After waiting for what seemed like forever, the 2019 NFL Draft finally kicked off on Thursday night.
There were certainly some surprises early in the 1st Round, which allowed the Detroit Lions to have a shot at selecting DT Ed Oliver, the guy I WANTED them to take.
But as we know, they passed on Oliver in favor of TE T.J. Hockenson, the guy I said the Lions WOULD take.
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Do I think Hockenson has the potential to be a good (if not great) NFL player? I absolutely do. In fact, I think Hock will make a HUGE impact for the Lions in both the running and passing game. That being said, do I think it was the right pick, especially considering how the board played out? Absolutely not.
In my opinion, Bob Quinn was zeroed in on Hockenson and that was going to be his pick, regardless of who was on the board. I would be curious to see just how high up Hockenson was on the Lions’ board. Was he really ahead of Oliver? What if Josh Allen would have been there?
What really confuses be, aside from the fact the Lions took a TE at No. 8 when one of the top players in the draft dropped into their lap, is that the Lions reportedly had solid offers on the table for them to trade down.
If the Lions were one or upgrades away from contending for a Super Bowl and tight end was one of those, then sure, pull the trigger on Hock. But that is not the case for this team and Quinn has to know that. Trading down would have allowed the Lions to accumulate another draft pick, something very valuable to them at this point.
T.J. Hockenson is going to be a stud and as time goes by ALL Lions’ fans will grow to love him. But does that automatically mean it was the correct pick at the time?
No.
