Getty Kayvon Thibodeaux speaks after the NFL combine in 2022.
The Detroit Lions have some big decisions to make in the coming hours about what players to consider or even select in the NFL draft, and some surprises could be around the bend for the team.
One move some might see as surprising would be Kayvon Thibodeaux to Detroit. The prospect has been rumored to be potentially not in favor of the decision makers in Motown, while hints pre-draft tipped otherwise given a large pro day presence for the team. Now, a concrete answer may have emerged late in the process.
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On the heels of reports the Lions are ‘smitten’ with Thibodeaux courtesy of Peter King comes a new hint from NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo. According to Garafolo, Thibodeaux’s best shot is to go top two is to Detroit and he may not make it out of the top five.
“His best shot to go early is to the Lions at 2. And he’s certainly in play there. I’d be floored if he goes to the Jets at 4,” Garafolo tweeted.
Add it all up and the smoke on Thibodeaux being picked by Detroit is certainly billowing. The team seems to like him enough to make him an early pick on Thursday, but only time will tell if it happens.
Draft Analyst Thinks Lions Should ‘Run up Card’ For Thibodeaux
Specifically, if the Lions have to choose between a couple of elite pass rushers in Aidan Hutchinson and Thibododeaux, they will win no matter who is left over. That’s according to Bucky Brooks of NFL.com. Recently, Brooks went on the Move the Sticks podcast and discussed with Daniel Jeremiah a situation in which the Lions have a choice between the players.
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“I think they can’t go wrong. When you look at this team, the number one thing that we learn as scouts and evaluators, you have to build this team to win the division. When you think about the division, the team you are chasing is the Green Bay Packers, who have one of the best quarterbacks we’ve seen in our lifetime in Aaron Rodgers. What can you do to knock him around? The best thing you can do is have a pass rush that will enable you to rush four and drop seven in coverage,” Brooks said. “The only way the Lions can do that is have an explosive athlete, a dynamic player off the edge. Whether it’s Aidan Hutchinson or Kayvon Thibodeaux. Whoever’s left based on what the Jaguars do at one, they need to run in the card because that player is going to give them a chance to knock the quarterback down and that gives them a chance to close the gap on the division rivals.”
Detroit’s defensive front collected only 30 sacks in 2021 and finding more consistency in the trenches needs to be a huge focus of the team. With an elite pass rusher, Detroit’s defense could take a leap forward in the future and do more things well on the field. To that end, Brooks is right that the Lions might have to prioritize one of those elite players early on.
One of the two is likely to be available, and if both were, the Lions would have an even bigger decision to make.
Sentiment Shifting Back Favoring Thibodeaux During Process
When the pre-draft process started for the Lions, many figured that the team would have their choice of either Michigan edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson or Thibodeaux from Oregon. As many saw it at the time, those players represented the top two in the entire 2022 class, and it wasn’t particularly close. As the process moved on, though, questions about Thibodeaux’s production and play surfaced, which made it so that the prospect slipped more than a bit in the minds of many mock drafts. As a result, many had him not being selected in the top two, but rather slipping into the top five and beyond.
Since, though, it seems as if there has been an about-face on Thibodeaux. The Lions have been zeroing in on him late in the draft, and it seems he is firmly in play to be selected by the team high in the draft. The more intelligence leaks out, the more possible it seems to be.
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