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One thing you can count on with the Detroit Lions is that they are never, ever boring. Follow the latest news including injuries, roster moves and more here daily from Oakland Press beat writer Paula Pasche. Plus you'll find regular commentary about the team.

2/01/2010

Think defense first

Until the Lions make their first pick in the NFL draft on April 22, there will be chatter about who it will be. Martin Mayhew, the Lions general manager, said a few weeks ago that they will take the best player on the board regardless of position or if he’s an offensive or defensive player. That’s GM talk and not surprising to hear. He’s not going to tip his hat. But here’s the deal, the Lions need more help on defense. It’s likely St. Louis will take defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh out of Nebraska with the first overall pick. That would leave the second-best defensive tackle — and perhaps the second-best player — in Gerald McCoy out of Oklahoma. The draft is months off, but it would seem crazy if the Lions didn’t go to a defensive player first and McCoy fits a need.

3 Comments:

Anonymous William said...

I think McCoy would be a good fit if the Lions switch to a 3-4. The Lions really need to work on pressuring the opposing QB, and McCoy on the inside won't do that. If they do draft him and run a 3-4, pressuring with the LB's instead of the DE's in a 4-3, I think they'll be a lot better defensievely next year.

11:40 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

McCoy can't pass the rusher from the inside? WHAT? That's like saying Calvin Johnson is a possession receiver but doesn't have any speed. It is 100 percent WRONG!

McCoy is the best pass rushing DT in the entire draft. He's widely considered better than Suh at pass rushing.

Have you watched him play? He has a burst unlike most DT's you'll ever see. Not just this year, but EVER!

He is a beast. Mayock currently has him rated higher than Suh, as do I.

He is a monster and if they want more of a pass rush, he'll give more of that, than Suh will. Suh is good too and had more sacks, but watch the film, not the stats, McCoy has the bigger burst and is the better pass rusher.

They'll take whoever the rams don't between Suh & McCoy and they'll get a blue chipper stud.

Obviously most people don't know much about McCoy. Very obvious when you hear nonsense like this. You'd think people would watch some highlight clips at least before posting 100 percent inaccurate information.

12:48 PM 
Anonymous William said...

I never said that McCoy wasn't a good pass rusher, what I said is that he isn't going to pressure from the inside as a Lion, and I stand by that statement. I have seen McCoy play many times (some in person), by the way.

The Lions don't have any other D-lineman who McCoy can play off of, so I don't care how good he is in college, if he comes to the Lions he will be the only good D-lineman they have unless major changes are made this year and because he's not a bull-rusher he won't draw many double or triple teams from the inside.

Their major problem is lack of pass rush,and they are also very weak on the D-line when it comes to stopping the run. McCoy will not singlehandedly address either of those problems because, as I'm sure you know Anonymous, McCoy is a technique player.

I'm not saying that McCoy would be a bad pick, I think he would be a good pick, but he's not going to do anything next year without a significant upgrade in the positions around him and/or a scheme change. The Lions need to either somehow get a really good pass-rushing DE for the 4-3 (easier said than done), or run the 3-4 because it'll be much easier to bring in a single-purpose linebacker.

8:59 AM 

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