As the clock continues to tick on the 2022 NFL draft and intelligence continues to make the rounds, it continues to be clear that folks may have no idea exactly what the Detroit Lions plan to do.
Whereas one person has a feeling the team will make one move, another analyst will come out and say some variation of the opposite. At this point in time, it’s the simple reality for the Lions, as they seem to be one of the teams that could theoretically do anything when the NFL draft rolls around.
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Winds of change seem to be blowing harder by the day for the team, and within a new NFL.com mock draft by Lance Zierlein, an intriguing point was brought up regarding what the team might choose to do and what moves they could make coming up soon.
Zierlien had the Lions going with Aidan Hutchinson with their second-overall pick, and when 32 came on the board, he had the team picking up Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral. That prediction came with a caveat, however. Zierlien thinks the Lions could still trade up further into round one if they like a quarterback.
“I have a funny feeling that the Lions may get frisky and jump up the board for a QB at some point, but if they sit tight, Corral has plenty of talent to become their future starter,” he wrote in the mock.
While Corral could be in the mix and did flash talent, there are others who could be targeted in a trade up, such as Malik Willis and Kenny Pickett, either of whom could go in the middle of the first-round.
Would the Lions cough up assets for a quarterback at this point of their rebuild given needs on defense? It’s hard to say, but some still see the move as very possible in the end for the team.
How Lions Could Deal Upward for Quarterback
Who could the Lions look at in the draft for quarterback in 2022 if they chose trade up? There are plenty of options for the team, and that’s especially true after the Lions watched the Senior Bowl and NFL combine in the last few months. Corral is just one of the names that could be targeted. Pre-draft, the Lions have seen the likes of Pickett, Sam Howell, Willis, Corral and Desmond Ridder excel. Any of those players could be early picks for the team, and while some make more sense than others, the Lions could conceivably roll the dice on one of these names if they are happy with how they can develop in the future. With the 32 pick in the draft, the Lions could trade upward with a package if they like one of these options.
Detroit doesn’t have to panic and make a move at quarterback, of course. Jared Goff is the likely starter in 2022, which helps the Lions in a big way. The team can select a quarterback if they find one they like and believe in, but they don’t have to make a sudden move whatsoever and take a player they aren’t sure about for the future, which means they do not need to cough up many assets in order to come all the way up the board for an unproven player. With this in mind, the team could simply bide their time until 2023 and what experts feel now is a stronger class overall at the position.
Mel Kiper Jr. Believes Lions Skip Quarterback Move
Do some people think the Lions will avoid a move at quarterback in the draft? Many believe that to be so, including some of the experts. Such was the case in ESPN guru Mel Kiper Jr.’s recent iteration of his two-round mock draft in an insider piece. Within that mock, he had Detroit making three selections, but different than prior mocks, he did not have Detroit going with a quarterback at all. That outcome is not a shock for Kiper, who wrote within one of his write-ups that intelligence seems to suggest the Lions won’t be in a rush to grab a quarterback in 2022 after all.
“The more I talk to people in the league, the more I think the Lions will stand pat on a quarterback with their three picks in the top 34,” Kiper wrote within the mock piece.
That revelation is quite big at this stage of the game, but it only stands to prove how split everyone is. While some believe the Lions will stay put like Kiper, others think the team will make a move forward at the position like Zierlein.
The countdown to the draft and finding out about all of this is officially on.
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