When the Detroit Lions make their selection in the 2022 NFL draft, it will be after having gone through months of debate and deliberation both internally and externally.
The court of public opinion continues to swirl as it relates to what the team should do when they have the chance to pick, and former players even have an idea of what should or will happen when all is said and done come a few weeks time when the draft gets going.
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Former Lions offensive lineman T.J. Lang has been the latest to cast his vote, and he did so while joining the Pat McAfee Show. As Lang explained, the Lions may want to trade back, but without a bumper crop of can’t-miss prospects, the team may have to stay put. If they do, one of the top three defensive lineman could be the ticket.
“With the number two pick, look, in a perfect world, I think they’d like to trade out as most teams in the top five would. There’s just nobody really there at the top five where it’s worth giving up a bunch of picks for. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. I think they’re going to have a hard time trading out,” Lang said. “I think it’s got to be defensive. Look at the defensive ends that are probably going to be there. Hutchinson sounds like he’s probably going to go first. Then you got (Kayvon) Thibodeaux and even (Travon) Walker from Georgia that could be really good pass rushers in the league. I think with the Lions, it’s got to be one of those three guys.”
So far, most people believe the Lions will go with one of the edge rushers if at all possible early on. Many have believed the team could go with a cornerback or safety, and perhaps even a quarterback. Even such, it doesn’t seem like a great idea to bet on those posititons given the fact that the Lions could likely get a player on the front to play an immediate role for the team.
Dan Orlovsky Also Predicts Lions Draft for Defense
Another person who could be a little more tuned in than the average person to the process is former quarterback turned ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky. Orlovsky seems to understand and grasp what the Lions could be aiming to do, and that is why he took to Twitter to make an educated guess about what the Lions will do when all is said and done in a few weeks time with their top pick. As Orlovsky said, he thinks defensive
All DL—all in the 1st round. They were foundation of turning LAR around
With the 2nd pick—I’m willing to bet the house DET goes DL
“Brad Holmes the Lions GM was with the Rams when they took, in the matter of a 5 year span: Chris Long, Robert Quinn, Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers. All DL. All in the first-round. They were foundation of turning LAR around. With the second pick, I’m willing to bet the house DET goes DL,” Orlovsky tweeted.
The point Orlovsky makes is a good one, and one of the last times the Lions grabbed a top defensive lineman with a top five pick it worked out well in the form of Ndamukong Suh. Such a player poised for a similar impact could be had this year, either in the form of Aidan Hutchinson, Kayvon Thibodeaux or Travon Walker. Any of those players could be in play when the Lions select, and all could be seen as elite options to help in building Detroit’s defense.
Orlovsky was on a team with Suh and seems to understand that Holmes will know the key to sustained success revolves around the team’s ability to get after it in the trenches. To that end, he would likely agree with Lang’s take on what should happen in the draft.
Lang Believes Lions’ Defense Needs Edge Rush
Why would a defensive lineman help Detroit in such a big way? As Lang sees it, the team isn’t that far off from competing at all given the way their defense played in 2021. As he admitted to McAfee, the Lions did stay in games by virtue of their defense, which was better than lots of people thought.
In spite of that, Lang knows that Detroit’s defense has a key to a turnaround, and it involves getting after it up front with some elite pass rushers.
“The defense wasn’t horrible last year. They played pretty solid ball for the majority of the season. There was a stretch midseason where they were holding teams to 17, 16, 19 points,” Lang said to McAfee. “You play that kind of defense in the NFL you should at least be a .500 team, right? That was the glaring weakness last year was the ability to generate a pass rush, especially late in the games. They had a chance to win a couple of those late games, Baltimore, Minnesota, where if they get one stop, the game’s over. They couldn’t do that so I think with the first pick, second pick, it’s got to be defensive line, edge rush type of guy.”
It feels as if the team could be trending in this direction when all is said and done. If that’s how it plays out, it could be to the team’s benefit overall.
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