I'm wondering if Steichen has had a good influence on him, or if Ballard just had a change in philosophy. It could be as simple as Latu being the BPA on defense, so we'll see as the draft goes on today and tomorrow what type of players he takes. Definitely promising to see him take Latu over Turner though. I was cheering from my house when that happened. 

My wife and I are both 30, but we feel like old people. I don't get the sunglasses indoors, TikTok dances, or constant selfies in public, but oh well. I suppose my kids will have a leg up in the job market when they've practiced communication skills rather than the dance of the week! 😂

Very happy lions got this kid. Class act will fit lions culture day 1.

I just want to point out that Ballard again told us the truth in his pre-draft presser. His answer to the question of whether he has changed anything in his draft philosophy, pretty much explains the Latu pick in view of him being a bit of a departure from what he's usually done (i.e. super high level athleticism, some projection of what the player can be vs what he is now)     "of course you look for unique talent, unique traits, ...character... but then also... on the flip side of that making sure that we are drafting not only the unique traits but also some substance with the tape"...    So yeah, I think this answer a very good explanation of that pick... "substance with the tape". Not that Latu is not athletic. He is, but his athleticism is not his selling point. The selling point is the substance - the technical refinement, the tape, the production.    With that said... I wonder if we will continue to see that on day 2 and day 3? Can we see one of the Ballard's lowest RAS drafts? 

From @nsurg   "So he had a cervical fusion... this is a surgery I do frequently.  Once it heals the surgery is more or less the strongest part of the neck.  The biggest problems with a fusion in this context are:        (1) loss of nerve function prior to surgery may or may not recover after surgery, usually over the next 3-12 months (but his production after surgery implies no major concern on this)        (2) the patient will have somewhat accelerated wear/arthritis at non fused levels.  While this is a real concern, it will unfortunately be more of an issue for him later in life, after his NFL career.                 Peyton had this surgery as his final neck surgery before playing for the broncos, but his problem was number one above, he apparently never had the same arm strength as before.        Ahmad Bradshaw also had this same surgery in 2013, he already had I think 6 years of RB play prior to that.  His YPC held up but was utilized less, but this may mirror more a tapering RB career.                 I'm not personally worried about the medical status of this player, but I have no idea the actual details obviously.  I will say that very few surgeons would be eager to clear the player to play afterwards, mostly for the stupid liability things in medicine.                 I think it's fair to say we got a really nice pick here for value."   https://forums.colts.com/topic/76891-colts-select-laiatu-latu-edge-ucla/?do=findComment&comment=2646941