New Top Defender Surfacing at Senior Bowl for Lions Draft

Javon Kinlaw

Getty Javon Kinlaw prior to a game in 2019.

The Senior Bowl is all about discovering the next wave of NFL talent, and the Detroit Lions are in great shape to do just that this week while coaching in the game.

So far, there’s been a few players standing out during practice for teams, and one is a defender at a spot of need that Detroit could target. South Carolina defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw has been opening eyes in recent days, and the Lions could be a team that considers him highly given their need for defensive help up front.

As Chris Burke of The Athletic explained, Kinlaw has been having a great week, and that could lead the Lions to look at both him and Derrick Brown of Auburn for their defensive line considering the major need they have there for 2020.

Would the Lions take Kinlaw that high in the first round? It depends on if they were able to trade back a bit. If they were, they might be able to grab a defensive difference maker for the line and not feel anxious about the pick coming so high.

Kinlaw’s Senior Bowl week is over with a bulky knee, but it’s clear he already has done enough to grab the attention of plenty of folks. He could be expected to be a first round talent.


Javon Kinlaw Biography

in three years with South Carolina, Kinlaw put up 82 tackles, 10 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, and 8 passes defended. He also collected 17 tackles for loss. At 6-6 and 310, Kinlaw clearly has the body and physical skills to be able to project as a top player at the next level.

More than that, Kinlaw is an impressive young man on the field and off. His story is one of rags to riches given the upbringing he had, and it’s clearly amazing he has made it this far. Kinlaw’s family bounced around and he had little in the way of means growing up, something he explained this week.

“At a young age, we just thought that was normal. That’s how we were living, We didn’t know how everyone else was living. We was cool with that, especially me. Now that I look back at it, it was tough, man. Made me a man at a young age. Grew up early. But I didn’t think it was that bad,” he said.

Clearly, Kinlaw is going to have one of the better stories in the 2020 NFL Draft with this in mind.


Lions Biggest 2020 NFL Draft Need is Defensive End

Nabbing a player like Kinlaw would make sense for Detroit given the struggles they have had on defense lately. In 2018 and 2019, they could not pressure the quarterback and that is a glaring problem. Part of the problem has been injury, but beyond Trey Flowers and Da’Shawn Hand, the Lions simply don’t have any young building blocks they can count on right now. The team has to find some form of consistency in the trenches, and that is why it’s a major need for them moving forward.

If the draft were held today, the Lions would have to target some type of defensive end or pass rush specialist highly, and Chase Young would be the top option if he were there. Without a few impact players here in 2020, it’s tough to imagine the Lions turning their defensive fortunes around.

In the event Young wasn’t on the board, the Lions would likely be content to grab Jeffrey Okudah. While defensive end is the biggest need on the team, cornerback isn’t far behind. Detroit’s backfield has been searching in vain for another top flight cornerback for some time, and Okudah could give them just the right mix at the spot.

A rising star like Kinlaw or Brown would be interesting for the Lions, and could go a long way to solving some of their biggest defensive problems left over from 2019.

At this point, the only question will be how highly the Lions rate Kinlaw, and where he ends up slotting himself on their draft board.

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