Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft couldn’t have turned out any better for the Detroit Lions.
Kiper, the ESPN analyst, has the Lions landing two of the draft’s consensus five best prospects with their two first-round picks: Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. at No. 6 and Texas running back Bijan Robinson at No. 18.
Anderson is the cleanest of the top defensive players in this year’s draft, a powerful pass rusher who had 17.5 sacks as a true sophomore in 2021 and 10 more last season, and would team with Aidan Hutchinson, last year’s No. 2 overall pick, to give the Lions one of the best young pass rushing duos in the NFL.
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Robinson is the best running back prospect to enter the draft since at least Saquon Barkley in 2018. He ran for 1,580 yards and 18 touchdowns last season and averaged 6.3 yards per carry for his career.
The Lions’ first-round haul, which would have fans doing backflips on draft day, relies on four quarterbacks going in the first four picks and the Seattle Seahawks taking polarizing Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter at No. 5.
Kiper has Alabama quarterback Bryce Young going to the Carolina Panthers with the first pick of the draft, followed by Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud to the Houston Texans at No. 2.
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The Tennessee Titans trade up from No. 11 to No. 3 in Kiper’s mock to select Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, and the Indianapolis Colts take Kentucky’s Will Levis at No. 4.
Carter is considered by some the most talented defensive prospect in his draft, but he’s been dogged by questions about his practice habits and work ethic this spring.
The Lions are scheduled to host both Carter and Anderson on pre-draft visits as they prepare for all scenarios at No. 6, the final pick they received from the Los Angeles Rams as part of the Matthew Stafford trade.
The Lions went 9-8 last season, enter spring as the favorites to win the NFC North and do not have any glaring holes on their roster. They signed three new starting defensive backs in free agency and return the bulk their entire front seven plus the bulk of one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NFL last year.
Kiper wrote that drafting Anderson at six “would be a tremendous selection” for the Lions.
“I love the potential pairing of Anderson on the other side of Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 overall pick a year ago,” Kiper wrote. “That’s a scary edge rushing duo. In 2021, Anderson’s 79 QB pressures ranked first in the country, while Hutchinson was second with 64. Anderson had 17.5 sacks to Hutchinson’s 14. These two know how to get after quarterbacks. For a Detroit team without many available starting spots on its roster, this would be a tremendous selection.”
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As for Robinson, a popular mock draft choice to the Lions whose range seems to be most of the first round given questions about the value of running backs in today’s NFL, Kiper said he would be a “luxury” selection for the Lions but one that makes sense given how close they are to contention.
“People keep telling me Robinson won’t last into the 20s,” Kiper wrote. “He’s that good. It’s just really tough to find the perfect landing spot for him because teams finally understand the value of running backs in Round 1. So I’m going to follow Todd McShay’s lead and slot in Robinson to Detroit. Why? Because he’d be better in 2023 than D’Andre Swift, who is a free agent next year, and because he’d bring a receiving threat to the offense that free agent signing David Montgomery just doesn’t have. Robinson is a luxury pick, but the Lions really don’t have that many needs. They can afford a luxury selection here.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.