Hughes & Bradbury Vs Hernandez & Simmons
Someone had mentioned in another thread that Simmons was their guy over Bradbury. Simmons definitely was a risky pick, but he was also Top 10 talent and he played a more impactful position.
Looking at our two of our three biggest needs, 3T and LG, how much better would 2020 look with Hernandez at LG and Simmons at 3T? While Hernandez isn't a prototypical ZBS G, he's not a slug either. Plus when we did want to mix in more power/man schemes, we'd have a bona fide roadgrader.
Reiff, Hernandez, Elf/Jones, Kline, and O'Neill looks better on paper to me.
Simmons on this D would be insane. With a legit 3T collapsing the pocket, Hunter and Griffen would be that much more effective. He'd be the deodorant on sub par CB play.
If we had gone this way, both lines are probably in better shape and you go into the 2020 draft and grab a CB in the first and a guy like Cushenberry in the second.
@"JimmyinSD" said: Hindsight is funny like that.It's definitely...2020
I probably still would have gone Hernandez and Bradbury. I was and am convinced that we need a top level OLine to really excel and Elflein was and is a huge hole. Up until mid this season did I really notice our DTs being a liability. I think Hernandez is fast enough to be functional for our Zone scheme while just being massive enough to hold up against anyone.
My personal belief is that a Below Replacement Level Player undermines the performance of an entire Unit. Sendejo is League Average. So is Shamar. Elf is not. Keeping him at Center means both Hernandez and Kline would have to try and compensate for his lack of performance and would hinder theirs.
You can point the finger at Rick in other rounds too. There have been trade downs in multiple years in the 3rd and 4th where he passed over guys who've become quality Guards in order to acquire more late round capital.
Has he hit on a lot of those picks? Yep. Were any of them Guards or a 3T? Nope. This is precisely why I am personally against that strategy. He's deliberately passing over players with a much higher percentage chance of developing in order to go after rawer prospects with huge upside. That's well and good if you're hitting on all your areas of need. While Rick has hit on a lot, the misses at OG and 3T are really being felt now.
Love Simmons, but it's too early. Both Hughes and Bradbury could still turn into very good pros. Remember, the year we took Hughes, we wanted Frank Ragnow, whom the Lions took way earlier than consensus. He struggled mightily his rookie season, but turned into a very good player this season.
@"MaroonBells" said: Love Simmons, but it's too early. Both Hughes and Bradbury could still turn into very good pros. Remember, the year we took Hughes, we wanted Frank Ragnow, whom the Lions took way earlier than consensus. He struggled mightily his rookie season, but turned into a very good player this season.Yeah, I think it's bad planning to assume that your rookie is going to be a stud his first season. At best I think you can hope for league average in year one, except for maybe RB and Edge
I'm still rather bullish on Hughes. He's shown enough when on the field to make you think he can be an above-average starter. His size will always limit him to some degree even when playing sticky coverage. But if they can find a way to get him in the slot full-time he could still develop into one of the better slot CB's in the league.
As for alternatives, I always was a huge fan of Simmons and pumped him up quite a bit last year. He will be a guy lots of people probably regret not pulling the trigger on if he can stay healthy. Bradbury was still an alright selection though. His potential is still sky-high with his movement skills.
I thought it was a question whether Hughes even has a career with the serious neck injury.
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