Ex-Detroit Lions first-round pick signing with Seattle Seahawks – mlive.com
April 13, 2024
What went so wrong with Laken Tomlinson in Detroit? Guy obviously can play but he was a "bust" in Detroit.
10 comments
It’s called the team doesn’t want to sign him to a second contract. And was replaced through the draft. Veteran contracts are usually more expensive and wasn’t worth the extra cap hit. It’s a business
It’s not always alas simple as he didn’t stay he’s a bust. Sure he’s a bust in the since he didn’t meet expectations but what kid fresh out of college does. Other teams are allowed to take a risk to see if he’s maturing and will just take a little more time to develop
I mean the coaching situation certainly didn’t help. His rookie year we fired our OC and OL coaches mid-season because we started the year like shit. So then you’ve got new coaches working with him and he might not have been a good fit for the system and blocking schemes they wanted to run. Or maybe they just didn’t know how to coach him up, some guys just struggle to transition to the league
Sorry but someone drafted in 2015 should not be 32 years old. Idk why and I’m not going to do any math, but that just doesn’t sound right.
Why keep the clickbait title?
Laken is “fine”, not great. He’s a decent depth guy who was still an occasional liability on the 9ers o-line. “Fine” and “decent depth guy” are not what you want out of a first round pick.
He wasn’t good for us, wasn’t good for the Jets, and dude got so much help playing with the 49ers that he had the benefit of not having to take on very many 1v1 assignments.
He studied neurology at Duke if not mistaken. I remember thinking he’d play a few years then retire at 26 to save his brain.
Yet another offseason whiff. I just don’t get it.
I think a lot of the OL problems we had in that era can be traced back to Ron Prince.
Both Tomlinson and Warford showed some promise with the Lions but struggled to develop. Then they left after the 2016 season, Warford via FA and Laken via trade. Warford had immediate success with his new team, making the Pro Bowl in 3 consecutive years before getting released. Laken developed into a stable LG on a really good OL, eventually making a Pro Bowl himself in 2021.
*He was too loyal to Ron Prince, his assistant head coach and offensive line coach who was more hated than anyone I’ve ever seen coming through Detroit in my time on the beat. Yes, more hated than Matt Patricia. Ron Prince sucked the marrow out of his guys. He terrorized Laken Tomlinson, who was a bust here and then turned around his career in San Francisco. (Wonder why?) Notice how much better Taylor Decker has gotten every year since Prince’s ouster? I even heard Prince was the No. 1 reason Larry Warford didn’t want to return to Detroit.*
10 comments
It’s called the team doesn’t want to sign him to a second contract. And was replaced through the draft. Veteran contracts are usually more expensive and wasn’t worth the extra cap hit. It’s a business
It’s not always alas simple as he didn’t stay he’s a bust. Sure he’s a bust in the since he didn’t meet expectations but what kid fresh out of college does. Other teams are allowed to take a risk to see if he’s maturing and will just take a little more time to develop
I mean the coaching situation certainly didn’t help. His rookie year we fired our OC and OL coaches mid-season because we started the year like shit. So then you’ve got new coaches working with him and he might not have been a good fit for the system and blocking schemes they wanted to run. Or maybe they just didn’t know how to coach him up, some guys just struggle to transition to the league
Sorry but someone drafted in 2015 should not be 32 years old. Idk why and I’m not going to do any math, but that just doesn’t sound right.
Why keep the clickbait title?
Laken is “fine”, not great. He’s a decent depth guy who was still an occasional liability on the 9ers o-line. “Fine” and “decent depth guy” are not what you want out of a first round pick.
He wasn’t good for us, wasn’t good for the Jets, and dude got so much help playing with the 49ers that he had the benefit of not having to take on very many 1v1 assignments.
He studied neurology at Duke if not mistaken. I remember thinking he’d play a few years then retire at 26 to save his brain.
Yet another offseason whiff. I just don’t get it.
I think a lot of the OL problems we had in that era can be traced back to Ron Prince.
Both Tomlinson and Warford showed some promise with the Lions but struggled to develop. Then they left after the 2016 season, Warford via FA and Laken via trade. Warford had immediate success with his new team, making the Pro Bowl in 3 consecutive years before getting released. Laken developed into a stable LG on a really good OL, eventually making a Pro Bowl himself in 2021.
Warford specifically said something like “Detroit could’ve offered $100M, I wasn’t coming back if Prince would be there.” It wasn’t just the failure to develop the young guys, vets played down as well. This is from a [Kyle Meinke article](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mlive.com/lions/2020/12/ask-kyle-thoughts-on-matt-patricia-bob-quinn-darrell-bevell-the-ford-family-and-locker-room-mimosas.html%3foutputType=amp) after Patricia was fired, reminding people of Jim Caldwell’s flaws:
*He was too loyal to Ron Prince, his assistant head coach and offensive line coach who was more hated than anyone I’ve ever seen coming through Detroit in my time on the beat. Yes, more hated than Matt Patricia. Ron Prince sucked the marrow out of his guys. He terrorized Laken Tomlinson, who was a bust here and then turned around his career in San Francisco. (Wonder why?) Notice how much better Taylor Decker has gotten every year since Prince’s ouster? I even heard Prince was the No. 1 reason Larry Warford didn’t want to return to Detroit.*