APThe Lions had a need at cornerback anyway, but eventually cutting Aaron Berry after a pair of offseason arrests has made it it a glaring weakness. And with starter Chris Houston missing the whole week of practice and being listed as doubtful for the opener, they’re scrambling.
But given a chance to shore up that position, they passed on Janoris Jenkins.
They’ll get a chance to see whether they made a mistake Sunday, when he plays against them as a member of the Rams.
Detroit, picking 23rd, passed on Jenkins to take Iowa offensive lineman Riley Reiff, who has not cracked the starting lineup. But the Lions weren’t the only team scared off by Jenkins’ off-field issues, which include three arrests and four kids with three women. St. Louis stopped the fall in the second round, 39th overall.
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz wouldn’t say when he’d have felt comfortable taking Jenkins, saying: “He looks like they found themselves a good one.”
But Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said when he first graded Jenkins’ film, “I thought he was the top corner coming out,” according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
At the time of the draft, the full brunt of the Lions offseason spent in the back of a squad car hadn’t been felt. Only four of their seven offseason arrests had happened by that time.
But there were still enough issues to make drafting him a hard case to sell, even if he’d have filled one of the biggest needs.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he had no problems with the pick, when they picked him (after a couple of trade-downs and drafting two other players first).
“I don’t think we thought it was risky when we took him,” Fisher said. “He fell. We clearly had him rated as one of the top, if not the top, corner on the board. When there’s behavioral issues that you have to check out, then they typically fall, and we felt like he would fall.
“We did our due diligence, we did our research and, at the end of the day, we were very, very excited about having the opportunity to draft him, and he’s exceeded our expectations at this point. He’s a great young man, and he loves football, and he’s very intelligent. He’s going to have a great career.”
And the Lions are going to have to watch and wonder if their other problems kept them from adding a guy who could have answered some questions for them.
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If you were the Lions, could you seriously have drafted this guy after the offseason they had? Culbreath, Fairley (twice), Leshoure (twice), and Berry (twice) all got in trouble with the law. Sorry, but as bad as they needed (and still do need) CBs and as good as Jenkins may become, this was a risk that they simply couldn’t afford to take.
Even if Jenkins has a great game, I wouldn’t say the Lions made a mistake, they needed to get younger on the O-line. I would rather protect my franchise QB, than draft an at risk player. Plus when you have the D-line like Detroit, you don’t need great CB’s just decent ones.
We also had a need at Tackle since Backus is ~40 years old and our young stud QB isn’t exactly known for being made out of steel. Also, Dwight “Bill” Bentley who we drafted in the 3rd round from the same hometown as Jenkins, has looked really good so far and should be starting for us on Sunday. Can you imagine the media backlash if we HAD drafted Jenkins?! C’mon you can’t have it both ways and knock us if we drafted him and knock us if we didn’t.
The Lions should try to torch him in his first game to lower his trade value and then make a deal to get him.
Riley Reiff could start at either Tackle today. It actually says more about the level of competition along the O-Line, then what Reiff has done wrong…which is nothing. He’s their plug-and-play LT for the next 10 years.
Janoris Jenkins could return 3 pick sixes tomorrow and I would say, “nice job, but I’m still concerned whether you can stay in the league, character-wise, for more than five years”.
Oh and that Amendola kid is a stud for St. Louis. I think he’ll be the #2 receiver of the night.
Man, I can’t wait until the Lions get rolling again and all this blow-their-problems-out-of-proportion stuff can come to an end. The Lions secondary is no more an issue for them than the ones in GB, NE and NYG. But we’ll hear about it because of the great doubting microscope of doom that people love to trot out.
Anyone else find it strange that teams all of the sudden get all ethical when draft time rolls around causing them to pass on guys like Jenkins when every team has about a dozen guys like him on the roster?
Jenkins without his issues couldn’t hold Stephon Gilmore’s jock. How could you say he was the #1 Corner coming out? Ron Brooks was a backup Corner and he is still better than Jenkins. Jenkins had a great D-line playing in front of him his whole college career, lets see him cover an NFL receiver with the Rams average D-line.
No mention that Lions drafted Bill Bently in the third round? He is expected to play a bunch tomorrow as well. Lions could find out they got a comparable db a day later.
You’re still not in the clear st lou
Can we talk about how awesome that picture is?
The Lions need to stop relying on all these guys who just can’t stay healthy. Delmas is headed for the injury train much like Bob Sanders. Chis Houston can play a little but he can’t stay on the field.
Yes, Mayhew drafted three DBs. But only one of them has shown anything (Bentley).
I am glad Detroit didn’t take Jenkins. Reiff is going to be solid.
This guy is another Pac Man Jones ticking time bomb. The Lions did the right thing.
Hey, After this weekend you could potentially talk to the Rams about Bradley Fletcher for a mid round pick.
Yes this idiot coach drafted PacMan Jones. He’s full of crap. I’m sorry but four kids with three women is hardly intelligent. And great? Unless Fisher is referencing fertility, he’s yet again lying.
The Lions had their short time in the sun…
The Pack and Bears will make sure of that.
It takes years to evaluate a draft class.There are very few “sure picks “.
Jenkins may play well tomorrow and go on to have a great career but I don’t the Lions made a mistake by not taking him.
His off the field conduct no doubt influenced the Lions but the same could be said for all the other teams that took a pass on him.
I think that Riley Reiff will prove to a great pick and go on to lead and anchor the Lions offensive line for years to come.l
Calvin johnson will make him look like st.louis made a bad pick..then again cj will make any teams drafted cbs look bad..and veterans.
You’re right they should have drafted a pothead with 4 kids from 3 different women. brilliant.
Based on how Jenkins played in a preseason game with the Cowboys, the Lions did not make a mistake.
Week 2….the Lions get abused in San Fran and then their douche coach gets clowned again with another handshake that’s too robust.