The 2024 NFL Draft is just a couple sleeps away. the Detroit Lions will be on the clock for their first pick before you know it. We’re not totally sure what that pick will be just yet since Lions’ Gm Brad Holmes has a history of trading picks. If it’s the 29th pick, there’s one position that the Lions could take that would really just be a big mistake and could affect the rest of their class. That’s offensive lineman. Here’s why:
First off, it’s the one position where the Lions could draft a player high and that player could potentially not see the field in a year where the Lions are trying to win a Super Bowl. The reason being that the Lions may already have the best offensive line in football and a first round offensive lineman isn’t going to start here or be a major part of the team right away.
You know who would be a major part of the team? Basically any other position on the board. If they draft a cornerback there, that guy could start, if they draft a receiver there, he’ll be a big part of the offense, if they draft an edge there, he’ll probably start, if they grab an interior defensive lineman there, he won’t start, but he’ll at least be a part of the rotation. Same goes if they take a safety.
An offensive lineman would sit on the bench and play if someone gets hurt. That’s not the player you take with your first pick. Especially when there is expected to be some solid players in the other positions that the Lions could miss on if they don’t take them at 29. Most of those players are not likely to be there at 61 when the Lions pick again.
I’m not saying that picking an offensive lineman kills the Lions draft, but I am saying that their best chance for some of the top players is at 29 and if they don’t take one there, they probably won’t have another chance to.
I’m also not saying the Lions shouldn’t draft an offensive lineman at all. They should and they will have the opportunity to do so from the second round on. There’s players like UCONN’s Christian Haynes, Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe, South Dakota State’s Mason McCormick, Boston College’s Christian Mahogany, Michigan’s Zak Zinter, Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini and North Carolina State’s Dylan McMahon. All those guys can be had later and have the same effect for this team.
It actually makes more sense to take one later and give him a year under Hank Fraley and the veterans on this line. That’s time to build him up and get him ready to eventually start. The only offensive lineman worth taking at 29 is Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson in my opinion and he should be gone before then.