5 items worth noting about Lions, NFL as draft nears
The NFL Draft is less than a month away. Even under the difficult circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, which has eliminated live workouts, the draft remains a fluid situation. So does the NFL overall.
These are 5 items worth noting, both in regard to the Lions and the league:
1. ESPN draft expert Todd McShay turned heads by suggesting the Lions will select Michigan center Cesar Ruiz in the second round, 35th overall
Ruiz was only second- or third-team All-Big Ten. He didn’t get that much notoriety in Ann Arbor. The Lions have a young center, a former firstrounder with Pro Bowl potential, in Frank Ragnow.
But it’s not an outlier. Since the draft evaluation process, NFL folks, who look beyond college honors, have been all over Ruiz. He is a couple inches shorter than the 6-foot5-inch Ragnow, but tested similarly. And like Ragnow, he has experience at both guard and center. He was one of the best high school players in the nation and started at Michigan as a freshman. Ruiz is a terrific talent and potentially an outstanding NFL player. He was vastly underrated at Michigan and has much more upside than Graham Glasgow, who left the Lions for Denver as a free agent. And Glasgow is a solid NFL player.
2. Justin Herbert vs. Jordan Love
If this draft goes according to the much anticipated script, Washington will take Ohio State defensive end Chase Young second overall, the Lions his teammate, cornerback Jeffery Okudah, third, and the Giants ether a defensive player or offensive lineman fourth.
Then there will be a run on quarterbacks because both Miami and the Chargers definitely need one. Say Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa is an easy pick for the Dolphins at fifth overall, who would the Chargers select sixth? It would have to be either Love from Utah State, or Oregon’s Herbert, right?
Thing is, the evaluations on the two are all over the board. Herbert checks every box because he is big, has a rocket for an arm, a sub 4.6 40- time and might have gone first overall if he hadn’t decided to return to college in 2019. Ah, but there are so many who question Herbert’s intangibles. Love is either dazzling or mundane. There doesn’t seem to be any in-between. He is either going to be the steal of the draft
or potentially the biggest bust. But he has all the raw tools.
3. The NFL Draft, April 23-25, will go on
It will essentially be a television studio show with the social distancing guidelines for each team in place because of COVID-19. Certainly it won’t match what would have been quite a live event in Las Vegas. Yet, it will be notable nonetheless if for no other reason than the NFL Draft always is, and the ratings will be off the chart.
4. The combine and Senior Bowl were held before COVID-19shut down the nation
The player evaluations have been extensive. Not being able to workout Tagovailoa, given his injury status, makes him more of a question mark. Same for team doctor examinations.
Young is an incredible talent, but he didn’t test at the combine and didn’t produce at the end of the 2019 season like he had earlier in the campaign.
Both will likely go in the Top 5, as they would have regardless, though.
5. The NFL is going forward as if the
season is going to start on time
The COVID-19 curve is still on a rapid rise, but the NFL is operating on the assumption it will get the all-clear by September. That might be naive. Off season programs are obviously in jeopardy. What about marketing and ticket sales? Should the NFL release its schedule? Should the expanded postseason move on or be delayed a year?
It’s a lot of questions, but the NFL, honestly, can’t have any answers, really, beyond the draft.
The NFL will soon move into the same uncertain realm as the rest of the sports world because of the coronavirus crisis.