The Lions off-seasons have been good the past 3 years from excellent drafting from 1st round picks such as Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell to steals such as Amon Ra St Brown and Brian Branch. Even free agency has had its gems as well ranging from successful additions such as Graham Glasgow, David Montgomery, Kalif Raymond, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin. The Lions have heavily favored leaning on the draft for the task to get them over the hump. This year should be different with Brad Holmes saying he wants to fill needs in free agency and use the draft as he pleases. Not only that the Lions are coming off a loss in the NFC championship game. The Lions are 7th in total cap space and this is a year the Lions are projected to get aggressive in free agency. I will be doing a mock off-season based on the Lions throwing the bag at each position and how I would do the draft. The Lions needs that I will be doing are EDGE, DT, CB, and WR.
If the Lions go for an EDGE rusher in free agency I think they will either go for Danielle Hunter, Jonathan Greenard, or Clowney. With that being said who else could they add once they add an EDGE rusher? I think the Lions would likely target another defensive lineman to their ranks this one being a DT. I think the Lions would sign a familiar face and that face being Greg Gaines. Gaines played for the Rams when Brad Holmes was the director of scouting and Gaines was someone that Holmes reportedly advocated for. Gaines also happens to be versatile. He can play both Nose Tackle and 5T. When Gaines started for the Rams he had two 4-sack seasons in a row with 30+ tackles and 5+ QB hits. Gaines is coming off a down year after signing with Tampa where he fell out of favor of 1st round picks Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea. This gives Holmes something he loves to prove it deals with bringing out the best in a player but also it allows for another player that Holmes has drafted to compete for a role and that player is Brodric Martin whom we gave up two picks to get Martin. Martin has the potential and Gaines is the perfect player to compete with Martin. Gaines is a player who can be a reliable starter and Martin is someone who can become an absolute force at defensive tackle.
The next player I think the Lions could go after is Evan Brown. Yes that Evan Brown. Evan Brown's attempt to become a starter did not go well. He wasn't great at run blocking he had 7 penalties on the year for SEA. Brown while not a starter is a reliable depth player. He has played the entire IOL and was one of the best backup centers in the league. His numbers were so good at center that he was top 15-20 center in some rankings. Brown could also ease the worry of Frank needing to play every game and could compete for the left guard position now that Jonah is gone.
The last player I imagine the Lions go for is Jordan Fuller. Fuller was drafted by the Rams when Holmes was there. Alas, Fuller never got to where the Rams wanted to be but Fuller was a solid starting option where he had 7 ints in 4 years and had 2 90+ tackle seasons. Fuller would be a good depth player that could replace Tracy Walker.
Now for the mock draft:
This is if the Lions elect to target an EDGE rusher in free agency. In this scenario the Lions either signed Hunter, Greenard, Autry, or Clowney. I also think they would add someone like Greg Gaines and have Gaines and Brodic Martin compete. Now for the explanations for the players. Ennis Rakestraw Jr is a beast Ennis only allowed 197 yards and 1 touchdown. He did so despite facing the LSU duo and Georgia and even my draft crush Ricky Pearsall. He just also has a lot of grit he played through multiple injuries this season. Xavier Legette is someone who has a lot of potential. He had 1k yards and 7 touchdowns despite playing with Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks were not great last year either. Leggette is fast and strong even with his senior bowl measurement of 6'1 and 200+ pounds he still has some real potential. There are examples of good ball tracking and he is great at YAC. He just fits the offense and he has the potential to be a legit outside WR. Mahogany is a beast at OG with Jonah Jackson likely leaving the team the Lions will need a new young guard to help protect Jared Goff and Mahogany possibly has a higher ceiling than what Jackson has been producing. Mahogany allowed 0 sacks and allowed 0 QB hits and only 7 QB hurries. He is also a monster of a guard being 6'3 322 pounds and she sure does play to his size. His only concern is he is a bit more raw than you would like and the season before he missed an entire season due to injury and is 23 years old. Puni is a future pick the Lions need to accept that Taylor Decker won't be here forever and is over 30 years old. Puni has great potential. He allowed 0 sacks and 0 QB hits and only allowed 8 QB hurries. He is also 6'5 and 320 pounds and can play both LT and LG. He's powerful too. Give him some time to learn under Hank and Decker and Puni could replace Decker handily or he could move to RT and Sewell can slide to OG. The best part is Puni could also slide inside if needed or if he doesn't work out at tackle.
The Lions sign a DT scenario:
The Lions signed a top DT in free agency in this mock draft. The Lions draft Darius Robinson in this scenario. Robinson is the definition of versatility he has played across the entire DL. At this combine interview, he said he played over 300 pounds to play DT at one point. The Lions love guys that can slide inside for them and Robinson had his best season as an EDGE rusher where he had 43 tackles 8.5 sacks and 27 hurries to boot he had 42 QB pressures. The best part is Robinson was a Lions fan growing up and remains one today. Cam Hart is a player I have grown to like. He has a great size 6'2 202 and had 3 forced fumbles. He only allowed 137 yards in coverage last year and ZERO touchdowns. Hart faced Marvin Harrison Jr last year and allowed 0 catches when he faced Harrison. His only cons is he has two shoulder injuries and is 23 years old. Christian Mahogany is a player I like. He allowed 0 sacks, 0 QB, and only 7 hurries and he is a beast at run blocking. He is a bit raw and he had a season-ending injury the season before. Javon Baker is maybe not the big outside WR people have been wanting but he is a great player nonetheless. Baker averaged 80.5 yards per game for UCF this year which led the Big 12 to boot he also had 22.5 YPC which was 3rd in the nation and he had 6 touchdowns. Baker has some real speed and he has shown some amazing deep threat and YAC ability. While his height may stop him from being a contested catch king he has made some insane catches and he was 20th in the NCAA for contested catch % where he was over 50%. Baker could be the steal of the draft for the Lions.
Here is one where the Lions sign an EDGE but draft a WR:
Thomas is just insane athletic-wise he is 6'4 and over 200 pounds and he can move fast. He had 1k yards and 17 touchdowns for the Tigers last season. Thomas has WR1 potential and would be a fit on the outside. Sweat will likely not fall but for now, he is there in the simulator. So I had to pick him. Sweat is an elite run defender and just killed it at the combine and even has some pass-rush success he had 26 QB hurries at the Nose Tackle position. He may even get in 1st round territory in the next couple of weeks. Cam Hart explanation is above. Cooper Beebe is a good OG prospect he is 6'4 335 pounds and only allowed 2 sacks and 7 hurries last season with no QB hits. Beebe also has played both guard spots and tackle spots he is extremely versatile. He could be Graham Glasgow on steroids. I will note that I doubt Thomas or Sweat fall but I think the argument for a WR in the first round could happen. The playoffs showed how much we need a legit deep threat but also a good outside WR who can make tough catches. We are in a luxury position and I believe we should act as such. As for the Sweat pick, I do think we would just draft a DT. As for what I think will happen? I will do that next. I will do an actual off-season with a mock draft once all the franchise tag stuff and combine stuff is over.
Comments