MOBILE, Ala. — Two clear favorites have emerged to be the Detroit Lions‘ pick at No. 2 in April’s NFL draft, but outside linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard insisted Thursday he has not looked at film of either Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux yet.
“Why would I have done that?” Sheppard said before Day 3 of Senior Bowl practice. “There’s like 50 edge guys in the draft, why I would only look at those two?”
Well, not only those two, but Hutchinson and Thibodeaux are widely considered two of the top prospects in the draft regardless of position, and both would fill an immense need for the Lions at No. 2.
Thibodeaux had seven sacks in 10 games for Oregon this season, while Hutchinson had 14 sacks among 16½ tackles for loss while leading Michigan to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
“He’s going to transform any defense he goes to,” Michigan offensive tackle Andrew Stueber said of Hutchinson this week. “He’s that type of player.”
Both Hutchinson and Thibodeaux will be in the mix to go No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, as could offensive linemen Evan Neal of Alabama and Ikem Ekwonu of North Carolina State.
FILM REVIEW: Detroit Lions can’t overreact: Aidan Hutchinson still worth No. 1 pick after Georgia game
The Lions appear set on their offensive line, with their entire starting unit returning in 2022. But on defense, they finished 27th in sack percentage this season and could lose sack leader Charles Harris to free agency.
Sheppard said he will begin studying draft prospects next week in preparation for March’s NFL combine. For now, he said, “the only guys I’ve looked at in this draft are sitting in my meeting room” at the Senior Bowl.
“I haven’t seen anything,” Sheppard said. “That’s one thing with me and these guys can probably quote everything I say in my meetings, my players definitely can in Detroit. I don’t want to hear nothing. Show me. That’s one thing, you start to read these articles, and you let that stuff misconstrue your thought process, that’s why I don’t read any of that stuff in going into the draft, ’cause I want to be able to see it for myself and get my own take on it.”
Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson II, South Carolina’s Kingsley Enagbare and San Diego State’s Cameron Thomas are the most well-regarded edge rushers on the American team at the Senior Bowl, though Thomas pulled out of the game Tuesday with an injury.
Johnson has been one of the stars of the week. On Tuesday, Duce Staley — serving as American team head coach this week — had Johnson go head-to-head with Kentucky offensive lineman Darian Kinnard in three one-on-one reps at the end of practice.
Kinnard scored a contested win, causing the defense to do 50 push-ups, but Sheppard said Johnson shined in that and other drills.
“The obvious is the obvious,” he said. “He’s a pretty damn good edge rusher and an edge player
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.