The Lions’ Draft Wasn’t Sexy, because It Didn’t Need to Be.
The “Lions Super Bowl” is over. The 2021 NFL Draft wrapped up right around 7:00 last night, and for those of you with the fortitude to stay awake for the whole three-day extravaganza, one draft in particular stood out — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — the Detroit Lions.
A couple of early things to note: first, many fans on message boards aplenty were screaming for the shiny new toys — wide receiver, linebacker, edge rusher, quarterback, in no particular order. While there were no shortages of those positions available when the Lions were on the clock at pick #7, that’s not how rebuilds work. The age-old addendum in football is you win by building through the trenches.
Building through the offensive and defensive lines is not a revolutionary concept to the Lions. In Matt Millen’s first draft, he drafted Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola, and Shaun Rogers with his first 3 picks. Backus was a reliable left tackle, Raiola, a center for a number of years, and Rogers, a defensive tackle who showed flashes before retiring. Bob Quinn’s first draft — offensive tackle Taylor Decker, defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, offensive guard Graham Glasgow. Decker just signed a 5-year extension with the Lions this off-season, while Robinson is no longer in the league and Glasgow is with the Denver Broncos. The list of reasons why both regimes failed would turn this blog post into an encyclopedia, so I won’t go there.
Second, this draft wasn’t sexy, because it didn’t need to be. General Manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell are seeking a specific type of player. Tough, gritty, hard-nosed, “come at us and we’ll kill you” type players — or, you know, bite their kneecaps off. For the first three picks of the draft, not only did they get the guys who fit those traits, but got several guys who were top prospects on many draft boards. Even though I, personally, saw this coming a mile away, very few people thought Penei Sewell would fall to the Lions at 7. Once Cincinnati took Ja’Marr Chase at 5, the door was opened. Sewell is a big dude. 6'5, 330 pounds, and he clears the way when he blocks. Let me tell anyone who’s listening right now — this was not a wide receiver or linebacker, obviously, but it was without a doubt the right move. Newly-anointed quarterback Jared Goff thrives when he has a running game behind him. How do you fix an abysmal running game? Offensive line. Also, it’s a hard to throw passes as a quarterback when you’re running for your life. How do you fix that? Again, offensive line. The move to get Sewell solidifies the right tackle side of the line, arguably the weakest spot along the line, which will also help play to Goff’s strength, the play-action pass.
The second round pick left a lot of fans scratching their heads. With fan favorite linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramorah of Notre Dame available, the Lions instead opted to go bigger and beefier on the defensive line, snagging defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike of Washington. “O”, as they call him, fits everything Holmes and Campbell were looking for. No offense to veteran tackles Nick Williams and DeShawn Hand, but their defensive line couldn’t stop anybody last season. Onwuzurike is also known as a “three-technique” defensive tackle, so he may see some time as an edge rusher as well, should the Lions want to get creative. If his NSFW media session that night is any indication, this is definitely a guy who will fit what the Lions want to do.
Following that, the Lions opened the third round with yet another defensive tackle. In a move that no one saw coming, Alim McNeill of NC State became a Lion with their first pick. While McNeill isn’t as beefy as Onwuzurike, he plays mean and physical, and the dude can run. Fun fact: he also played baseball, and was a running back too! That’s another trait Holmes and Co. were looking for — speed. And lots of it. The singular link between Sewell, Onwuzurike, and McNeill is that all of them can move. Reports surfaced today that McNeill was a player the Eagles were targeting should the Lions have passed. They picked immediately after the Lions. Having just selected Onwuzurike, the Eagles felt comfortable to drop to that spot, thinking the Lions were going to go elsewhere. Oops.
With their second pick of the third round, the compensatory pick they got from Kenny Golladay leaving, the Lions snagged cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu. Try saying that five times fast. The newest member of the Lions’ all-name team was standout corner at Syracuse, and will likely share some snaps opposite Jeff Okudah in his rookie season along with the veteran corner Amari Owuariye. Melifonwu makes the third Nigerian member of the Pride. Again, not a wide receiver or a linebacker, but still a great pickup. “Iffy”, as he’s called, has blazing speed and plays physical on any wide receiver you throw at him. His numbers won’t wow you, but he’ll make a big enough impact to be felt.
Enter day 3. Round 4, and finally, the Lions got their shiny new toy in the form of Amon-Ra St. Brown, wide receiver out of USC. St. Brown, whose brother Equenemius plays for the Arizona Cardinals, is a big, physical wide receiver who never missed a game in college. While many experts project that he will be a slot receiver on the Lions, he can replace the “come get me” balls that Kenny Golladay used to get. St. Brown is the son of a professional Mr. Universe bodybuilder, and, his mother at one time thought he wasn’t learning French properly, so they moved to Paris for a semester. This pick got the pride into a frenzy. I had been clamoring for them to grab St. Brown, and when the pick was announced, a collective sigh of relief, mixed with screams of happiness, could be heard in the air. The Lions, at last, could finally be proving once and for all that their front office actually has a brain.
Immediately following what some experts call “the steal of the draft” in St. Brown, the Lions were back on the clock again, after trading with the Browns to gain a 7th-round pick in the process. With this new ammunition, the Lions selected Derrick Barnes, a linebacker from Purdue. The tale of the tape on Barnes makes you giddy. A three-year starter at Purdue, monster season in 2019 in which he recorded 11 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, and a whopping 54 tackles in 2020 in just six games. Barnes can only play defensive end, so there’s little doubt he’ll have ample opportunity to blow up plays in the backfield as well as get to the quarterback, something the Lions had been sorely missing under the previous regime.
The seventh round pick is never really much to write home about, but once again the Lions valued speed and athleticism over a “perfect fit” guy. Jermar Jefferson, the running back from Oregon State the Lions took at pick #257, will get every chance to prove himself not just running the ball but special teams as well. Otherwise, if he doesn’t work out, no harm no foul.
I’ll close giving you this nugget to consider: The Lions are not drafting for 2021. We know they’re going to be terrible. As they should be. The worse they are, the higher the first-round picks they got in the Stafford trade. Oh, and there isn’t a whole ton of talent either. But that’s okay. It’s a rebuild. They’re drafting for the future. Guys who will sign that second contract on the cheap. Guys who will be around for five, maybe even ten, years, and be fixtures in the organization. The draft approach isn’t sexy, by any means, but for once in a long, long time, it makes sense. The true test will come in 2022.
