You guys realize when Woodley came out they were saying the exact same thing as they're saying about Graham... Woodley was 6-2 266 out of college... Graham is 6-1 262 and both run in the mid 4.7s in the 40... As college players they look very similar to me...

As far as Graham looking weak against Western, you and I were watching different games... He was constantly in the backfield...

Oh and the one dimensional thing... Graham was second in the nation in TFLs last year...

Woodley routinely manhandles NFL tackles, right tackles, to be exact, who are typically the bigger, stronger guys. What I saw in Woodley in college was an under-rated player who could drop into coverage, attack the passer, or hold his ground against the run.

Graham seemed to play better last season than what I've seen of him this season. And TFL's don't mean anything in regards to playing the run. I'm talking about holding your ground against the run coming right at you, not pass rushing and getting a TFL because they were running a draw.

I just haven't been that overly impressed with Graham this season, so far. That doesn't mean he won't turn up the jets as we enter the Big 10 portion of the schedule. But I expected more from him to this point.

Its sad but LB could honestrly be our one of our biggest needs next year. Foote is a FA. Peterson is due 8 Mill and frankly hasn't showed he is worth it. Sims has just been bad.

Depending on where we are picking I would love to bring in Brandon Spikes.

i wouldnt be mad about that^^^^^^^

I can't disagree with this at all. If the Lions don't get at least four or five wins, and show improvement of a significant nature, Foote and Peterson are as good as gone.

However, despite would could be a thinned out LB corps, our needs at corner will still be more desperate. I'm not too excited about the crop of CBs in this upcoming draft, though.

Sean Witherspoon would be pretty good in the second round.

peterson is good but not 8 mill good, foote can be re signed and i think levy is starting material...at worst we have levy, foote, sims next year...also have to wonder if will try to switch to 3-4

We'll have to see what happens, I think d-line, o-line and CB are currently our biggest areas of need but some guys on the d-line might step up yet. If Hunter can show more of what he did against Minny or someone else comes up big I'd throw LB in at that point. Either way I would very much support drafting Spikes depending on who's still available at that point.

Personally, I think that Foote will want to stay here and the Lions will re-sign him to a 2 or 3 year extension. As for Peterson, his cap charges are $7.5M in 2010, $8M in 2011, and $8.5M in 2012. He must know that he can't get that on the open market, so it's possible that he could agree to restructure his contract. I have a feeling that it will happen or else he will be cut. In terms of Sims, 2010 is the last year of his contract because of the voidable year BS and I expect it to be his last in Detroit. Levy should be able to step in and replace him. Because of all this, I wouldn't even think about a LB until the middle rounds. DT, DE, LT, and CB are far more important IMO.

How about we start creating threads about our favorite college players in this forum instead of discussing them in two different draft topics? Start a Dunlap, McCoy, Suh, Spikes, or Mays thread. I don't care. I'll start it off with someone unexpected.

I don't see DT as such a big a need as I thought it was just 3 weeks ago. Of course, I still reserve the right to change my mind. But, the trio of Jackson, Hill, and Fluellen have been stuffing the opponents running game. Clinton Portis only ran for 40 some yards total. At halftime he had -3 yards on 4 carries.

I noticed that as well with the DT's you mentioned. However, I still don't think Jackson will be able to give us one more year of productivity after this season, that is if he can hold up for 13 more games. I'd still keep DT on my list.

I agree with the idea of keeping Foote around if he wants to stay. Peterson has not been the explosive player that I had expected. Levy's development and play has been a pleasant surprise. In my opinion, Sims is expendable. In regard to next years draft, I realize we don't need a QB, TE or WR. An upgrade at RB would be OK, I'm not sold on Smith (no breakaway speed). I'm hoping for a defense dominated draft, it will be interesting to see what falls to us.