Quote:In addition to what you've said, there is no guarantee that Ezekiel would have been so production in another situation.  The Lions have had a stacked DL since 2013 which definitely helps a raw guy like Ansah develop favorably.  

 

I thought and still think Joeckel was the best pick we could have made at #2 without a trade down.  It was an awful draft at the top and hindsight is less relevant than usual looking back at how poorly all those top picks are doing at the moment.

 

Six of the top eleven picks in the 2013 draft were offensive linemen and only a couple of them have worked out.  The vast majority of professional scouts were dead wrong that year.

 

  Good point about the Lions Defensive Line situation in Ezekiel Ansah's first two seasons in the NFL. 

 

  This season,   the potential for Ansah to see many more double teams is real because of the FA loss of Ndamukong Suh.   On the bright side,  unlike the 2014 off-season in which Ansah was sidelined because he was coming off two surgeries,  he was able to participate in all of the practices in the 2015 off-season.    I think Ansah is ready to take his game to a higher level this season but the challenge w/o Suh is certainly concerning on this end.  

 

   For what it's worth,  Martin Mayhew rated Ansah as the Lions 3rd highest player on the Lions 2013 draft board.  Hence,  at least one of the Offensive Tackles had to be rated higher than Ansah.    Probably two were.    While I'm not writing Luke Joeckel,  Eric Fisher,  or any of the other Offensive Lineman off by any means,   if the draft was to be done over,  Mayhew likely would put Ansah at the top of his draft board.     Though the Ansah pick worked out for Mayhew in part because of what happened in the top 4 picks that year,   Mayhew took the blame for the mistakes he made in the 2011 Draft which the Lions now have nothing to show for another than an expected Compensatory Pick for Nick Fairley.     So much of what goes into being a successful G.M. over the long run is to learn from your mistakes.  

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