[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

PFF Mock:

CJ Stroud was still on the board at 1.6. It did not strike me as unrealistic that one of the big four would be there, so I let it go. Stroud is currently my favorite, so I had a real decision about whether to just take him or not. I decided to trade with Atlanta at 8 and got the 44th overall pick in exchange. Atlanta then took the QB, and DL Carter went next--who I wasn't touching this high, so I got the 44th overall pick and didn't lose any value.

1.8--Christian Gonzalez, CB Oregon (signing Gardner Johnson for one year does not make a big young outside corner less of a need)

1.18--Bijan Robinson, RB Texas (greed pick on my part. PFF gave it a D.)

2.44--Jack Campbell, LB Iowa (Resigning Anzalone does not change my vision of Campbell and Rodriguez as a great young LB core)

2.48 Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Edge Kansas State (great value here)

2.55 Sam LaPorta, TE Iowa (athletic and productive. Hope to develop into a good #3 option at some point)

Side note--having 2 firsts and 3 seconds makes mock drafting fun

3.81--Nathaniel Dell (another greed pick. Guys like this (undersized weapons) tend not to work out in the NFL. But when they hit, they are a lot of fun).

5.152--Aidian O'Connell, QB Purdue. (We will see if passing up on CJ Stroud was a franchise destroying decision or not. But until then, it makes sense to take a dart throw at a guy to develop.)

6-183--Brodric Martin, DL Western Kentucky. (Guy has all of the physical tools you want. Just needs to be coached up. I love him as a late round guy. At a minimum, he's 330+, so even if he never develops like I expect, he can still give you run-stuffer snaps on early downs).

6-194--Hunter Luepke, FB North Dakota State (I know nothing about him. I just wanted to give Dan Campbell an honest to goodness fullback. PFF gives this an F).

I really like this draft overall. But, as noted, if trading down to avoid picking Stroud becomes a Bowie over Jordan moment, then this whole draft is a disaster in hindsight.

That's not a bad mock at all.

I know the Lions free agency moves have drastically improved their defensive backfield, but it's important to remember that after this year, the only CB of note the Lions will have under contract is Cameron Sutton. Pretty much every other cornerback will be a free agent after this season, so CB is still a need in the near-to-medium term.

Mel Kiper's most recent first round mock (released today) has the Lions taking Jalen Carter and Michael Mayer.