The Detroit Lions are getting extremely bold with their draft strategy.
My squad took Hawaii linebacker Jahlani Tavai in the second round last night! If you’re wondering who that is, I wouldn’t worry. Literally nobody knows the linebacker out of Hawaii.
It only gets stranger because he was apparently projected as a day three pick! A day three pick we took on Friday! What is going on in Detroit right now? (RELATED: Detroit Lions Draft Iowa Tight End T.J. Hockenson 8th Overall)
Jahlani Tavai’s #NFLDraft profile has him going in Rounds 4-5 and projects him as an NFL backup with special teams potential.
The Detroit Lions just drafted him early in Round 2.
Awesome.
— Brian Manzullo (@BrianManzullo) April 27, 2019
Look, maybe Tavai turns out to be great. We don’t know yet. Point is the Lions could’ve possibly had him in 3rd round and left a lot of good choices on the board. Would love to know what they saw in him that they couldn’t pass up at that spot in the draft.
— Brian Manzullo (@BrianManzullo) April 27, 2019
Hawaii LB Jahlani Tavai is selected 43rd overall by the DET #Lions
No. 24 LB and No. 237 overall player on the @PFF Big Board, Tavai earned 23 defensive stops in the run game alone and earned a 76.5 run-defense grade
— PFF DET Lions (@PFF_Lions) April 27, 2019
I don’t know what the Lions found out about Tavai, but it seems like this is the definition of a massive reach in the NFL draft.
From what I’m seeing online, my beloved team could have waited until today to get this guy and drafted somebody else last night.
Instead, they took a dude nobody was focused on in the second round. The second round! Have we all lost our minds?
Look, this dude might turn out to be a legit player. I have no idea. I have no reason to not trust what the Lions are doing, especially after the outstanding pick of T.J. Hockenson Thursday night at eighth overall.
However, this just seems like a bit too bold. I have no problem reaching to grab a player we really like. No problem at all. Reaching up a round or two isn’t a big deal. That doesn’t seem to be the case here.
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It seems like we reached three or four rounds up to get this linebacker out of Hawaii. Maybe he’s a hidden gem. All I know for sure is he better show up and show out to justify this pick by the Lions in the second round.