Detroit Draft Grades

[detfan782004]

What you got for initial grades!

Arnold- B+. The grade more about giving up so much draft capital

Rakestraw Jr - A- Some had him going into late 1st early 2nd. Player is B+ but where taken added to the grade 
 

Manu- D+ Hate the value. He has size that you can't teach but don't see the draft slot at all
 

Vaki- C - Was okay with it for ST and Def but hearing they like him on offense and that made me pivot from a C to C-

Wingo- A. Think even though he's undersized he's perfect fit to get after QB in this system 

Mahogany- A+. Think is was the best pick in termS of value. 

[Louis Friend]

1.24- Terrion Arnold, CB Alabama A 

Lions were able to grab their #1 rated CB at a spot they didn’t expect him to be. 

2.61- Ennis Rakestraw, CB Missouri A-

I don’t mind double dipping at CB, and don’t mind the player, but I had a couple guys rated higher. 

4.126- Giovanni Manu, OT British Columbia C+

Manu was a guy the Lions were high on. Brought in for a visit. Fans don’t seem to know a lot about him but dude is massive, tons of upside, and he can learn from Sewell and Decker. 

4.132- Sione Vaki, S/RB Utah B

People are confused about his position and Brad Holmes talking about it doesn’t help. He’s a football player. He can play RB/WR on offense, he can play S/LB on defense, he can play ST. Dude is just a dawg and I’m excited to see all the different ways we’ll use him, especially Ben Johnson on 4th down. Lions were rumored to be high on him and he was one of the 3 guys I hoped we walked away with today. 

6.189- Mekhi Wingo, DT LSU A

High upside, will make a nice DL depth guy with a chance to make an impact right away. I was surprised he was available in the 6th. 

6.210- Christian Mahogany, G Boston College A+

I had Mahogany rated as a 3rd rd prospect. To get him at 210 is just theft. He can come in and wreak havoc. Could play next to Penei Sewell for the next 5 years. Best value in the draft for me and I’m not being biased. 
 

Overall: A

I think it was another Brad Holmes draft. He took his top guys and the placement doesn’t match up with what fans/media expected, but if you move the picks around (Mahogany and Wingo before Vaki and Manu) I think people would view it better. 

[Sllim Pickens]

Terrion Arnold, A, I think the player is easily an A pick. I think the trade up makes it a B.  Perfect match of one of the BPA’s and team need. I think I’d have rather not traded up and drafted Koolaide and had the third but still happy with the pick. 
 

Ennis Rakestraw, C-, I was not a fan of Rakestraw and think a bunch of other CB’s will end up better.  Hope I’m wrong. Glad we attacked the CB position early but just don’t love the player here however he was a value per the consensus big boards. 
 

Giovani Manu, F, I can understand why they like him. I personally like him and am rooting for him but he is super raw and can pretty much guarantee no impact this year and unless he develops quickly, will still need to draft an OT next year, that is if he stays at OT. 
 

Sionne Vaki, B+/D, I love him as a S and special teams player, hate him as a RB.  There were better RBs available if we wanted a RB. I can’t see trading up to draft a RB with Gibbs and Monty locked up for a few years, and I don’t feel like he is a return man enough to be worth drafting for a couple kickoff returns per game.  I just don’t get it if we actually only use him on O. 
 

Mekhi Wingo, B+, not my ideal target but a solid player at a position of need.  He is in the Cominsky mold so will be interesting to see how we utilize him.
 

Christian Mahogany, B, solid player at a position of need.  I figured Manu would end up at OG so this felt redundant.  Supposedly he has one leg longer than the other which scared a bunch of teams. I would have rather have drafted a few guys here which lowers the grade a touch but I’m not mad at all with taking the chance here. 
 

im hoping like last year though I will change these all to A’s at the end of the year, lol. 

[BigC421/]

Finally getting around to this 

Terrion Arnold (A) 

Guy I wanted us to trade up for pre draft, my favorite corner in the draft.  Impeccable footwork and mirror skills.  To come away with this guy from 29 is kind of surreal.  Only reason not an A+ is having to give up pretty valuable assets to acquire.  In reality I think everyone knew the 15-25 range of this draft was going to be a money spot to get better value than a typical draft, be it the defenders falling or had it been the o-tackles.  Arnold I’d easily worth a pick in the 12-15 range so the tvc kind of went out the window imo.  
 

Ennis Rakestraw ( B+) 

Really tempted to give this an A- but a B+ feels more realistic. Great value, really good player.  Loves the game , great attitude and aggressive.  Honestly feels like these 2 were made to play together there enthusiasm and competitiveness should constantly inspire each other.   Gets a lot of flake for being grabby but honestly I feel like every good college corner I watch is grabby to a degree.  One think I notice with both Arnold and Rake is much more of an already in your hip pocket, sly , quick clutch and release style grabbiness.  Compared to say watching Mitchel in particular at the senior bowl I saw a lot more obvious im beat and going need to grab you. Arm extension with separation as opposed to more technical clutching in close if that makes sense. 
 

Giovani Manu ( C- ) 

Cant really break this pick down to much other than I get it.  Upside is obviously huge. I’m good with the gamble in this spot but can’t really give it a great grade just based on lack of info.  
 

Sioni Vake ( F ) 

I really don’t understand this pick. As a safety I actually picked him in one of the mocks I posted thinking he could be a back up hybrid safety/ linebacker allowing us to potentially get more speed on the field with less 3 backer sets. Even in that roll Vake slowly slipped down my board the more I watched him.  Just not all that impressive and not sure he translates to the NFL.  As a running back frankly this pick feels down right ridiculous. Don’t understand it 

Mekhi Wingo ( A+) 

Value is just insane at this spot. I’d still likely have this guy in the B+ range had he gone in the 3rd.  Exceptional 1st step.  Kid just doesn’t stay blocked, period.  Can both knife gaps and stand up/ control lineman with his hands and exceptional technic and football iq.  I love this pick 

Christian Mohagany ( A-) 

This guy should probably be more in the solid B range but getting him this late is again just crazy value.  Legit ability to provide depth and step in as a rookie for a few games if needed imo.  Would not be surprised at all if he end up starting year 2 or 3.  

Extra 

Carlton Davis 

Not going to give this a grade but he does need to be considered when evaluating this draft. I think he is underrated and should be a huge upgrade as the #1 corner this year and greatly improves our chances to win a SB this year and that alone makes it hard to gripe about the trade 
 

Overall ( A- ) 

Im tempted again to give this draft a B+ due to giving up all the draft capital next year.  That’s disappointing , even we cash in some comp picks that doesn’t really change the value of those picks. At the end of the day I love this class.  Got my favorite corner in the draft and added another really good corner at great value in the 2nd.  Picked up a #1 rental corner that vastly improves our chances at winning a SB.  The improvement in the short and long term at the premium corner position is immense.  I can live with the Manu pick, upside if huge.  Vaki pick is the only true head scratcher but the 2 6th rounds are a couple of the best value picks of the draft and really improve the overall grade.  

[diehardlionfan]

Good write up BigC421.

[Superduperman]

According to what I said here, I'll grade the picks:

Arnold: A
First of all, I'll say over the whole draft, the Lions picked out the guys they wanted and they got them. They wanted Terrion and when he fell a little bit, they got him. What Saban said about him immediately after he was picked made me realize this is a Lions guy.

Rakestraw: A
Doubling up on guys who can play outside corner is a very, very good move. He was also good value. If the Lions had taken him at 29, I would have understood it.

Manu: D
Admit that you have no idea if anyone else had their eye on Manu or if the Lions could have gotten him later. But he was their guy and that's that. It's still a D until he proves otherwise, but if he does then it's a great pick.

Vaki: B+
I like this pick a lot. I think the Lions are being way ahead of their time with the rule changes and drafting a multi-purpose special teams weapon here, someone who can play coverage, play returns, possibly handle the ball on returns, or on fakes. And if he does anything as a backup S or RB, gravy.

Wingo: A
Tremendous value. I thought the Lions needed to pick up some more DT depth but it didn't need to be a guaranteed starter, and Wingo is perfect. Amazing football character too by all accounts.

Mahogany: A
Same thing, needed more depth at guard, but not high in the draft, and they get a guy who was in the top 100 on a lot of boards.

 

Seems to me like the Lions adapted this year to being a good team with far fewer holes, more specific needs, and less room to add rookies. They changed their approach to get the specific guys they thought could help. Based on their judgment so far, I'm on board.

 

[nagahide13]

They're at least top 6 in Goldfish's rankings. I'm pretty surprised.

[detfan782004]

14 hours ago, nagahide13 said:

They're at least top 6 in Goldfish's rankings. I'm pretty surprised.

And he tore apart the Manu pick which at this point is well deserved 

[idoubtit]

On 5/3/2024 at 4:06 PM, BigC421/ said:

Overall ( A- ) 

I agree with your entire write up except I believe there is a reason that Mahogany went where he did and that it was not as good of a pick as we think. I also agree with your grades on Manu and Vaki so I don't agree with your A- overall. I would say B-.

[Sllim Pickens]

43 minutes ago, idoubtit said:

I agree with your entire write up except I believe there is a reason that Mahogany went where he did and that it was not as good of a pick as we think. I also agree with your grades on Manu and Vaki so I don't agree with your A- overall. I would say B-.

I tend to agree.  Most of the big names that fall in the draft fall for a reason and aren't nearly what the scouts thought they would be.  Even earlier in the draft guys last year like Kelee Ringo was a top 40 prospect and went in the fourth round and was meh.  Nolan Smith the year before.  Usually the guys who do well from the later rounds are guys who were risers after more analysis or were at smaller schools.  Rarely do you see a top 100 prospect fall to the 6th and be more than a backup.  But honestly if they can be backups, great.  Maybe Wingo can replace Cominsky for cheaper next year but worst case they are just 6th round picks so even if they just make the roster out of camp that is a plus.  

[detfan782004]

On 5/10/2024 at 1:59 PM, Sllim Pickens said:

I tend to agree.  Most of the big names that fall in the draft fall for a reason and aren't nearly what the scouts thought they would be.  Even earlier in the draft guys last year like Kelee Ringo was a top 40 prospect and went in the fourth round and was meh.  Nolan Smith the year before.  Usually the guys who do well from the later rounds are guys who were risers after more analysis or were at smaller schools.  Rarely do you see a top 100 prospect fall to the 6th and be more than a backup.  But honestly if they can be backups, great.  Maybe Wingo can replace Cominsky for cheaper next year but worst case they are just 6th round picks so even if they just make the roster out of camp that is a plus.  

Names falling is something people don't get. It's like such and such team Got a steal. Well it's not really a steal if market suggests otherwise