I spent last week in Indianapolis covering the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. The focus is primarily on the draft and the prospects, but being there covering the Lions as well, I picked up a few things.
Here are some of the tidbits and takes I picked up regarding the Lions from the combine week.
Jeff Okudah is the most likely Lions first-round pick
The Ohio State cornerback put on quite a show with his agility work and interviews with both the teams and the media. His size, fluidity, speed and attitude are exactly what the Lions want at the position, and his game tape is even more impressive than the workout. Regardless of the fate of Darius Slay, Okudah would make a great pick at No. 3 and an even more outstanding one at No. 5 or No. 6 after a hypothetical trade back.
Based on conversations I had with all sorts of people in all sorts of capacities, both with the Lions and elsewhere, my belief is that Okudah is the most likely choice by GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia. I’m not reporting that Okudah will be the pick, it’s my own opinion. And it’s no lock…
Chase Young is still very much in play, and he’s the Lions pick if he’s available
For the Lions to land Ohio State EDGE Chase Young, the consensus best player in the draft, at No. 3, it would take a couple of things outside of the team’s control. First, the Washington Redskins would have to take Alabama Qb Tua Tagovailoa with the No. 2 pick.
That seems more of a realistic possibility now than before the combine. New Washington coach Ron Rivera threw the door wide open for taking Tua during his media session. He had a chance to quash it all and give last year’s first-rounder, Dwayne Haskins, a vote of confidence. Rivera did note Haskins’ improvement through his rocky rookie season, specifically citing the win over the Lions, but the enthusiasm with which he talked about the potential of taking Tagovailoa means it must at least be a realistic consideration.
It could be a smokescreen, too. Washington doesn’t have a second-round pick and is in more dire need of extra assets than the Lions. Rivera might have been masterfully (or unwittingly) driving up the trade value for another team aiming to land Tagovailoa. That would drop Young into the Lions’ laps. Every conversation I’ve had with people whose Lions knowledge and draft opinions I trust leads me to conclude the team would run to the podium and select Young if he’s available at No. 3.
Matthew Stafford isn’t going anywhere
We’ve covered this topic ad nauseum already, but it bears repeating. The Detroit Lions are not trading Matthew Stafford. They’re not trying to trade Matthew Stafford. The quarterback himself wants to be a Lion and is in no way trying to force his way out of Detroit.
The private meeting those of us in the Lions media had with Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia on Tuesday was even more pointed and emphatic than the public face they’ve consistently demonstrated on this front, too. Anyone trying to tell you anything different is simply making things up. Shame them for spreading obvious lies and trying to deceive you.
Expect at least one defensive lineman in free agency
One of the primary functions for NFL teams at the combine is to lay the groundwork for the onset of free agency, which begins later in March. Every agent is there, ready to discuss potential terms and feel out interest.
It’s too early to know what specific targets the Lions will go after in free agency, but several agents made it clear the team is coveting immediate help along the defensive line. It’s a decent free agent class with several players who could step right into roles vacated by the Lions moving on from Damon Harrison, Mike Daniels (who could return) and A’Shawn Robinson. Personal preference: Houston’s D.J. Reader.
Adding a lineman via free agency will not stop the Lions from drafting one, perhaps as early as the second round. I don’t get the impression (again, just my opinion) Auburn’s Derrick Brown is as realistic in the first round as many fans and mock drafters would like to believe. But in the two rounds on Friday night, guys like Leki Fotu from Utah, Neville Gallimore from Oklahoma, LSU’s Rashard Lawrence and Brown’s Auburn teammate Marlon Davidson are firmly in play for Detroit.
Expect the Lions to draft at least one WR
It won’t be in the first round, not even after any hypothetical trade back, but the Lions have done quite a bit of homework on the wide receiver class this year. And it’s a spectacular group of wideouts, full of future NFL starters that will fall into the middle rounds.
One key name to watch is a player who had himself a great combine: Baylor’s Denzel Mims. The Lions worked with Mims at the Senior Bowl and came away very impressed. Mims said of Patricia, “he’s a great coach” during his podium interview, too. He’s got the size, the toughness and the ability to make the first tackler miss that the Lions covet in Darrell Bevell’s offense.
Mims isn’t the only wideout the Lions have interest in. Even some players who didn’t work out, whether because of injury (Florida’s Van Jefferson, son of ex-Lions WR/coach Shawn) or choice (Clemson’s Tee Higgins), are wideouts you’re going to see linked to Detroit in the coming weeks. Everything I have witnessed and heard makes me believe the Lions’ interest in a WR in rounds 2-4 is very real.
