Consensus Says: The Lions Will Choose Jonathan Martin
By: Terry Foster
With the 23rd pick of the 2012 NFL draft the Detroit Lions select offensive tackle Jonathan Martin from Stanford University.
Do I have inside information? Nope. Nobody does. But Martin is the consensus pick of draft experts who are paid to predict what will happen Thursday night.
Do these guys know something? No. A story just came out that listed the mock drafts of 25 experts. They have the Lions taking 15 different players. When you draft that low the experts don't know because so much can happen ahead of the Lions. The Lions don't even know who they are going to take. They've got guys listed high on their draft boards that they will track all night. But nobody knows.
Anyway who is Martin? He is a 6-foot-5, 312 pound monster who lacks foot speed and needs to get stronger. He eventually could become the Lions left tackle but not until after Jeff Backus retires. I can see him challenging Gosder Cherilus at right tackle and getting his feet wet in the league. But he is not ready to be a solid contributor yet.
I would be against the pick unless he dropped to the second round.
The other guys the experts have coming to Detroit in the first round are Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus, Ohio State offensive tackle Mike Adams, Boise State running back Doug Martin, Midwestern State offensive lineman Amini Silatolu, Alabama corner back Dre' Kirkpatrick, Georgia OL Cordy Glenn, USC DE Nick Perry, Clemson DE Andrea Branch, Alabama safety Mark Barron, Iowa OT Riley Reiff, Central Florida CB Josh Robinson, North Alabama CB Jenoris Jenkins and South Carolina CB Stephon Gilmore.
My hope? Nick Perry, the home boy from Detroit.
