Getty Will Anderson Jr. celebrates a 2022 touchdown for Alabama.
With two picks in the first-round of the 2023 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions are a team that could be open for business.
The Lions could stick at both spots, or as some have written, could trade back from one of the spots and attempt to gain even more assets to help their rebuild continue this offseason.
Thus far, trading up hasn’t been completely on the menu, but what if the Lions could move forward modestly from the sixth-overall pick in order to gain access to a top defender? Such a move might have to be explored relative to what the Lions are building at this point in time.
The Arizona Cardinals might have the third-overall pick up for grabs in the draft, which means teams can begin pondering their pitches for deals.
According to Bleacher Report and writer Kristopher Knox, the Lions should be a team that is interested in moving forward in the draft to that position. Knox recently ranked six of the teams that could trade up for the spot. The Lions came in low on the list at fifth, but Knox sees the potential for a deal given the team’s need for defensive impact players.
“What if Detroit could also add the best defensive prospect in this year’s draft? It could happen if the Lions are able to ensure that the Cardinals and the Seahawks don’t get him first. With the first two selections almost guaranteed to be quarterbacks, prospects like Alabama pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr.—the top-ranked prospect on the Bleacher Report Scouting Department’s big board—will be available at No. 3. Detroit could have its pick of defensive prospects by moving up a mere three spots,” Knox wrote in the piece.
As Knox points out, a move to join Anderson with Aidan Hutchinson could be a potential game-changer for the Lions in the trenches, and allow the team to harass opposing quarterbacks in a very dramatic way.
“Pairing a prospect like Anderson with 2022 second overall pick Aidan Hutchinson would give Detroit two legitimate difference-makers on its new-look defense,” he wrote within his analysis.
In addition to Anderson, the Lions could also decide on trading up for Jalen Carter, who many have linked to the Seattle Seahawks, a team picking just ahead of Detroit at fifth-overall. A defensive tackle could be a bigger need for the Lions relative to what the team has on the edge with veterans like Romeo Okwara and Charles Harris in addition to Hutchinson and 2022 sixth-round phenom James Houston.
Either Anderson or Carter would substantially change the look of the Lions defense, and allow them some major extra punch in the trenches. The Lions also traded a first, second and third-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings to move up to pick 12 last year for Jameson Williams. They also gained a second-round pick in the deal.
The team saw Williams as a game-changer for their offense and made a move. That shows them as a team willing to make a jump up when they feel they need to for the right prospect. Trading up only three spots may not have that drastic of a cost.
While many think the team will look to move down first, don’t forget about this potential trade up scenario for the Lions if they wish to get aggressive toward filling out a major need.
Trading up for Top Lineman Interesting Idea for Lions
Detroit’s defense has been beefed up this offseason on the back end, as the Lions have added Cameron Sutton, Emmanuel Moseley and C.J. Gardner-Johnson to a once-woeful backfield.
Those moves have smartly helped to fortify a group that was very weak on paper. Outside of adding in-house free agents like Isaiah Buggs and John Cominsky, however, the team’s defensive line hasn’t seen any outside additions. That is in spite of the team reportedly being in the mix for Calais Campbell, who signed in Atlanta.
This points to the Lions perhaps being interested for defensive lineman, and if three picks stood in the way between the Lions ensuring themselves landing Anderson or Carter, it would have to be a move the team should explore relative to being able to improve for the future.
Detroit ended 2022 terribly with regards to run defense, having allowed 2,491 yards on the ground and over 146 yards per-game, which placed at 29th in the league. Fortifying the defensive line further to help improve upon that could end up being good business for the team.
Will Anderson Jr’s College Stats & Highlights
As for Anderson, he’s not a player who has seen much love in the process for Detroit. The reasoning? Most don’t figure he would be available to the team, as he has been slated to land safely within the top five.
If he is available, though, Anderson seems like a very plausible pick for the Lions given the team’s needs on defense. He has been a game wrecker in college while playing for the Crimson Tide, and that includes his final season with the team in 2022.
The defender has taken on the look of one of the most fearsome pass rushers in the college game in short order, and his production has been incredible on the field statistically.
During his recent two-year career with Alabama, Anderson put up some eye-popping totals coming into 2022, namely 153 tackles, 24.5 sacks and 41.5 tackles for loss. All of that work led to the player taking home major hardware, namely the Bronko Nagurski Award and 2021 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Here’s some of his top highlights so far:
Anderson enjoyed a solid junior season, putting up 51 tackles, 10 sacks and one interception. That work along with his pre-draft testing is almost certain to lead to a top draft selection in 2023.
Whether the Lions would trade up to land Anderson remains to be seen, but the point stands that the team could always ponder moving up for the best defensive prospect in the draft.