Free Press sports reporter Dave Birkett takes a position-by-position look at the top prospects and biggest Lions needs in the 2023 NFL draft. This is the first in an eight-part series:
With nine picks in next week’s draft, including four in the fifth and sixth rounds, the Detroit Lions are prime candidates to use a selection on a kicker for the first time since taking Nate Freese in the seventh round in 2014.
The Lions re-signed Michael Badgley to a one-year deal this offseason, but made it clear in the process they were not handing him the job. Badgley kicked well in Detroit last season, making all 33 of his extra point tries and 20 of 24 field goals. But the Lions have cycled through 10 different kickers since they declined to pay Matt Prater in free agency two years ago.
If the Lions want to draft a kicker, they should be able to get one in the fifth or sixth rounds. The first kicker drafted has gone in Round 4 or 5 in six straight drafts, and the average draft position of a kicker the past 10 years is Pick No. 179, the second pick of this year’s sixth round. The Lions have Pick 183.
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The Lions are set at the other specialist positions, with punter Jack Fox entering the first year of a contract extension he signed last fall and veteran Jake McQuaide set to compete with Scott Daly for the long snapper job. As always, special teams ability will factor into some of the Lions’ Day 3 picks, particularly at the receiver, linebacker and defensive back positions. Kalif Raymond (punts), D’Andre Swift (kicks) and Craig Reynolds (kicks) are potential return options currently on the roster.
On the roster: P Jack Fox, K Michael Badgley, LS Scott Daly, LS Jake McQuaide.
Top 3 K prospects: 1. Chad Ryland, Maryland; 2. Jake Moody, Michigan; 3. Christopher Dunn, North Carolina State.
Top 3 P prospects: 1. Bryce Baringer, Michigan State; 2. Adam Korsak, Rutgers; 3. Brad Robbins, Michigan.
Other players with Michigan ties: LS Mohamad Amen, Ferris State.
Recent Lions draft picks at K/P/LS: None in the past five years.
Draft dish
The state of Michigan is an unusual epicenter for top specialists this year, though one of the kickers with ties to state said that should not come as a surprise.
“It’s cool to see all the guys I sort of came up with in college in Michigan, that we’d all sort of be around each other, everyone’s doing well,” said Maryland’s Ryland, who began his college career at Eastern Michigan. “I don’t think that’s really a coincidence because I think when you surround yourself with a bunch of talented guys, naturally everyone’s going to keep elevating, and I think you’re seeing that come full circle now from way back when.”
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Ryland made 19 of 23 field goals last season with a long of 53 yards, and he holds EMU’s career record with 56 made field goals. Moody won the Lou Groza Award in 2021 as the nation’s best kicker and was a finalist for the award last season. He hit a 59-yarder in the Fiesta Bowl last season, and was 29 of 35 overall. Dunn, who chopped down trees to build his own goal post as an eighth grader, is the reigning Lou Groza winner, and Georgia’s Jack Podlesny also could be drafted. Baringer broke Reggie Roby’s Big Ten record for career net punting average (46 yards per punt) and should be a Day 3 pick.
Just 17 kickers have been taken in the past 10 drafts, so it’s likely one or two of Ryland, Moody, Dunn and Podlesny sign as free agents.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.