Hours from the first round of the NFL Draft, the betting favorite to go to the Lions at sixth overall is ... Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Which has Valenti "bracing for impact."
"When a Jalen Ramsey gets taken high in a draft, I can tell you the kid's 6'2 1/2 and a physical freak show, basically built like a linebacker. When corners like Sauce Gardner go, he's got Giannis' wingspan and never gave up a TD in college. Those are outliers," says Valenti. "The rest of the corners who have gone this high are the Justin Gilberts and the Jeff Okudahs and the Morris Claibornes.
"So I ask you, what is Witherspoon's identifiable trait? Is he tall? Nope. Is he physically built? Nope. Did he play in an air-raid conference where you get tested weekly? Nope. Ain't no good quarterbacks in the Big Ten. So his calling card is toughness and 'football guy.' OK, that scares me a little. Now, maybe he comes in and he fits right in and he plays really well. We want that. I'm just telling you, I don't take corners in the top 10. I just don't do it, but I'm bracing for impact."
Witherspoon to Detroit isn't just gaining steam in Vegas. ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. projected the same thing in his final mock Thursday morning. As for the 18th overall pick ...
"If you ever wanted to know if Mel Kiper hated the city of Detroit and all of its people, have you seen his final mock? At 6, Devon Witherspoon. At 18, tight end out of Notre Dame, Michael Mayer. If you go corner, tight end, people are going to burn this city to the ground," says Valenti.
Listen live to 97.1 The Ticket via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker
