It was interesting night for the Detroit Lions in day two of the NFL draft.
Passing on the needs of defense, Martin Mayhew, Jim Schwartz and the Detroit Lions decided to take Oklahoma wide-out Ryan Broyles with the 52nd overall pick. Broyles will join Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson and Titus Young in the Detroit receiving corps.
During his career with the Sooners, Broyles accumulated 349 receptions, 4586 receiving yards and 45 touchdowns.
However Broyles tore his ACL in the third quarter of the Sooners game against Texas A&M and it is currently unknown when he’ll be back on the playing field.
Lions GM Marin Mayhew however said the team has the luxury of being able to rehab Broyles throughly…
“We have the luxury of being able to rehab this guy very thoroughly, very carefully, and just allow him to get healthy,” Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said. “If the guy were healthy now, he would have been gone way before our pick. We’re just fortunate to have this guy on our team. I think he’s a great talent.”
Giving up an average of 239.4 passing yards per game (22nd in the NFL) last season the Lions passed on Montana’s Trumaine Johnson, Central Florida’s Josh Robinson, Georgia’s Brandon Boykin, Virgina Tech’s Jayron Hosley, Vanderbilt’s Casey Hayward and Coastal Carolina’s Josh Norman.
But in the third round the Lions decided to address some of those needs in the secondary when they took Louisiana-Lafayette cornerback Dwight Bentley with the 85th overall selection.
During his time with the Rajin Cajuns, Bentley accumulated 232 tackles, 13 for a loss, 1.5 sacks, seven interceptions and 20 passes broken up. He also returned two interceptions for touchdowns his senior season in 2011 while earning All Sun-Belt Conference honors two times during his collegiate career.
During the NFL Scouting Combine, Bentley ran the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds.
Ref: YouTube, Mlive.com, NFL.com
