http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q14Px6ML ... re=related

Here's some tape vs Stanford from this season. He seems to get taken out of the play quite easily.

On those two tapes. He was just okay on the Temple tape but that was him as a sophomore. He made some mistakes but the INT was an exceptional play. On the Stanford tape, he s not getting much help from his DL but I think he does a good job for the most part, not dominant but solid fundamentally. What they arent showing on these tapes are the plays where he is dropping into coverage which is probably the best part of his game.

I confess that I watched one UCLA game and got pumped about Ayers. Started reading stuff and had doubts on his ability to play 4-3 based on what I was reading. If you've seen him do what he'd be asked to do for the Lions, I'll take your word for it. I was just stating that I'm not "sure."

Either way, there will be some good LBs on the board in round 2 so even if Ayers isn't the pick in round 1 there's a chance of landing a good starting LB in the next round.

True there seem to be some decent LB prospects out there and we could definitely get one in Rd2 if we go another direction early.

From the games I've seen, Ayers didn't overly impress. Seems to have good range, speed and great size, but isn't very physical. JMO. I feel the LB unit should consist of lights out hitters, meanest SOB's on the field, and Ayers just didn't convey that type of play.

Though Im a supporter of drafting Ayers, I have to agree with what you said. Of all the times I watched Ayers, i just didnt see that type of physical play I would want out of a linebacker. That one aspect is kind of making me scratch my head about Ayers.

I agree, personally I would like a LB that plays physical like that but its clear the Lions do not necessarily prefer this. For example they seem happy with Levy at MLB and he is nothing close to that.

Precisely why I've said that I feel the Lions defense needs a thumper in the middle, with their athletic linebackers on the outside. I'd be all in favor of the Lions drafting Martez Wilson, putting him in the middle and moving Levy to the weak side with Carpenter on the strong side. It would give us two athletic linebackers on the outside, and a hard hitting MLB with some skills for this defense. With Suh and Corey eating up guards and centers, Wilson can fill gaps with authority and the other two can take containment on the edges.

The Lions defenses always performed well when they had guys like Spielman, Boyd, etc. patrolling the middle, not "athletes" with "football IQ".

I somewhat agree on what the last few posts have been saying about Ayers and what the options for the Lions are. I must say that Greg Jones got exposed against Alabama. I think he could play weakside and I wouldn't want him as my MLB. Ayers has potential, and I think thats what has him up as high as he is. He's not going to have a whole lot of sacks, but he does make quite a few tackles. My concern is that he doesn't deliver a thump when he goes in for the tackle. A lot of arm tackles. I think this could be corrected, but at 13 I don't necessarily want to have to correct that in a guy. LB is one of the biggest needs we've got on this team and getting a highly rated, productive guy won't hurt us.

I don't know if this current staff is going to move Levy outside. They have groomed him to be a MLB the last two seasons, and moving him now and putting a rookie in the middle seems somewhat counterproductive.

agree but i just think the front office is looking for something different and i think they are happy with levy

Is it just me or are there others who think Casey Mathews will project out to be an OLB at the end of the day?

From what I have seen, he sure looks athletic enough to be.

I think he can play either inside or outside in the NFL. It will depend on what the team that takes him needs, and what they expect from their linebackers in their scheme.

I think it's more of a speed thing with him playing inside rather than outside. I'm not sure if he's got the timed speed to be an OLB at this point. His football speed is much better than his timed speed. He might be able to make that transition.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm feeling totally underwhelmed by this years LB class. Outside of Miller, I don't see another backer that warrants 1st round consideration, and not many that I would want the Lions to spend #44 on either. I'm not saying there aren't some talented kids out there that could help our defense, just not any that I feel we should spend one of our first two picks on. In the 3rd round is when things should start to get interesting. If the Lions can get 1 to 2 backers in the middle rounds to shore up what I think was our biggest weakness last season, it would go a long way towards shoring up the back seven. This is just my take. Any perspectives?