The 2024 NFL Draft is just days away and there has been a ton of talk about the players that everyone knows. Most fans could name 20-30 players they know are going to get drafted and which ones they hope the Detroit Lions will wind up with.
What about the guys that are flying in under the radar? I’m talking the hidden gems that nobody is talking about enough? Guys that might be labeled “Brad Holmes finds” by the end of the draft.
I’ve got a list of those guys prepared. Here’s five hidden gems the Lions could draft this week:
The Lions really do need that X receiver in this years draft. The problem is that guy is probably going to need to be drafted in the first round if the Lions hope to get one of the top receivers with the body type and skill that they are looking for. If they don’t then there’s one more guy later in the draft that has some skill and that’s Coker.
At 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds, he has that size you’re looking for. The top notch speed isn’t there, but he still has ability to make contested catches. Josh Reynolds would be solid comp here.
Coker is currently slated to go in the fifth-round.
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Not much of a hidden gem if you’ve been following us through the draft process. He’s been a favorite of ours. McMahon is a bit of an undersized offensive lineman that is expected to go in the sixth round of the draft.
If he were a little bigger and had longer arms, he would be a day two pick and I have no doubts about that. The versatility is the key here. McMahon can play left guard, right guard and center. He started all three spots at NC State.
He could come in and be solid depth and spot start in his rookie year and be ready to take over for Zeitler in year two. If he’s not, he’s still solid depth off the bench in three different positions.
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A pretty solid player at Auburn and could be nice is the Lions interior defensive line rotation. Harris has some pass rush juice from the middle. He had seven sacks for Auburn last year. But that’s not what he’s limited to.
Harris was one of the best run stoppers in country last year per Pro Football Focus. His 87.4 run defense grade was the seventh best in college football. The Lions love to stop the run and they would probably like to rush the passer too. Harris is a steal.
He’s currently slated to go in the sixth or seventh round.
Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the man that led the nation in sacks last year. Green had 15.5 of them for James Madison and had a nice 89.5 pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus too. He also had 56 pressures. That’s was sixth in the country.
Green is a small school guy and that’s going to effect him. He wasn’t at the combine and he didn’t play in the Senior Bowl or the Shrine bowl. The reason is because he got hurt in November. It’s shame because he was likely to set the FBS record for sacks last year.
Teams should be interested in taking the risk here without seeing the draft process stuff. The tape tells that he can ball. Green is slated to go in late sixth-round.
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He’s one of our favorite stories in the draft. The guy has overcome it all and still has the best attitude you could ask for. He is grit personified and the type of player that Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell often look for.
The problem is his age. He’ll be a 26-year-old rookie. That’s going to give teams some pause. The other thing is that he is a bit on the smaller side. Even though he’s put some weight on.
Sam is currently slated to go undrafted, but he could find himself picked in the seventh round.