It would need to be hedged, but it could be pretty easily imo. I wouldn’t pass on any long-term upside due to short-term concerns personally, but of course it depends on where you think that long-term upside actually lies. That’s what I’m debating with myself, but the more I watch the more I’m intrigued.
Right. And I’m bringing up a guy like Pocic. Hardly a big spend. If Bisontis or Tate or whosever beats him out then great.
To me though the choice is a McCoy trade and then everybody else.
To be honest after your draft excercise and the relative dearth of options I’ve opened up to using that 17th pick to get McCoy. Let’s say we value McCoy like Davis. So a top 75 pick.
We send them 17.
We get back McCoy, 40, 73, 136
This values McCoy at pick 77.
Not the type of deal that is likely to happen but I’d dig it.
As you know the McCoy trade is still my favorite, and honestly that might be a stop-gappy solution too. He’s only a year younger than Frank and the injuries have started to pile up for him as well. It’s at this point in Frank’s career when he retired in fact. That’s a little early for a center, but they do seem to have the shortest careers of all the OL. And the guys who stick around like Ryan Kelly or Alex Mack are usually shells of themselves at the end.
That said, it doesn’t sound like McCoy’s considering hanging them up any time soon.
I would be pretty intrigued by that deal, for sure. Probably rules us out of the OT class, but as you know we might already be ruled out of that without a trade up. Edges at 40 should be good, and maybe someone like Ponds is still hanging around.
I think 40 is a perfect spot in the less than ideal scenarios.
And I think NO would be interested bc they could really use someone like Lemon who might very well be there. Their aperture of players and positions of interest would be wide enough for them to make the move early.
We however might end up regretting if a scenario in which someone like Bain or SiSi slides.
But 40 seems like a good spot for us. Ponds, Max I., Tiernan maybe Zion Young or Derrick Moore type of Edge. We could even go for a high end safety or tight end. We’d have enough picks to still address other needs.
Maybe they could nab Love and Lemon and really give Shough a chance. I still can’t believe he’s worth a damn, but I’m also still withholding final judgement on that one. Plenty of QBs flash on bad teams.
Maybe it would be a draft day trade to guard against a slide by one of those guys (especially Bain). Hard to fathom in this class but you never know.
The more I watch of Derrick Moore, the more I worry he just doesn’t play the run well enough for us. I mean Michigan used to pull him pretty frequently on obvious running downs. Granted you can’t expect the best decisions to be made by that staff, but still.
That’s the rub. It’s why I said five or six weeks ago that he was the pass rusher in this class that most reminded me of AQM.
AH and him platooning. That could work really well.
Zion fits us to the T. If the off field stuff isn’t a problem.
Honestly so does DDS, though he’s probably the least exciting as a pass-rusher. Most like Davenport, probably.
DDS is the most Davenport like in terms of traits.
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But DDS’s metrics are kind of messy and the progression isn’t clean. Like if you mapped out pass rush metrics like a stock chart Zion has what you want to see. Building out the repertoire and performance over time. DDS, much like Parker, took a step back.
Right, which is why I think most of the league will have Zion ranked higher, depending on how they view the off-field stuff. But we might not have a chance at him unless we move up from 50 or down from 17 (he went late 1st in that mock I was a part of). DDS will almost certainly make it to us in the 2nd.
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I have really high conviction with Jacas. Number two in Big ten history in career pressures. Long, long track record of production. Former high level wrestler. Hard worker. Great teammate. It just seems bound to work IMO.
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I’m with you. It just seems like, in this class, he won’t make it to us in the 2nd. Far too early to say for sure of course, and I didn’t think Landon Jackson would last so long last year so I’ve been wrong before
So I have passed on talking about any IOWA players except for Wetjen. Until now…
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DetNews roundup of various mock drafts for Detroit’s first round pick.
Two CB’s three OT’s
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CB Brandon Cisse, South Carolina
Mocked by Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports (Feb. 1)
While the Lions could use some blue-chip talent on the offensive line, the same can be said about pretty much every level of its defense, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Holmes did indeed go cornerback in the first round. Cisse (6-feet, 190 pounds) is an athletic and physical man corner who fits the exact style of defense Detroit wants its secondary to play. To top it off, according to NFL Network’s Lance Zierlein, Cisse “supports the run like a box safety.” That sounds like a Lion, through and through. Pro Football Focus gave Cisse a run defense grade of 89.2; in coverage, he allowed 18 catches for 361 yards and one touchdown all season.
CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson
Mocked by Eric Edholm, NFL.com (Jan. 30)
Terrell’s brother, A.J., is a cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons and a former Second Team All-Pro.
OT Caleb Lomu, Utah
Mocked by Nate Tice and Charles McDonald, Yahoo! Sports (Jan. 27); Nick Baumardner and Scott Dochterman, The Athletic (Jan. 29)
OT Monroe Freeling, Georgia
Mocked by Justin Melo, The Draft Network (Feb. 1)
Following his one and only season as a full-time starter, Freeling (6-foot-7, 315 pounds) caught some draft experts by surprise when he declared for the 2026 NFL Draft with only 16 career starts under his belt. Still, his size and pedigree make him an interesting first-round option for Detroit, especially if Decker ends up returning, which would give him a full season to marinate in a development program led by Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley. Melo describes Freeling as “raw, but (he) possesses ideal length while being a plus-level athlete on the edge.” Like Lomu, Freeling’s run-blocking is secondary to his tools as a pass protector; over 469 pass-block snaps last season, he allowed just nine pressures and three sacks.
OT Kadyn Proctor, Alabama
Mocked by Bucky Brooks, NFL.com (Jan. 28)
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So after watching the practice footage from the Senior Bowl, I’ve decided Sam Hecht is pretty comfortably my favorite center prospect. You watch him yet @BubbaBaker60?
You’d never guess he was as light as he is watching him (6’4+, 297), he’s got excellent core strength. Such that he was lined up plenty at guard and moving guys in the team drills. Really good athlete. He’s more of a Dalman type than a Ragnow type, but we know the Dalman type can work in our offense.
Finally, I think he’s the MOST likely guy to hit the ground running. Lots of center experience and clearly a smart guy.
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I have not done a deep dive into Hecht yet. Based on your opinion I will take a closer look. My concern with him was his anchor.
One that I just did a thorough watch on is Pat Coogan. I am much more impressed with his play than I was before. He is excellent in pass protection and has a solid anchor. His play against the big NT from Oregon is what put me over the top on him. He is smart and strong and very effective in the short area at the LOS. He does not move in space like some of the smaller Centers so I’m not sure how he would fit in our scheme but if there is one center that will hit the ground running he would be my choice. I expect him to be gone before we pick in round 4.
Yeah that was my biggest issue with Coogan, the lack of second-level juice. I do love the experience and expect he’ll be one of the guys who hit quickest too.
Hecht didn’t get to go up against that kind of competition which was why I was somewhat up in the air, but the Senior Bowl took care of that. Watching the practices back - especially the team stuff - is a great watch. He lost a quick rep at RG in a team session on day 3 (to a Bryson Eason bull rush), but otherwise I’m not sure I saw him lose a single rep.
Plus I find that iOL who thrive at the Senior Bowl have a sky high hit rate. Zabel, Meinerz, Bergeron, Hainsey (it took him a while, but he was very good in Jacksonville last year), Cushenberry, Elgton Jenkins, Wyatt Teller have been consensus winners over the past decade. About the only interior lineman I can find who was widely lauded for his work at the Senior Bowl yet hasn’t hit is John Michael Schmitz, and I suppose there might be some extenuating circumstances there.
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He’s expected to be cut. He’s been far worse at Center but if the plan is to move Tate his ability to play it would be nice insurance.
Crazy how bad he was at center after doing so well everywhere else they tried him.
Especially bc he was an awesome college center IIRC.