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TheLionKing wrote:Lions pick Brett Boyko

It will be interesting to see if Boyko will eventually become available to our Leos...as he is presently signed by the NFL Eagles.

I'm still shocked by our first round choice of Ese Mrabure -Ajufo. He's athletic and we needed a backup national defensive lineman but I would not have been surprised to see Ese Mrabure -Ajufo available in the third round.

In the meantime, we had an opportunity to pick up a potential starting offensive lineman in the first round, even with McEwan gone....and with Fabian's knee injury recovery still a concern and with Valli solid but not mind blowing I would have chosen a talented offensive lineman that would have been available.

I sure hope that McMann and Wally saw something that other teams didn't see. I would have been much more comfortable with Kelly Bates in the saddle for our Canadian draft again.

There are still some good choices left in the third round. Hopefully we make a good choice.

I'm thinking Murray-Lawrence with the next pick.

Hambone wrote:I'm thinking Murray-Lawrence with the next pick.

He'd be a good choice. Others that interst me include James Bodanis and David Beard.

Blitz wrote:

Hambone wrote:I'm thinking Murray-Lawrence with the next pick.

He'd be a good choice. Others that interst me include James Bodanis and David Beard.

Beard went to Edmonton 2 picks after BC took Boyko.

Hambone wrote:

Blitz wrote:

Hambone wrote:I'm thinking Murray-Lawrence with the next pick.

He'd be a good choice. Others that interst me include James Bodanis and David Beard.

Beard went to Edmonton 2 picks after BC took Boyko.

Thanks Hambone. The Esks make a good choice. I see our Leos went with your choice in the third round and it will give us the depth we need at National running back.

Wonder If the Lions would take a flyer on Covington with that extra pick from Hamilton?

Hambone wrote:Wonder If the Lions would take a flyer on Covington with that extra pick from Hamilton?

They could. Maxx Forde would also be a worthy sixth round choice.

Hambone wrote:Wonder If the Lions would take a flyer on Covington with that extra pick from Hamilton?

Good call Hambone!!!

Hambone wrote:

TheLionKing wrote:

David wrote:I can't say with certainty, but I'd be willing to bet a pay cheque that a DE with 2.5 sacks last year would still be available in the 2nd (or possibly even the 3rd) round.


DH

All the reason this pick is a head scratcher. Lions obviously see something that the other teams didn't

I don't mind it. He comes across like a Ricky Foley type; very athletic, size-wise looks like he would be a DE/Rush End, can immediately play special teams while providing NAT depth on the DL. With Westerman looking like he's pencilled in to start and Menard looking real solid as a rookie there is a commitment to having a NAT presence on the DL. With that in mind I like adding one more to provide both depth and rotational flexibility.

I like this pick as I see it as a positional pick (as opposed to best athlete available) and the D line is the Lions weakest position. With Westerman starting the Lions are wise to have more than just Menard as a back up.

Time will tell of course, but we got some good "value picks" - Murray-Lawrence in Round 3 and Maxx Forde in Round 6. I also liked the selection of Covington as our 2nd pick in Round 5 (from Hamilton). This is when you can take a flyer on a player who might not play here for a long time, if ever. If he does land here in 2-3 years, it could be a home run and a steal of a trade for SJ Haidara.

My concern was that our first two selections (Rounds 1 & 2) were likely to fall further down the board. Boyko, as he's NFL bound, and Mrabure-Ajufo, whom most scouts likely didn't have penciled into their first 2 or possibly even 3 rounds.


DH

Team 1040 had an interview with the Lions 1st pick. Very articulate and says he patterns his game after Odell Willis. Says he takes notes watching Willis play.

Then let's hope that he doesn't have any Thanksgiving Day traditions to be thinking about around Grey Cup time.

Sir Purrcival wrote:Then let's hope that he doesn't have any Thanksgiving Day traditions to be thinking about around Grey Cup time.

Lets hope that the Lions are still playing football around the US Thanksgiving Day. That would be a nice Thanksgiving tradition.

Blitz wrote:

Hambone wrote:Wonder If the Lions would take a flyer on Covington with that extra pick from Hamilton?

They could. Maxx Forde would also be a worthy sixth round choice.

I'm happy our Leos took Forde as our last draft. He has upside and while he is perhaps a long shot, due to his draft selection, he does have some talent.

Despite his late selection, Forde ranked “better than anyone in the draft”, according to McEvoy’s analytics, according to today's Beamish article.


Overall, I liked our selections from Round 3 to Round 7 but have some serious questions about our first two rounds. I know we wanted a defensive lineman but taking a #17 with our first round pick set us up to then draft an offensive lineman who likley won't be in our lineup this season. We could have taken a talented offensive lineman who would be here this season in our first round and then gone with our defensive line choice of Ajufo in the second round.

But our Leos seem to think Boyko may not make the NFL and will have a shot at him playing in B.C. down the road.

I thought Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal did very well at this year's draft.

Yes, I was surprised by our first round selection, but maybe they see him as a replacement for Bazzie coming off the end, with the ratio benefit to allow for another international in the secondary ??