Team Needs Heading into the Draft

The Den
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I have to say this 2026 Lions team BEFORE the NFL draft is better than the 2025 team overall outside the health questions for Branch and Joseph. Cade Mays alone is FAR better than 2025 Glasgow at center for example. Juice Scruggs versus any other interior depth guys in 2025.

For example, CB: DJ Reed, T. Arnold, Rock Ya Sin, McCreary, Rakestraw and Whiteside. Khalil Dorsey. Rock is better than Amik Roberson and we know that now. I think McCreary has real NFL game. AND…we have LOTS of nickel options past CB including Avonte Maddox and Christian Izien. Maybe Branch IF he comes back healthy?

At Safety we have Branch, Joseph, a more experienced Thomas Harper (26 in November), Christian Izien (I LOVE this signing, , Avonte Maddox, Dan Jackson and Loren Strictland (26 in May).

The OL looks good to me with Sewell, Cade Mays, Ratledge, Mahogany, Juice Scruggs (finally, viable interior depth!), Ben Bartch, Larry Borom and Miles Frasier. To me Miles Frasier is a key…50 games started everywhere except center. Miles is 6’6” and 325 pounds. A BIG boy. A 3 year starter at LSU. I WANT a 1st rd. OT in 2026 but damn…I’ll take Bain in a trade up even if that means losing out on a 1st rd. OT this year.

I could go on. Yep, officially we did not replace Decker, DJ Reader or Alex Anzalone. Maybe we simply use more nickel defense (finally!!)? Sewell to LOT, ROT important but…workable now?

Underrated FAs I LOVE (and may have serious upside) include LBer Damone Clark (2022 5th rd. pick, 6’2.5”), safety Christian Izien, WR Greg Dortch and CB Roger McCreary. Payton Turner is a real wild card.

Returning Lion veterans I LOVE include Miles Fraser (a real wild card for us), Rakestraw, DT Wingo, WR Lovett and S Dan Jackson. Alim McNeil likely gets back to beast mode. Levi O. is a wild card. Rakestraw.

There is a lot to like on this roster right now and Brad can simply add talent this draft. As much as we all want a trade DOWN…I can easily see Brad thinking this team needs STARS. Add Pro Bowlers. Yes, I want an OT rd. 1 but damn, trading UP for say DE Rueben Bain? Adding that to Hutch, Wonnum, etc? Yea, sign me up at this point. ESP. if we keep our 2nd rd. pick (and use that on an OT).

The 2026 depth is pretty good. If we trade back we can really add bodies. If we trade UP we maybe can add a critical starter like Bain. Staying put for say Freeling makes me smile. I would worry about a Proctor for example but that is a gamble I can understand at this point. I really like where this team is right now despite not having a great answer at tackle (I see you Larry Borom and Miles Fraser!), LBer (I see you Damone Clark) or DT (I see you Wingo).
Thoughts?

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I agree we’re in a pretty good spot. Could be better at some places, could be worse at others, but given the constraints I thought we did a good job. What we need more than anything this year is health.

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Agree… I think McCreary is an underrated signing… He’s better in coverage than Amik.

OL, on paper, looks better than last year based off of the kind of scheme the Lions run… GG limited them (more than I realized at this time last year) and Mays SHOULD allow them to get back to business so to speak. Even if Borom is average, you can hide a weak OT much easier than a weak C. Gibbs will feast.

Love the depth in the secondary

Year 2 TeSlaa >>> Lief/rookie Teslaa

Wonnum >>> Davenport

LBer could be interesting… I’m thinking there’s going to be a schematic shift in defense, so we’ll see how that impacts the WLB position.

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In man. It’s my understanding that Roger has continued to struggle with the communicative and instinctual elements of zone. So he’ll fit right in. :slight_smile:

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Depth wise, I agree.

But overall, I have two major concerns: the OLine as a whole. I’m not sold it’s any better. I hope to be wrong, but I’ll need to wait and see.

And safety. IF Joseph is as injured as we all think, there’s no replacement for that guy. He was the eraser. Our backbone.

But I do love all the “number 3’s” we signed in FA. I don’t think any of them are quality every week starters, with the exception being Mays. But they’re all great next man up guys. I’d think our special teams units will be top notch, and week to week injuries should be taken care of. But I’m scared of some OLine men, safety, and still not impressed with the D end options.

Only thing I seriously disagree with is not replacing Reader. We replaced him early last year Tyliek. Gave him a learning season to boot. I’m not sure we replaced Lopez. But replacing our 3rd DT isn’t causing me any lost sleep. (Right now)

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I’m not sure where we are SUPER weak, but we still have the draft, which is sneaking up on us, so I’m excited to watch it, see who we draft, and for our season.

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I thought Reader was a net neutral last year at best, so replacing the 2025 version shouldn’t be too difficult. Replacing the 2024 version could be tricky - he was especially vital once everyone got hurt - but even Reader himself couldn’t replace his own 2024 production last year. So in that respect I don’t think we got worse, though certainly before the season we wouldn’t have seen that coming.

I think Mays alone improves it dramatically. And frankly 2025 Borom was better than 2025 Decker… if we can get 2025 Borom (or better, either from him or someone else), I think we’ll be vastly improved.

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I hope you’re right on the OLine. One of those things I’m going to need to wait and see. And I’m not saying Tyliek will replace Reader, it’s just that’s what he was drafted to do. Time to let him do it.

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The way I see it. We don’t need a WR, QB, K, or punter. Everything else is on the table.

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I was listening to Baumgartner and Risdon and for me, I just really like the idea of getting a kick ass LG to put between Penei and Mays. Not sure Mahogany is the answer at all. And we have Borom so we could bring one of these OTs along as a guard at first while they round into NFL shape. That gets us back to the Lions when they imposed their will on other teams.

We also need a NT. I think we’ll pick up one up along the way in this draft. I doubt Z Harris because of his character but there are some others.

Still think weakside LB is a ?. Curious as to what they do whether its employing a big safety as a third backer or getting a AA replacement

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I think Mahogany will surprise. Kicking ass is his strength, it’s other areas where he has issues. I also can’t shake those first two games he played for us. He looked like he was on pace to be one of the best OGs in the league. Playing next to Frank helped obviously, but it also tells us we know that player is in there.

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You seem highly versed in all this, and I thought Mahogany played well his rookie year when asked. But it just sort of feels like were about to do the same thing we’ve done at DE for years upon end. It would be nice if he could take the job and do well because he is cap friendly.

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That’s just the stuff we remember because it didn’t work out. We’ve actually done the same thing many times, but it works out and doesn’t end up mattering. We did the same thing with Jonah through his rookie contract (and imo he never flashed as much as Mahogany). We did the same thing when we brought Glasgow back that first year, he had been awful in Denver. All those WR3s who worked out. The backup QB everyone always hates and still works out most of the time. TE after we traded Hock. On and on.

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It wouldn’t shock me if he suddenly looks above average playing next to Sewell again along with a competent Center… There is a ton of competition at LG, I have faith that position will sort itself out in camp and be at least average with the chance to be much better

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Even if tyliek isn’t as good as Reader in run defense he may add more of a pass rush element. I’d consider that an upgrade. I feel like we have the linebackers to help pick up any slack in interior run defense.

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Secondary to me is a huge question mark because of branch, Kerby, and Arnold (although hopefully that situation has amounted to nothing). I’m assuming we go the whole year without our two safeties, and I’m fairly certain kerby’s career is over (if what we’ve been hearing is true).

As of now predraft OL is better with Mays but is having Borom at RT an improvement over having Decker at LT? I don’t know. Also, we lost Montgomery so who is going to be RB2? He had to be one of the best #2 guys in the league, so to me as of now our RB room is worse.

We’ll see with the draft and where they see value in bolstering the roster.

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I wouldn’t say running back room is worse until I see Pacheco and Vaki. We really have no idea about Vaki on the nfl level. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

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It is definitely time to see what Vaki can do on offense

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DEFINITELY don’t need a punter

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As I mock for Detroit I see a team with no glaring needs. Need for talent? Yep. I generally grab an OT rd. 1 as the talent fits our pick.

There are a number of DEs and DTs as well as LBers that can flush out this roster in each round.

I generally grab an OT then pick between LBers, DTs and DEs the next few rounds and I feel good about that. This is a good spot to be in before the draft.

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