With our 3rd round pick, we have selected a monster of a man. Kenrick Ellis, is exactly what our defensive line needed. He is a work in progress, but has all the physical tools to become our next Kris Jenkins. That alone is something to smile about. Let's not forget the other guys that will be joining Ellis on the D-line.
Mike DeVito, Marcus Dixon, Ropati Pitoitua, Sione Pouha, Muhammad Wilkerson, Kenrick Ellis... This can conceivably be our D-line on the 53 man roster. That's a grand total 1880 pounds of meat. Some might say that the Lions now have the scariest D-line, but I wouldn't want to be a QB on the other end of these guys. The sheer size of our players, will help us out tremendously, in both the run and pass.
We will be facing some great running teams this upcoming season. I can see even the best running teams, having trouble finding holes in our D-line. It doesn't matter who is in at nose tackle, Pouha or Ellis are great run stuffers. Teams will be forced to attack the outside with running plays, because they won't find the Holy Land, going up the middle. I feel like we still need a fast linebacker that can specialize in running down runningbacks that try to find greener pastures to the outside.
One huge problem we had in 2010, is our lack of pass rush. If we wanted any kind of pressure, we had to send everyone. No more will this have to be the case. With the additions of Wilkerson and Ellis, comes an offensive lineman's worst nightmare. Going after these guys with one blocker can result in looking foolish. 2 if not 3 blockers will be needed on a consistent basis, to help keep these guys at bay. This will allow our pass rushing linebackers to assault the QB. They will be met with either single coverage, and/or a runningback to stop them. I would favor those chances any day.