I think the best candidates overall are: OG Larry Warford, OT D.J. Fluker, WR Terrance Williams, WR Keenan Allen, TE Tyler Eifert, TE Zach Ertz, RB Giovani Bernard, DE Dion Jordan, DT Sheldon Richardson, DT Star Lotulelei, DT Kawann Short, LB Kiko Alonso, CB Xavier Rhodes, CB Tyrann Mathieu, CB Nickell Robey, FS Eric Reid. Ziggy Ansah could try and make a case for that group but I don't think he's made as big an impact as that group. Geno Smith and Kenny Vaccaro honestly do not belong in this discussion.
He really has. I never really got a chance to sit down and take a good look at him at Oregon and I knew I was going to regret not doing so. There was this mystique and pure awe in some people I respect a lot, the way they talked about him.
I'm shocked Smith is on there. Was this an article he wrote? Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk now Free
Ansah has 3 sacks, 6 QB hits, and 2 forced fumbles so far..... with a sack/strip/recovery taken away thanks to a moronic Nick Fairley personal foul.
Didn't know about the one taken away by penalty. That's enough to be on the list. Not enough for top 5 though considering his overall PRP which ranks only around #24 right now, similar to Olivier Vernon.
It was actually 2 sacks, 2 FF, 1 FR wiped away by penalty that was either a bad call or had no bearing on the play. Does it matter that he's logged only about 65% of the snaps, has been playing through an abdomen injury that almost saw him inactive against Chicago, and has seen frequent double teams? I have Stafford, Bush, and Ansah on my fantasy team so I have the Lions streaming online while watching Miami. Game 1: 0.5 sack which should've been a full sack as Fairly got in late. 1 QB hit. Blew up Matt Kalil for a sack/FF that was called back on an offsides that looked suspect upon replay. Blew up Matt Kalil on a 3rd & 11 that forced Ponder to evade the sack for minimal gain. Knifed by Kalil on another play to stuff Peterson inside for no gain. {saw limited action, 26 snaps, b/c of a concussion that cost him 2 weeks of preseason practice} Game 2: sack/FF/FR called back that would've given Detroit the ball deep in Zona territory. 2 QB hits. {Detroit lost 25-21, so that could've been a game changer as it took away easy points for Detroit and allowed Zona to drive for a FG} Game 3: 2 sacks, 1 FF, 2 QB hits. Game 4: limited by abdomen injury. Reportedly still made his presence felt in the backfield despite minimal stats, including a PD. Game 5: 0.5 sack, 1 FF, 1 QB hit. So overall Ansah should have 5 sacks, 4 FF, 1 FR, 6 QB hits, 1 PD. That would qualify for 6th in sacks and 1st in Forced Fumbles.
Thanks. I also read his quote on the two Jets. I still think Kiper is a douche. Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk now Free
Personally I would've preferred to have drafted Ansah b/c his size and stoutness vs the run would've allowed us greater flexibility at linebacker behind/next to him. By greater flexibility I mean the ability to look for a smaller but more dynamic player like a Vic Beasley or Kyle Van Noy at right linebacker rather than needing a big thumper like Misi. I just like that dynamic of a jumbo athletic end paired with a pass rushing terror at OLB so that they can both be 3 down players, with the right end kicking inside during nickel but still offering enough pass rush out of base defense. However by no means am I disappointed with the Jordan pick; it's just not the way I would've preferred to scheme it up.
I can't help but think that Dion Jordan would put up similar, or even better numbers with Fairley and Suh wrecking havoc in the middle.
I'm not sure if it would or not. Suh & Fairley have beaten Ansah to a few sacks that he seemed to have a beat on, and their presence isn't stopping offenses from doubling him on a nice chunk of the pass attempts.
I can agree with his 1 & 2, but his 3-5 are debateable to say the least. Ansah's probably the only one of the three that could put up a good case.
Ansah has been a machine. I've watched Lions games closely this year for personal reasons, and that dude is an impact player.
A lot of size, talent and red zone threat there in Fauria to go undrafted. I saw this morning that the Pats waived TE Zach Sudfeld and the Jets picked him up, I would have liked to seen us take a crack at him. Not sure why NE waived him, I thought that he was doing very well in TC and pre season.
He was worth a draft pick for his redzone potential alone. Ideal place for him to be in Detroit with Calvin providing redzone 1 on 1's to utilize his height advantage.
I think that Sudfeld has some potential, great size as well. Btw Fauria got TD #3 today, nice day's work for sure.
We agreed a lot on ziggy's projection, he's shown well, but I had To go Dion.. I had Sheldon Richardson as one of the few blue chip players in the draft, thought his projection was the easiest in the draft..went with Dion just because of the limitless ceiling, but I mentioned a few times it was 1 and 1a really..
As a bruin fan i was so upset when we didn't pick up fauria. Knew we'd regret it. I'm happy for him though, hope he keeps up the great work
I had a defensive tackle crush on Richardson but would've taken the DE first, especially with Odrick & Starks already at 3 technique.
Was a fan of Fauria and Franklin out of UCLA. I was a little worried about Fauria because he was pretty skinny but I guess that's to be expected when you're 13 feet tall. Plus if you're just going to line him up wide anyways, down in the redzone, then who cares?
My crush was based on him playing anywhere the hell he wanted to..you would of taken Ziggy over him so
I've pretty much had a mancrush on Fauria ever since that Stanford game in 2011 where he scored two touchdowns. That was the start of it. So it's been two years and two weeks.