Detroit Lions: Draft Preview

There are next to no perks about finishing a season 3-12-1, but I have to imagine having a high draft pick is one of them. That, combined with the fact that no sports have been on television for over a month, makes this one of the most exciting drafts ever for a Lions fan. The Lions are slated at the 3rd overall pick in the upcoming draft, and the expectation with a pick that high is a future All-Pro, and nothing short of it. At the very least, you want to see him become a top 5 player at his position. It is not often that the Lions end up with a pick this high, and it is of utmost importance that they capitalize.

Unfortunately, the Lions have not had the best luck when it comes to having high picks. Since drafting Ndamukong Suh at #2 overall back in 2010, the Lions have had three top 10 draft picks:

2013 – 5th Overall – Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU

2014 – 10th Overall – Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina

2019 – 8th Overall – T.J. Hockenson, TE, Iowa

The next highest pick in that same timeframe is just outside the top 10, but I think it is also worth mentioning:

2011 – 13th Overall – Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn

Let me just take a moment to point out that both of our last two picks inside the top 10 were tight ends. Which is significant in that no other team has drafted a tight end in the top 10 since 2006 when the San Francisco 49ers drafted Vernon Davis at #6 overall. I do not understand this organization’s fascination with tight ends. I have said it before and I will say it again, no tight end is worth taking that high. Ever. There are too many difference makers at other positions of much higher priority. Ebron completely flopped, dropping passes left and right like everyone except Martin Mayhew knew he would, and I know it is too early to say for sure on Hockenson, but if you have read my posts you know how much I believe that was one of the biggest mistakes we could have made with that pick.

If we take Hockenson out of consideration, with him only having half of a disappointing season under his belt, then we are left with three players who all had their own concerns that you would think the Lions would be aware of. Ansah was raw and seen as a project, and he never fully developed. I know he was popular when he was here, but in my personal opinion he never generated enough sacks. The vast majority of sacks he had were coverage sacks, where the quarterback was back there for five seconds before he got there. Ebron led the entire nation in drops his senior year and was, and still is, an atrocious blocker, so really it should have been obvious he wasn’t worth that high of a pick. Lastly, Fairley was known to not have a great work ethic, so despite all the talent he had, that was a major red flag. Ultimately, they all became major disappointments for this team, and like I said I already see Hockenson trending in that direction. If he does not turn into George Kittle, then that pick is a fire-able offense for Bob Quinn.

If Bob Quinn wants to turn this franchise around, he must hit with this pick. The third best player in any draft is outstanding, and he absolutely cannot miss a potential All-Pro talent here. If he does, then I no longer want him here.

There are a lot of rumors about whether or not the Lions will trade down. I hope they do not, unless they can get a good haul back that includes dropping no later than 5th or 6th overall, but even at that point I would become wary of missing out on a star. It is not often you get to pick this high and have this good of a shot at a real stud. There are a lot of names flying around for the Lions, and I would like to provide some thoughts on the major ones.

Chase Young, DE, Ohio State

I know this is not realistic, as he is widely expected to go at #2 to the Washington Redskins after Joe Burrow goes #1 to the Cincinnati Bengals, but I figured I would put him on here just to express a little hope. This would be the dream scenario for us. Our pass rush last year was horrible, with quarterbacks consistently getting 5+ seconds to throw the ball, so getting a dominant edge rusher like Young would be perfect for us. I do not expect Young to fall past #2, but in the event that he does, we better not dare pass on him.

Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State

Young’s former teammate seems to be the most popular selection for us in mock drafts, and quite frankly, I do not really like it that much. He seems to have the talent and athleticism you look for in a cornerback, standing at 6’1”, 205 pounds, running a 4.48 40-yard dash in addition to a 41” vertical, but I am wary of taking a cornerback this high. I do understand the fit and need, seeing as we lost Darius Slay, but we did sign Desmond Trufant, and in my opinion, we have other serviceable corners at the moment in Justin Coleman and Amani Oruwariye. I am not saying they are stars, but I think if we improve our pass rush, they can certainly prove to be at least good corners. Even if Okudah turns out to be the next Darrelle Revis or Richard Sherman, he cannot stick with an NFL wide receiver for 5+ seconds every play. Keep in mind as well, he played behind that Ohio State defensive line that featured Chase Young, so you have to wonder how much he might have benefited from that. Do not get me wrong, I think Okudah is very talented and has a great chance to have a nice career in the NFL, I just do not know if he is worth the 3rd overall pick. If we end up trading back, I can only assume at that point that Okudah would be our target. As I mentioned, Okudah seems to be the “expected” pick, but if we do end up taking a cornerback that high, he better become a superstar, or it will just be another disappointment.

Isaiah Simmons, LB/S/DEF, Clemson

One of the most intriguing prospects in recent memory is Clemson’s do-it-all star, Isaiah Simmons. I was able to watch Simmons a few times, including against top competition, Ohio State and LSU, in the College Football Playoff. He immediately caught my eye within minutes of having the Ohio State game on and from then on, he has been the guy I want the Lions to take at #3. He took snaps at linebacker, both inside and outside, safety, slot corner, and even edge rusher, and showed incredible talent at all of those positions. The natural concern with him is if he is too much of a jack of all trades, master of none, but I personally do not believe that is the case with him. At 6’4”, 238 pounds and running a 4.39 40-yard dash, he is the definition of a freak athlete. Plus, after watching Jarrad Davis do pirouettes in pass coverage the last three seasons, does it not sound amazing to have a linebacker that we can actually trust to cover someone? I think Simmons himself said it best when asked at the NFL Combine what position he plays, and he simply responded, “Defense.”

Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn

This is a weird one, because early on in the offseason Brown was talked about like the most likely selection for us at #3, but since then he really started to fall down the draft boards. Now, there is suddenly a new wave of talk about Brown being the guy for us again, and I do not get it. He is much closer to being a run-stopping nose tackle than a pass rusher, which I do not think warrants being taken at #3 overall. If we wanted to go defensive line, I think edge is a much more glaring need, and if we really wanted a defensive tackle for some reason I would prefer to see us take Javon Kinlaw out of South Carolina, but that would involve a much further trade back, which I am not interested in. Maybe it is because drafting a DT out of Auburn brings to mind too many flashbacks of Nick Fairley, but I am really not interested in Brown. I even think drafting him after a trade back to #5 or #6 would be a bit of a reach, albeit not a huge one. In all honesty, I think I would rather see us take Okudah.

Tua Tagavailoa, QB, Alabama

Could you imagine if this happened at #3? I think it would easily be the most surprising pick of the draft. I put Tua on here more for kicks than anything, because I think he is a guy that you start right away, and the Lions are not about to bench or trade Matthew Stafford. The organization is far too committed to him to do anything like that. Tua does clearly have the talent to be a great quarterback, but his injuries are concerning. If he can stay healthy, though, I think he can very easily be the second-best quarterback in this class.

I am not about to do a full dive on every single other prospect I want to go to the Lions at some point in the draft, because that would be way too long. There are a lot of holes that need to be filled on this roster. Aside from the aforementioned positions of defensive end and cornerback, there are also needs at offensive guard, wide receiver, running back, and I personally believe we also need to look at drafting a quarterback, which I will get into here.

If we do not take Tua at #3, which I do not believe we will, I would very much like to see us try to take a quarterback in the middle rounds. I know we signed Chase Daniel, but he is well into his thirties at this point and is no long-term answer. I think with Stafford injuring his back last year and missing time, it is of utmost importance we draft a young guy to learn from him. Stafford is not going to be around forever, and although he has become well-known for fighting through injuries, this last one he had is certainly concerning. I think it is time to finally start thinking about life without Stafford and making sure that we get a young guy who is ready to step up in the event Stafford goes down again.

There are a lot of interesting quarterback prospects in this draft that could be available in later rounds. I think the one that interests me the most is Anthony Gordon out of Washington State. He fits into the Baker Mayfield-Aaron Rodgers archetype, in that he is athletic enough to maneuver around but is not exactly a scrambler. I actually like Gordon a lot, I ended up watching a few Washington State games this year and he was impressive, so if we ended up taking him, I would be very happy with that. Jake Fromm out of Georgia is another interesting one, not necessarily because he is flashy, but because he won camp battles with Jacob Eason, who transferred to Washington and is also an interesting prospect in this draft class, and Justin Fields, who transferred to Ohio State and is becoming a star already. There is clearly something there for Fromm to start ahead of both of those guys. I like Gordon a lot better, but Fromm really seems like a winner.

If you are more interested in the athletic, scrambling-type quarterbacks, here are some names to keep an eye on. I see projections of anything from round 4 to undrafted with guys like this so it is hard to know for sure how good any of them are viewed to be.

Cole McDonald – Hawaii – A popular preseason Heisman dark horse candidate seemingly every season. Possesses the arm, size, and speed to be awesome, but an overall raw prospect.

Bryce Perkins – Virgina – One of my personal favorites, I believe he is a better passer than people think, and he could be a major sleeper in this draft. He single-handedly turned around an anemic Virginia offense.

Khalil Tate – Arizona – Was one of the most exciting young and upcoming quarterbacks in 2017, when he rushed for 1,411 yards and 12 touchdowns. Since then, he has had an up-and-down career at Arizona, but the talent is certainly there.

Tyler Huntley – Utah – I ended up watching a few Utah games this year, and Huntley was one of two players that always stood out, the other being running back Zack Moss. I have not seen his name mentioned much on draft boards, but I believe he is worth keeping an eye on.

Do I think a scrambler is necessarily a good fit for the Lions? It is really hard to say, but players like that are definitely exciting to watch. The problem is that it is really hard to find a good one. Lamar Jackson and even Kyler Murray are far from the typical scrambler, in that they are both also extremely capable passing the ball. That is far from the case with most scramblers, but if one of these guys I just mentioned can really figure it out throwing the ball at the next level, they will be well on their way to stardom. I think it would do the Lions a lot of good to invest some meaningful draft capital into a young quarterback, and if they want to take a chance on a guy with incredible athleticism, I am fully on board with that. The Lions are fortunate that they do not need a quarterback, which gives them the freedom to take a guy in the third or fourth round, if they feel so inclined, and try to develop him while Stafford is still here. That is certainly what I would do if I were Bob Quinn. Planning for the future is extremely important, especially at the quarterback position.

This is an exciting draft for the Lions, as they will (hopefully) easily be able to land a superstar with the 3rd overall pick, barring a trade back. I will be watching the whole thing closely, as always, and I think it is going to be a fun one. There is so much talent in this draft that I think the Lions can really get on the right track by making some smart picks. As for the 3rd overall pick, the easy selection is Chase Young, but in the extremely likely event he goes at #2, I want Isaiah Simmons in the Honolulu Blue next year.