Were the Lions Wrong to Trade OG Laken Tomlinson?
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Super Bowl week is upon us.
The big game is taking place this Sunday in Miami, Fla., and there are a few names with Detroit ties that will be suiting up in the final game of the NFL season.
Former Lions such as tight end Levine Toilolo, defensive end Anthony Zettel and a past first-round pick of the organization in offensive guard Laken Tomlinson are all on the San Francisco 49ers' roster.
Back in 2015, then-Lions general manager Martin Mayhew traded down in the draft, and used the No. 28 overall pick on Tomlinson -- a guard prospect out of Duke.
It didn't take long for the Lions to move on from Tomlinson.
After playing a full two seasons in Detroit, Mayhew's successor and current Lions general manager Bob Quinn decided to trade Tomlinson before the final week of the 2017 preseason.
Quinn dealt him to the 49ers for just a 2019 fifth-round pick.
As Quinn looked to overhaul the offensive line with more athleticism, Tomlinson just wasn't a good scheme fit anymore.
Graham Glasgow replaced Tomlinson in the starting lineup, making Tomlinson expendable.
Oddly enough, Mayhew is the current vice president of player personnel in San Francisco, and was hired by the 49ers not long before the Tomlinson trade.
Perhaps Mayhew recommended the 49ers go after Tomlinson, the last first-round selection he made while in Detroit.
With the fifth-round pick the Lions received from the 49ers, they were able to land Damon "Snacks" Harrison in a 2018 midseason trade with the New York Giants.
Not a bad return in value.
It looked like a home-run exchange for Detroit, at the time.
However, with Snacks now considering retirement after a down 2019 season, it's your call on if the Lions won the trade.
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Tomlinson initially while in San Fransico.
In 2018, the 49ers declined the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.
However, the 49ers agreed to a three-year, $18 million extension with Tomlinson to keep him on the roster long term. As of now, it looks like the move is paying off.
Since Tomlinson was moved, he has started 47 consecutive games with the 49ers -- only missing the opening week of the regular season after the swap in August of 2017.
The 49ers boasted the second-best rushing offense in the league this season, and Tomlinson started every single game.
A stout defense and strong rushing attack have been the 49ers' calling cards on their path to the Super Bowl.
All of this leads to the question: Were the Lions wrong to trade Tomlinson when they did?
Anytime a former Lions player goes to a winning team -- i.e. Riley Reiff to the Vikings and Larry Warford to the Saints -- it appears that the Lions made a mistake.
That simply isn't the case, though.
Not that the Pro Football Focus-grading scale is the be-all and end-all for determining linemen success, but it provides a lot more in-depth insight than the naked eye can by itself.
Believe it or not, Tomlinson's rookie season in Detroit is still his highest-graded season, according to PFF.
Not once has Tomlinson graded above 68.9 overall in his five-year career.
During his three years in San Francisco (2017-19), Tomlinson has graded between 66.1 and 67.9 every season.
This past regular season, specifically, Tomlinson was the fourth-highest graded lineman of the 49ers' starting unit.
If Tomlinson was on the Lions' roster today, he would only be the fourth-highest graded interior lineman on the team.
In the protection department, his pass-blocking efficiency has remained consistent from Detroit to San Francisco.
Yet, his two worst seasons in regards to protecting the quarterback have come while with the 49ers.
With all that said, the 49ers are still playing, while the Lions could only tally three wins in 2019.
Tomlinson is a starter on a Super Bowl team, and there's something to be said for that.
However, let's not act like the Lions' futile '19 season would have been any different with Tomlinson as a part of it.
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