Should the Detroit Lions draft a RB?
The Detroit Lions have been operating under a broken philosophy for a long time now. They think that high priced, flashy offensive draft picks are what sells tickets. They operate their organization like an NBA team where the star players are the main attraction. That isn’t true anymore, what sells an NFL ticket in 2009 is winning, and for more than a decade the Lions have not been able to do any kind of winning. Predictable Detroit Lions attendance is way off in 2009 even though this team added two first round offensive players in the last NFL draft.
Since the 2009 season is over for Lions, their fans have started to turn their attention to the 2010 NFL draft. In Detroit the draft is the one day a year there is a little bit of hope. The question then becomes what does a NFL team that has won just 10 games over the last three years need? The answer to that question is everything, but it seems that their needs lie on the defensive side of the ball. However, since the Lions have used 11 of their last 12 first round picks on offensive players there is little faith that this team will take a defensive player with what is currently the 4th overall pick. In fact only eight times in the last 20 years has this team used its first round pick on a defensive player. In that time span only once did they use a top five pick on a defensive player (1997 #5 overall pick DB Bryant Westbrook).
As we look at the Lions draft day needs we see that need a lot of help on their defense, notably on the Defensive line and in the Linebackers corps. However with the injury to RB Kevin Smith, and given the Lions fascination with offensive players one has to wonder if they would draft a RB in the top five. A good running game would help their young QB, and help get their defense a little rest, but drafting a RB is not the best option for the Lions.
The New Orleans Saints will likely be cutting Reggie Bush in the coming off season. They will do so, because they really don’t need him, and his salary is due to escalate from a reasonable 2.9 million to a huge 10 million dollar figure. While he is not a feature back, paired with Smith he would do just fine. He would also offer the Lions a solution to their kick return problems. While they would have to make a very large contract offer to him, if paired with a top five defense prospect that 2010 looks like a lot better season for the Detroit Lions. Bush is also a name guy that could help the Lions sell some seats and move some merchandise.
