Who doesn’t want to be the Detroit Lions right now?
Historically, that question would probably yield an unkind answer. But after the 2022 season they had, with five picks in the top 81 selections of next week’s NFL Draft?
“They’re in great shape. I don’t know if there’s many teams you’d rather be than them right now with where they are as an organization and the assets they have to go ahead and make that next step,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.
For a second straight offseason, the Lions are a darling of the NFL — even more so this year after Dan Campbell and Co. put rubber to the road in a scorching 8-2 finish that left Detroit just short of a playoff berth, and a No. 6 pick from the Los Angeles Rams to boot.
Add in a successful free agency period that covered up most of the glaring holes at starting positions, and people are intrigued. But they’re especially intrigued by the work general manager Brad Holmes has done through his first two drafts, and the opportunity Detroit’s draft positioning presents as it tries to turn the corner.
“When you look where they’re picking, they’ve got four of the top-55 picks … so they’ve got a chance to add some real, real help to the roster,” Jeremiah said. “And with the way that their lineup is set up right now, they don’t look like they can’t line up and play tomorrow at a certain spot, so that allows them to take the best player available.”
Best-case scenario
After all this hubbub, it’s entirely possible that only two quarterbacks — Alabama’s Bryce Young and probably Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud — go in the top five picks. But if the league does go QB-crazy in the early going, that’ll only be music to the Lions’ ears, Jeremiah said.
“If I’m the Lions, I want all four of those quarterbacks to go (in the top five),” Jeremiah said. “If that happens, you’re gonna get one of the premier players in the draft, one of these defensive players specifically, so that’s what I’d be rooting for if I was Brad Holmes there in Detroit.”
With so many variables at play, Jeremiah said he was unable to put a percentage on the likelihood of either scenario. But if it is just Young and Stroud going in the top five, “now you bring in a whole new wave of teams that could be in the quarterback market and can trade up, and we’ve seen that in years past.”
Jeremiah cited past selections of Patrick Mahomes (10th overall, 2017), Deshaun Watson (12th, 2017) and Justin Fields (11th, 2021) as examples where quarterbacks have created a new trade market by slipping, although it remains to be seen if the sixth pick is low enough to entice teams to pull the trigger on a deal.
All quarterback selections being equal, Jeremiah said his ideal draft for the Lions would be to take gritty Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 6, Texas running back Bijan Robinson No. 18, Miami cornerback Tyrique Stevenson No. 48 and Michigan tight end Luke Schoonmaker, who Jeremiah said has the ability to make an “instant impact” at the next level, with pick No. 55.
Corner conundrum
By this point, most have taken a side in the debate of Witherspoon vs. Oregon corner Christian Gonzalez. Both would fill a personnel need for the Lions at No. 6, but drastically different measurables have made their comparison a widely debated topic in the pre-draft process.
“With Witherspoon (6-feet, 181 pounds), you get a little bit more playmaking, a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more urgent,” Jeremiah said. “Whereas with Gonzalez (6-foot-1, 197 pounds), you obviously get the size and the speed that’s really elite, and he’s a real fluid, smooth athlete.
Jeremiah — who made clear that both players are a “notch below” recent top picks Sauce Gardner (Detroit King, New York Jets) or Patrick Surtain II (Denver Broncos) — said he prefers Witherspoon, particularly for the Lions, but that it’s a “coin flip” as to which guy goes first.
“Everything I’ve heard from Witherspoon is that it’s off the charts with the football intelligence, the work ethic, the passion, all that stuff is elite, elite, elite,” Jeremiah said.
Whether the Lions decide to use one of their first-rounders on a cornerback, this draft specifically presents an opportunity for some second-round steals, Jeremiah said.
“When you get in the second round with the corners — we’ll see what happens with Emmanuel Forbes (Mississippi State); I think he’s got a real shot to go in the first round, even though he’s 170 pounds currently. … (Kelee) Ringo’s intriguing from Georgia, Tyrique Stevenson from Miami, Riley Moss, I really like him, a lot of teams like him, from Iowa. Julius Brents, Kansas State — there’s a long list. … There’s a lot of depth at this corner position.”
Tight end options aplenty
The Lions have been heavily mocked to take a tight end with one of their top picks. Reading between the lines on some comments from Holmes and Campbell over the last few months, it seems as though Detroit is happier with its current tight-end situation than those paying attention from a distance would have you believe.
Still, there is much room for improvement from a unit that lacks a name-brand player. Should the Lions pass on a tight end in the first round, “I think you could get a tight end that in some years might have been a first-round pick,” Jeremiah said.
“Sam LaPorta from Iowa, I love, and I think he’s got a good chance to be in there. I think there’s a very good chance that the top guys are gone. .. if you’re picking between Sam LaPorta, Tucker Kraft from South Dakota State, or (Luke) Schoonmaker from Michigan, I think all those guys are plug-and-play, I think they’re impactful right away.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi
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