Mystery LB?
April 27th, 2010 | by detfan1979 |At the Season Ticket Holder event leading up to the draft, Guenther Cunningham was really pumped up about some “mystery LB” that the Lions were theoretically supposed to draft. Obviously, the Lions did not. This means that either he didn’t exist (unlikely), went undrafted and Lions or another team signed him as an UDFA (very unlikely too) or that some other team drafted him. Now, insiders who have this information sure aren’t going to share it; however, that doesn’t stop the rest of us from speculating. LionHawkeye of the Mlive Forums puts a lot of work into putting together lists of possible prospects the Lions bring in for visits, are interested in, etc. and basically does a ton of research each year for the draft. This is his take on the “mystery” linebacker, which seems to fit:
If the plan all along was to go Suh and try and grab one of the 3 elite RB, then the Mystery LB had to come between 31-127. There were 18 LB’s in that group.
7 were ILB
Daryl Washington Cardinals ILB TCU
Sean Lee Cowboys ILB Penn State
Brandon Spikes Patriots ILB Florida
Patrick Angerer Colts ILB Iowa
Donald Butler Chargers ILB Washington
Darryl Sharpton Texans ILB Miami
Phillip Dillard Giants ILB Nebraska
The Mystery LB was also to be a sleeper. Meaning likely for them to feel he was available at 3rd or 4th round pick would have to have a 4th round grade or higher, assuming at the beginning they would not have known they would have to trade up for Best.
That would drop 6
Sergio Kindle Ravens LB Texas
Koa Misi Dolphins LB Utah
Jason Worilds Steelers LB Virginia Tech
Navorro Bowman 49ers LB Penn State
Eric Norwood Panthers LB South Carolina
Thaddeus Gibson Steelers LB Ohio State
You have 5 LB’s left
Jermaine Cunningham Patriots LB Florida
Rennie Curran Titans LB Georgia
Perry Riley Redskins LB LSU
A.J. Edds Dolphins LB Iowa
Keenan Clayton Eagles LB Oklahoma
Cunningham was a 43DE on a lot of boards even though he was drafted by New England to be a 34OLB, he’s probably out. Clayton had 6th and 7th round grades and was a big surprise, not just a sleeper. Curran had Late 3rd early 4th Grade, so probably not a sleeper. That leaves AJ Edds and Perry Riley.
They both had 5th or 6th round grades, but you read the scouting on both and Edds says Gunther to you
Edds was the Mystery LB
It’s a Mayhew type move to gamble the guy with a 5th/6th round grade will slip to him at 30, and if not you take someone else. He was taken by Miami at pick 21 of round 4 – just 9 spots ahead of Detroit. My gut says that LionHawkeye is right and that if not for the Best trade, or Miami sneaking in, the Lions may have added Edds to the roster instead of Fox. Maybe…IF…
Tags: AJ Edds
By Alex on Apr 28, 2010
Great article, as I was sondering the same thing. The guy I thought of were Jamar Chaney. To me he is the steal of the draft in Round 7 by the Eagles. Obviously, if it was him he would’ve been taken ahead of Young.
By Eric (Jumbotron) on Apr 28, 2010
Lets add that Edds visited the lions more then once.
By editstet on Apr 28, 2010
Gunther should have kept his mouth shut as others likely could piece together that information, too. Schwartz should have told Gunny: “Never let anyone outside the family know what your thinking again.”
By John on Apr 28, 2010
I was thinking that it might be Willie Young. If you go back and look at the quote, it said that the guy was not playing LB at the time, but that they thought he would be a good LB. Young is more the size of a LB and might be a good OLB with his sacking skills.
By Laimbrane on Apr 28, 2010
Edds would have been nice (I had him in my mock in the 4th).
By chuck (moob) on Apr 28, 2010
Ryan SyamperHeight 6-2 Weight 235 lbs
was the mystery IMO, CAREER: Played in 41 games with 26 starts, team captain both junior and senior seasons, 149 tackles (78 solo), 13.5TFL ,4.5sacks and 2 picks.
By detfan1979 on Apr 28, 2010
I also thought of young, but I’ve yet to hear any word of him switching to LB… My other thought eliminating him was that Schwartz said “We weren’t targeting DE, but he was rated higher than anyone else left on our board so we went for the value pick.” (summary paraphrase, not exact quotation)
This is all just conjecture, and I”m sure they will never admit who it was. I agree with Editstet and think Gunny got a good ‘ol fashioned WTH were you thinking? I’m guessing the Lions agreed to “let the at out of the bag” that Suh was their target at two because no one was trading to one to get him, and the Rams wanted Bradford for that ticketholder event, but that Gunny got caught up in it and let some info loose he shouldn’t have. Whether it damaged them and how much, we’ll never know. But speculating is half the fun, right?
By kev on Apr 28, 2010
awesome article
By Gr8yearahead on Apr 28, 2010
I still think Gunther was referring to Caleb Campbell. He didn’t use the word “draft”, using “add” instead
By OwenXVI on Apr 28, 2010
It was probably Edds. He was part of the North Senior Bowl roster, as well. That’s probably where they “fell in love” with him.
By detfan1979 on Apr 28, 2010
That is a possibility (campbell)- he is not a LB right now (technically a safety) and isn’t on the roster yet so would be “added” (good catch there). However, he’s essentially a rookie as well and changing positions. I’d peg him more as Julian Peterson’s successor than beating out both Dizon and Follett to start at WLB.
By justice on Apr 28, 2010
Fellas-fellas, he was going to convert Taylor Mays.
By joel sanders on Apr 28, 2010
CALEB CAMPBELL IS WHO GUNNY IS TALKING ABOUT.
By Ty on Apr 28, 2010
Actually, I don’t think you can dismiss the natural inside ‘backers out-of-hand . . . in fact, I thought that might be the secret, where Gunther said “Nobody thinks this kid can do what I think he can do.” They drafted Levy, a college OLB, to play MLB in the pros, because they saw he hit really hard and had the frame to get bigger. I thought it might be the opposite at work here: drafting a very fast ILB, and using his size/speed combination to blitz from the OLB spot.
Butler was my Mystery LB candidate.
Peace
Ty
By Don on Apr 29, 2010
I really believe that gunny was Talking about Caleb campbell. Seeing now that campbell is now going to be comming into the rookie Mini camp.And That he was a Safety when he was here the first time. And even back then there was talk about caleb possibly being a LBer.
And I can see Gunther being excited about Caleb,Because Caleb has a lot of pure LBer Intstinct.And he is a hard Hitter.
On the other hand WAS Gunny talking about someone that was allready on the roster?
Sometimes people will refer to bringing someone in that is allready in, However, they arent playing where the Coach(Gunther)Would really like them to be playing.
And that could easily be Zack Follett.
I trully believe that Gunther would have had Zack playing LBer last year However Gunny thought that Zack also had some growing up to do before he got his shot at it.
The LBer that Gunny was excited about playing in the LBer position earlier this year was Zack Follett.
So unless he didn’t mean what he was saying when he said that Zack Follett better play this year. Then that would make Zack Follett his man.
I know that when he said that to Zack he was refering to him playing the LBer position.
So I have it down to Two players Caleb Campbell,and Zack Follett.
I know it is one of these two players.
However I am Leaning toward Zack Follett being the Starting WLB. And Caleb Filling in once in a while. Or Gunny is going to train one on one side and one on the other with Levy in the Middle.
Peterson isn’t getting any younger.
By Clusterfox on Apr 29, 2010
I think someone needs to find the interview clip, to look at exactly what he said. When I first heard it it, it sounded like he was refering to someone in the draft. But Then when I think back, the qoute was something along the lines of “We were talking about the draft, and a LB we can bring in that I think can do all the things we need.Blah bla blah” you get the point. But what I’m saying is he makes reference to the discusssion coming up when they were discussing the draft. But not necessarily LBs from the draft.
But here is a conspiracy theory for you. Did you notice that everyone dismissed this as a slip by Gunny. Something he shouldn’t have said.” Mayhew and Schwartz are going to be mad.” What if it wasn’t a slip. What if it was Smoke. First Gunny is the perfect guy, no one would suspect him of blowing smoke or being misleading. But what if they pretty much knew that of our laundry list of needs, LB was the one they really doubted they were going to address in the draft. Reasoning-Gunny doesn’t like Rookies(especially as Starters),Suh goes 1, Next two needs RB and CB. that takes you all the way to the 4th round. I truly doubt Gunny is going to *Really Like* any of them compared to the competition between more seasoned players like Follet, and Dizon(Plus Cambell). In fact look at our roster right now, the roster is loaded with middle of the road LB talent. But Gunny had a Mystery LB from the 4th round that was going to knock evryones socks off. Repeat to yourself. 4th Round Rookie LB Gunny loves. I’m not sold. I think he just drove up the price of every LB in the draft inside or outside. He was vague enough to include alot of players, and hopefully drop Secondary help into their laps. Skeptical, Then why won’t Gunny reveal the name now? I think he’s a sly old fox, that doesn’t want people to know he effectively mislead everyone, during the 2 weeks when everyone is expecting to be mislead. Either way Gunny Rocks, and If we ever get this defense to resemble the image in his head, We will be feared.
Clusterfox
By NorthLeft12 on Apr 30, 2010
I would not try and microanalyze Gunther’s wording too carefully. Football coaches like him are prone to misspeaking and over emphasis.
I agree with Ty in that you should not eliminate the ILBs, specifically Washington from TCU. He has all the attributes of a Weak Side LB and from my understanding had a great Senior Bowl week with the Lions staff. Having said that, I agree that AJ Edds is the more likely candidate. He would have been a great fit as Peterson’s understudy and eventual successor.
Well written article, keep up the good work.
By chiefger139 on May 1, 2010
all is calm right now in lions nation-not too many upset over the draft or the free agency all are calm and a waiting the upcoming season and what it brings-probably more so calm then its been on my several years on my live-normally much more fighting-should of got offensivelineman-linebackers these idiots did this and that-and even despite getting a 1st round rb-think much has to do with getting stafford last year-many were upset then and despite a mediocre performance at best they actually see now our only chance of winning any games is if he starts-like i did-I was on the stafford wagon early last year-this year was easier-get suh-we did-most everyone happy-best-well some upset-but many see we needed rb-and truthfully waiting till the 3rd has been bust after bust-and most see kevin smith wasnt really a 3rd a top 3rd so most like a 2nd rounder-best is up in the air but the lions nation is calm right now- most probably at least think were heading in the right direction-not the quick fix but the right direction!! your thoughts?? if anything its because theres so much uncertainty -the line guys actually wonder if they were actually wrong all this time-your thoughts??
By JJLions20 on May 2, 2010
Well, it just goes to show that most people posting here did not know what Cunningham was talking about. The answer is Koa Misi.
http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2010/05/gunther_cunninghams_mystery_li.html
“the mystery linebacker is … Koa Misi. It turns out Cunningham wasn’t the only guy in the NFL who really liked the linebacker. The Miami Dolphins drafted him in the second round with the 40th overall pick.
”
It looks like Follett or Dizon will get the chance to start. From the quotes I’ve seen it looks like Cunningham favors Follett. So don’t be surprised if it turns out to be Dizon.