2009 NFL draft two years out: Detroit Lions

As we start to gear up for the 2011 NFL draft, we need to look back at how the NFL teams have done in recent drafts. The first one up is the Detroit Lions who had the very first pick in the 2009 NFL draft. For the Lions the 2009 was a make or break draft. They had a new General Manger in place and he needed to make a big splash. The short term future of the Lions rides heavily on how this draft class performs, and there are already a few cracks emerging.

Before we get to all that let us take a look at the Lions relevant draft picks from 2009 :

1.Round One (1)- QB Matthew Stafford 2.Round One (20)- TE Brandon Pettigrew 3.Round Two (33)- S Louis Delmas 4.Round Three (76)- OLB DeAndre Levy 5.Round Three (82)- WR Derrick Williams 6.Round Four (115)- DT Sammie Lee Hill

Up until the game one of the 2010 NFL season I was very high on this drat class. Now after two seasons of seeing QB Matthew Stafford go down with injuries I am beginning to have doubts. If Stafford does not work out then the Lions will be two or more years delayed in their rebuilding process. Right now there is little faith among Lions’ fans and NFL draft pundits that Stafford will indeed be their QB of the future.

The good news in all of this is the other draft picks made in 2009 have either played well or still hold a lot of promise. TE Bandon Pettigrew has played very well at times, and not so well at others. LB DeAndre Levy had been very good especially against the pass, and he may be the MLB of the future for this team. Louis Delmas and Sammie Lee Hill have been good picks, and the only big miss right now is WR Derrick Williams.