Antoine Green was the Detroit Lions final pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but could he be the rookie who has a chance to have the most immediate impact?
The Detroit Lions made eight picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, the final of which was North Carolina wide receiver Antoine Green in the seventh round (No. 219).
Green became a starter in his final two seasons as a Tar Heel, catching passes from NFL prospects Sam Howell and Drake Maye and averaging 19.1 yards per catch with 12 touchdowns over that span.
No knock on Green, but all the speculation about the Lions possibly using a Day 2 pick on a wide receiver proved fruitless and he was the only receiver they drafted.
Green has solid size (6-foot-2, 199 pounds) and good speed (4.47 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine). He has some work to to become a more complete receiver at the next level, and not purely a deep threat, but as seventh-round picks go the Lions could have done a lot worse.
Could Antoine Green be the most immediately impactful Detroit Lions rookie?
After the draft, Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports listed five Day 3 picks with the opportunity to make an instant impact. Here’s his case for Green.
The Lions have just over 40% of their targets from 2022 available — 227 of them to be exact — and while the likes of second-round tight end Sam LaPorta, first-round versatile back Jahmyr Gibbs, and 33-year-old reliable vet Marvin Jones will eat into that opportunity, Detroit isn’t super-deep at perimeter receiver. For as much as Jones has maintained a reasonable level of productivity in this long career, he’s no longer a real vertical threat.
That’s precisely where Green can step in and stand out. At nearly 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Green ran 4.47. While his vertical was below average, his 6.99 time in the three-cone indicates above-average quickness, particularly relative to his size. He won on exactly 50% of his contested-catch situations — actually a reasonably high figure — and only had three drops on 65 targets. Actually, now that I think of it, there’s a lot of Marvin Jones to Green’s game. He can be a fun, occasional splash-play option in the Lions’ dynamic offense in 2023. Green rocks after the catch too.
The default answers for which Lions rookie will be the most immediately impactful are running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta, perhaps with a mention of linebacker Jack Campbell if he earns a starting job right away.
But with Jameson Williams suspended for the first six games of the season, the Lions will be without a certified deep threat in the passing game. Barring a move to add someone with more experience, and the pickings are obviously slim at this point, Green theoretically has a chance to earn a noticeable early-season role.
Once Williams is eligible to play, the Lions will give him every chance to shine and all bets will be off. But in the window of time starting with rookie minicamp this weekend, opportunity could be knocking for Green in a way it doesn’t immediately knock for a lot of seventh-round picks.