Marqise Lee visited Detroit Lions
Marqise Lee speaks at the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
USC Trojans 2014 NFL Draft prospect Marqise Lee is one of the top five wide receivers in the class, and I have him ranked fourth behind Sammy Watkins, Odell Beckham Jr., and Mike Evans. Lee has all the qualities of a No. 1 wide receiver, and he was one of the country’s elite wideouts in 2012 before his play slipped last season. He was still effective last year, but injuries, worse quarterback play, and an increased amount of drops hurt him. His hands need some work due to his poor technique, as he has a tendency to attack the ball or press it against himself. Lee had several drops last year in tight coverage, but he also showed incredible ball skills and a large catch radius downfield to compete for those passes.
The Detroit Free Press’s Dave Birkett reports that Marqise Lee visited the Detroit Lions today, and he isn’t the only high-profile draft prospect who has visited the team recently. The Lions will likely take a wide receiver or tight end with the tenth overall pick, and Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr. look like the two best options. But it’s possible that the Lions could like Lee more than OBJ, and it’s also possible that both Evans and OBJ are gone by then. The former scenario (Evans gone and the Lions liking Lee more than Beckham Jr.) seems more probable than the latter one, because the wide receiver class is so deep that I highly doubt four wideouts are taken in the top ten; it would be a bit ridiculous. There’s a much higher chance of Evans still being on the board at ten than both Evans and OBJ being gone.
While the Lions now have a great WR duo in Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, they could still use another wideout to help make Matthew Stafford even better and give the Lions a true juggernaut offense (they have talented RBs and above-average TEs).