The Detroit Lions are hard at work at this week’s Senior Bowl, according to multiple stories from MLive.com, which is reporting from Mobile, Ala., the site of the game.
A story published Wednesday ran under the headline, "Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz scouring Senior Bowl for NFL talent," and it talked about how Schwartz is, well, scouring the Senior Bowl.
The story, from MLive.com’s Anwar S. Richardson, quotes Schwartz saying,
It’s obviously important to watch college players. You can watch them on film and tell a lot about them on film, but as coaches, we don’t get the opportunity to visit college campuses in the fall where the scouts can see a guy practice. They can get a different perspective on those guys.
Being able to come to the Senior Bowl and being able not only to see them play, but practice, is important.
Another story from Richardson, which ran Tuesday, had a roll call of the Lions brass at the Senior Bowl: GM Martin Mayhew, senior Personnel executive James Harries, vice president of pro personnel Sheldon White and vice president of football operations Cedric Saunders.
The Lions have been linked to a number a players in various mock drafts; not all of them are at the Senior Bowl. Kelechi Osemele, a 6-foot-5, 333-pound offensive lineman who SB Nation projects the Lions to draft at No. 23 overall, is indeed at the Senior Bowl. But other players who have been mock-drafted by the Lions, such as Dont’a Hightower and Dre Kirkpatrick, who each attended Alabama, are not at the game because they were not seniors last season.
Richardson also reports that the Lions interviewed Florida State left tackle Zebrie Sanders, as well as Michigan State defensive back Trenton Robinson, Ohio State running back Daniel Herron and Boise State running back Doug Martin.