With the forty-fourth pick in the 2011 BGN Mock Draft, DirtyWaters selects...
Rahim Moore - S, UCLA
The War Room in Detroit was sweating this one out as they waited for the Vikings to make their selection. The Vikings, in desperate need for a safety, elected instead to go with Ryan Leaf Jr and the Lions promptly ran their draft card to the commish. Safety is not the biggest need remaining for the Lions...however, I think that most would agree that draft picks are made with a combination of team need and value based on what's left on the board. The top needs for the Lions entering the draft are OT, CB, DE, and OLB.
Matthew Stafford would like to thank the person who picked 13th for selecting OT - Tyron Smith and increasing his life expectancy. The thought of Jeff Backus protecting Stafford's blind side has haunted him for too long. With OT crossed off, the Lions now could focus on their other needs. In order to fill another of their top needs (DE, CB, OLB) the Lions would have to make a Daniel Te'o-Nesheim/Bryan Smith type reach or trade back.
More after the jump...
Before pulling the trigger on that move, the Lions look to their other needs for top value and in steps Rahim Moore. Moore is a borderline 1st round talent in a weak draft class at safety, which all equates to tremendous value with the 44rd pick. The Lions have a solid young safety on their roster in Louis Delmas that likes to attack the line of scrimmage and could use a complimentary center-fielder type of safety. Last year, CC Brown started 8 games, which is 8 games too many. They attempted to convert rookie Amari Spievey from corner to safety and while he showed promise, he is better suited as a nickel corner. The Lions also signed Erik Coleman and if you are asking yourself "Who is Erik Coleman?" then you get my point.
Rahim Moore is a ball hawking safety who emulates Ed Reed, the perfect compliment to Louis Delmas. His selection fills a need with a potential star player and based on the value of the players left on the board in positions of top need, the Lions are set up well to fill DE, OLB, and CB in the next few rounds.
Next on the clock will be T-rade with the San Francisco 49ers.
Previous Picks: 1 - Nick Fairley 2 - Patrick Peterson 3 - Blaine Gabbert 4 - Cam Newton 5 - Von Miller 6 - Marcell Dareus 7 - Prince Amukamara 8 - A.J. Green 9 - Da'Quan Bowers 10 - Corey Liuget 11 - Robert Quinn 12 - Julio Jones 13 - Tyron Smith 14 - Jimmy Smith 15 - Mark Ingram 16 - Cameron Jordan 17 - Ryan Kerrigan 18 - Anthony Castonzo 19 - Mike Pouncey 20 - Adrian Clayborn 21 - Phil Taylor 22- Stephen Paea 23 - Brandon Harris 24 - Aldon Smith 25 - Gabe Carimi 26 - Torrey Smith 27 - Justin Houston 28- J.J. Watt 29 - Nate Solder 30 - Akeem Ayers 31- Derek Sherrod 32 - Cameron Heyward 33- Muhammad Wilkerson 34 - Allen Bailey 35 - Jabaal Sheard 36 - Marvin Austin 37 - Jonathan Baldwin 38 - Jake Locker 39 - Colin Kaepernick 40 - James Carpenter 41 - Christian Ponder 42 - Aaron Williams 43 - Ryan Mallett