Detroit Free Press

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s the hardest position to find in sports, and the later NFL teams wait to address it in the draft, the more difficult it becomes. But Eric DeCosta has helped the Baltimore Ravens buck the trend of busted quarterback draft picks multiple times in his two-plus decades in that franchise’s personnel department. DeCosta

INDIANAPOLIS — Skyy Moore grew up in Pittsburgh, where he played high school football with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s son, Dino. And if the Western Michigan football receiver is being honest, returning to his hometown and playing for his good friend’s father would make for a pretty cool start to his NFL career. “It’s a

INDIANAPOLIS — One of the best prospects in this year’s NFL draft said Wednesday he models his game after one former Detroit Lions wide receiver and considers another current Lions pass catcher “a big brother.” USC’s Drake London said he has tried to emulate Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson in his rise to stardom and soon will be

INDIANAPOLIS — Ben Johnson was besieged by congratulatory messages from friends, players, and colleagues after he was named Detroit Lions offensive coordinator in February, but one text in particular caught him by surprise. “It was Matthew Stafford,” Johnson said Tuesday. “It was the week before the Super Bowl, he’s preparing for the biggest game in his

INDIANAPOLIS — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes held 15-minute media sessions with reporters at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday, and touched on a variety of topics related to free agency, the 2022 season and April’s NFL draft. Hutchinson or Thibodeaux The Lions have the second pick in the draft and are

INDIANAPOLIS — Jeff Okudah has had a rough start to his pro career, missing time with a groin injury as a rookie and rupturing his Achilles tendon last year, but the Detroit Lions remain hopeful Okudah will be a top-tier NFL cornerback. Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL combine the team has

INDIANAPOLIS — The Detroit Lions are realigning some of their coaching staff to help with a schematic change coming to their defense this fall. Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL combine that the Lions will maintain three-down principles on their defensive line but will move to “a little more of a four-down type”

If Detroit Lions fans want the team to draft Jared Goff’s replacement, Mel Kiper Jr. has the mock draft for you. Kiper Jr. dropped a new 2022 NFL draft projection Tuesday, as well as his latest Big Board and positional rankings, with the scouting combine beginning. There aren’t a ton of surprises, with an offensive lineman going

The NFL scouting combine starts kicks off in earnest today, and with it the hype machine for the NFL draft will whir into high gear and start whipping everyone into a frenzy. Hand sizes will be too small. Forty times will be too slow. Draft stocks will rise and fall. Everyone will get excited, and

The NFL draft could be coming to Detroit. Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy told Green Bay television station NBC 26 that Detroit is one of three finalists to host the 2024 NFL draft along with Green Bay and Washington. The Lions have been pursuing the draft in conjunction with the city for several years, and

The NFL combine returns after a year’s hiatus due to COVID-19. That means key NFL evaluators will gather in Indianapolis this week to weigh, measure and test prospects, and to hold clandestine meetings with representatives for this year’s free agent class. The first group of players arrives in Indy on Monday, NFL general managers and

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Cincinnati Bengals’ remarkable, worst(since 2018)-to-first 2021 campaign concluded with a 23-20 loss in Super Bowl 56, the closest this organization has come to winning a championship in its 54-season history. A play here or there, and the Bengals would have become the 21st of the NFL’s 32 franchises to capture the

Super Bowl 56 might have sent offseason expectations soaring around the NFL, as the matchup showcased how far a few well-chosen personnel moves can propel a franchise. The Los Angeles Rams, of course, reaped the rewards of their trade for veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, who helped put Sean McVay and Co. over the top in

The most unique prospect in this year’s NFL draft is also one of its most polarizing, at least when it comes to the value of his position and whether he warrants a top-five pick. Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton is regarded as one of the top talents in April’s draft and is one of a handful of

There is no Trevor Lawrence in the 2022 NFL draft. No Joe Burrow. No Justin Herbert. Heck, there’s not even a Matthew Stafford, who more than a few people thought was a reach when the Detroit Lions took him with the No. 1 pick in 2009. It’s the Lions’ luck that in a year where

In about two months, dozens of NFL hopefuls will have their dreams recognized. The 2022 NFL draft begins April 28, and the Detroit Lions have three of the first 34 picks. Will Michigan football star Aidan Hutchinson be available or will Detroit go in another direction? Ahead of the scouting combine, which begins Tuesday, Lions

Tyler Palka was sitting on a couch with his family a few days before Christmas in 2020 when he got a text from Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell’s cousin asking if he was interested in being in a movie. Palka, a former Saline star who bounced around professional football’s minor-league circuit after splitting his college

The Detroit Lions kept another restricted free agent from hitting the market Tuesday, signing special teams ace Josh Woods to a one-year contract extension. Woods made 28 tackles in 12 games with the Lions last season and was one of the team’s most productive special teams players after signing with the Lions off the Chicago

The Detroit Lions have made no secret of their desire to re-sign Tracy Walker before free agency opens in March, and Walker has said he wants to stay with the team that drafted him after having a bounce-back season in 2021. “Both him and I believe, for as good as his year was, there is

With the Super Bowl in the rearview mirror and the NFL scouting combine a little over a week away, it felt like a good time to answer your questions on free agency, the draft and what the Detroit Lions will be up to in 2022. First, though, I have to put a bow on the