a good dealer... :/

Anyway, let's not pretend that the Lions' increased gate revenue was a direct result of the Lions' 2011 draft. Fans didn't plunk down 100 bucks (or whatever) to go see Nick Fairley or Titus Young or any of the other draftees. There may have been a few people here and there who just had to see Doug Hogue (doubtful, but who knows; his mom might have bought a ticket or two). Stafford, Megatron, etc.. those are the guys people pay to see. Heck, Leshoure never even plaed a down, so I can promise you nobody paid to go see him!

Anyhoo, my point still stands - Detroit should've just skipped the draft. They got nothing in terms of production, and the off the field problems have simply served to tarnish the reputation of the team. Not only that, but Titus Young was sent home for sucker punching a teammate!

This is the time of year that players are supposed to be working together and developing a rapport, not worrying about a rogue teammate creeping up from behind and trying to injure you.

Bottom line, nothing good came out of the 2011 draft for Detroit.

Marlins Fan said 05/30, 11:09 PM
People don't line up to see some rooke defensive tackle play football. They just don't. The NFL is an offense driven League and the Lions in particular are one of the more heavily offense-oriented teams, and it just doesn't make sense to think thousands of fans bought tickets because they just had to see Nick Fairley. Fans go for the stars; Stafford, Megatron, etc.

Anyway, here's the dealio - so far the Lions haven't had a positive impact from their entire 2011 draft class. Yes, Titus Young put up mildly decent numbers, but the negativity he brought with the Delmas fight surely outweighs his 6 TDs. And as I stated previously, Young was the only member of the 2011 draft class to do anything positive on the field.

As of right now, the Lions have minimal production from their draft class but a whole new set of headaches; the in-house fighting, the lack of production, the multiple marijuana arrests, the DUIs, etc.

As of this moment in time, the Lions abosolutely would've been better off skipping the entire draft altogether. They would've saved themselves millions of dollars and a ton of bad publicity. Potential isn't worth the price they've already paid.