Tag: jared goff

Lions add WR Antoine Green with final draft pick

ALLEN PARK — Wide receiver Antoine Green, who played at North Carolina, was drafted in the seventh round by the Lions on Saturday. He was the eighth and final pick for Detroit and the first wide receiver drafted by the Lions.

He’s a vertical specialist averaging 18.6 yards per catch. He’s explosive with a background in sprinting and long-jump/triple-jump. 

“My strengths as a player I’m good at stretching the field, I can read a defense pretty well, find the zone, do whatever I have to do to get open, I’ve got a big body and good hands and my playmaking ability is what’s special about me,’’ Green said in a Zoom interview.

He will join the Lions’ wide receiver group which includes Amon-Ra St. Brown, veteran Marvin Jones Jr., Jameson Williams and Kalif Raymond.

“Joining an established offense with Jared Goff and the rest of the guys, it’s definitely exciting for me because I want to contribute to that and put on a show what I can do and ultimately win games,’’ Green said.

For the Tar Heels he played as a true freshman but didn’t take over a full-time role until 2021. Last season he was a third-team All-ACC selection (43 catches for 798 yards and seven TDs).

He was limited to nine games with a collarbone injury.

His NFL.com pre-draft notes included: “Green’s size and deep-ball success make him a more intriguing Day 3 prospect than the overall production and skill set might suggest. Like most vertical specialists, he’s not going to shake man coverage on intermediate routes, but he has decent hands and consistently finds himself overtaking deep coverage with his build-up speed. He might find himself fighting for a spot on a practice squad or the back end of a roster.’’

Green played at Florida’s Rockledge High School.

2023 Lions draft

RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama, first round (12th overall)

LB Jack Campbell, Iowa, first round (18th overall)

TE Sam LaPorta, Iowa, second round (34th overall)

DB Brian Branch, Alabama, second round (45th overall)

QB Hendon Hooker, Tennessee, third round (68th overall)

DL Brodric Martin, Western Kentucky, third round (96th overall)

OL Colby Sorsdal, William & Mary, fifth round (152nd overall)

WR Antoine Green, North Carolina, seventh round (219th overall)

Lions draft QB Hendon Hooker in 3rd round; he’s coming off torn ACL

ALLEN PARK — The Lions moved down in the third round on Friday and selected 25-year-old quarterback Hendon Hooker who played at Tennessee.

It’s likely Hooker dropped down the draft board because he’s coming off an ACL tear that occurred on Nov. 19. Jared Goff is the Lions’ starter but they needed to add a quarterback along with Goff and Nate Sudfeld.

Hooker said he’s looking forward to working with Goff and learning from him.

“I’ll be a sponge, come in and learn every nuance of how to be a pro. Just admire him,” Hooker said on Friday night. “He’s been in the league for a long time and he’s been doing a great job of developing every year…and that’s all you can ask for.”

Hooker, who is 6-foot-3 and 217, was an early Heisman favorite in 2022, eventually winning SEC Offensive Player of the Year and being named a third-team Associated Press All-American. He threw for 3,135 yards (229-329-69.6%) and 27 scores (against just two interceptions) and rushed for 430 yards (104 carries, 4.1 per) and five touchdowns in 11 starts before he suffered a torn left ACL that ended his season.

He said he’s taking his knee rehab day by day and didn’t give a projected date on when he could return to the field. “When I’m ready to rock ‘n’ roll it’s going to be a site to see,” said Hooker who met with the team in Allen Park during the pre-draft process.

Hooker has a long-time connection with Lions GM Brad Holmes who played with his dad, Alan, at North Carolina A&T.

At Tennessee, Hooker led the nation’s top offense with an FBS-best 9.53 yards per pass attempt. He also ranked second in pass efficiency (175.5) and seventh in completion percentage in 2022 and set Tennessee records by throwing 261 passes without an interception and recording a touchdown pass in 20 straight games.

Hooker started his college career at Virginia Tech and took over the quarterback role at Tennessee in 2021.

Hooker’s NFL.com draft prospect bio reads: “Hooker’s age and ACL tear will be starting points for many draft conversations, but the most important question to be answered is whether he can thrive outside of the Tennessee offense. Hooker was frequently a half-field reader, which means he could lean on spacing, speed and/or route combinations to make life easier. He’s more accurate outside the numbers than between the hashes and his deep ball placement was much more uneven than expected. However, Hooker plays with excellent poise and footwork as a pocket passer. He will make quarterback coaches and play-callers happy with his adherence to keeping plays on schedule. He’s still showing signs of improvement and growth at the position, and his ability to hurt teams with his legs creates opportunities to help his offense outside of what he does in the pocket. His recovery from the ACL tear will require monitoring, but he has the talent to become a starter in a timing-based, spread offense.’’

Lions back at work with renewed urgency after building foundation last season

ALLEN PARK — The Lions returned this week to the team facility for offseason workouts meeting new teammates, introducing themselves to new staff and getting down to business.

Coming off a 9-8 season definitely carries a vibe better than a year ago when they had won just three games the previous season.

While conventional wisdom from NFL prognosticators seems to be that the Lions could be the team to beat in the NFC North, that thought does not carry over into the locker room. 

Quarterback Jared Goff has heard the talk, but plainly said there are no favorites in April.

The Lions finished with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games and became media darlings of sorts, but they did not make the playoffs.

“I think the standards and expectations will continue to rise. I think the urgency in the building will continue to rise, I think it has already. All the way from the top down we realize that we’re ready to go…’’ Goff said on Tuesday.

This is Goff’s third preseason with the Lions and he said the offseason moves have been noticeably more aggressive.

“You can see the aggressiveness in them and it trickles into us. We see everything, a couple weeks the draft will come and there’ll be more of that there,’’ Goff said. “The aggressiveness of taking our shot and knowing that we have a team that can compete with anybody and we’re going to try to make some noise this year.’’

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has been with the Lions two seasons and he thinks the experience of those years will help himself and his teammates transform this year.

“I think, us as a team, we have a lot of young guys that we’ve had since we were here that are hungry, who saw what we did two years ago only winning three games my rookie year to last year to what we can do this year,’’ St. Brown said. “I think being a part of that journey is going to help us throughout the year.’’

Left tackle Taylor Decker, entering his eighth season with the Lions, is singing the same song. He’s excited to be back, sees the changes that have been made but can’t take anything for granted. He does not think the team will have to guard against thinking they are too good.

“I think everybody’s past experiences will take care of that. Players know that have been here, staff that has been here, the fans now,’’ Decker said. “There’ve been some tough years, some really tough years. I have the best job in the world, it’s amazing but you want to win.’’

Decker has made just one trip to the playoffs in his tenure in Detroit and that was his rookie season. He’s excited about this coming season but is mindful of what can be reality in the NFL.

“It’s nice to come into the building with expectations. Like it’s an enjoyable thing to look forward to next year knowing that we laid a foundation the prior year and that’s something we did together as a group,’’ Decker said. “There’s excitement for what the future could hold, but ultimately – it’s a dead horse statement, like beating a dead horse. You have to come in and on your first day of OTAs you have to do your testing, your stretching, your soft tissue, your lifting, your running. That’s what’s important today. That’s the thing about this league: Are you going to come to work every single day? Because if you don’t come to work now, if you didn’t start working out till just now then you aren’t going to have the results. There’s definitely excitement and that’s a great thing, we’ve laid the foundation. But let’s do the work now.’’

(Coming up: The Lions have two picks in the first round of the NFL draft which begins on Thursday, April 27.)