The Detroit Lions landed two impact defenders in the collaborative mock draft from reporters across the country within the USA TODAY network. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press made the choices for the Lions at No. 2 and 32, and he went straight defense.
After Michigan EDGE Aidan Hutchinson went No. 1 overall to Jacksonville, the Lions’ selection at No. 2 emerged with Oregon’s Kavon Thibodeaux. Birkett doesn’t believe the Lions are afraid of the talk that Thibodeaux’s personality could be an issue,
The Lions have stressed culture fit in their latest rebuild, and for that reason, some wonder whether Thibodeaux is a match. If the Lions can get comfortable with Thibodeaux’s personality, they could have the draft’s best pass rusher.
With the final pick in the first round, the Lions picked safety Lewis Cine out of Georgia. This has been a prevalent trend in recent mocks, and it makes a lot of sense. As Birkett notes,
“Cine should have an early impact at a major position of need for the Lions.”
A couple of other notes on the mock:
- No QBs before Kenny Pickett at 19 and Malik Willis at 20
- Six WRs came off the board between 11 and 29
- LBs Nakobe Dean (17) and Devin Lloyd (21) came off earlier than generally projected but Quay Walker fell out of the first
