The Detroit Lions, having finished the 2023-24 regular season with an incredible 12-5 record and losing in the NFC Championship by three points, have shown that they are capable of becoming the Super Bowl winner next year in New Orleans. However, a lot of moves must be made for this to happen.
Free Agent Moves:
With a lot of players going into free agency this year, a lot of defensive moves could be made for the Detroit Lions. The Lions need to be looking into players to fulfill the safety position and improve the defensive line as well.
The Lions will want to sign some key defensive free agents. Having 50.343 million dollars in cap space, they have a decent amount of room they can work with. Some good defensive linemen that the Lions can get could be Christian Wilkins, D.J. Reader, or Calais Campbell. All players are really good defensive linemen and they wouldn’t make a massive dent in the cap space. The Lions should probably focus on trying to obtain D.J. Reader since he’s a very good pass rusher at the interior defensive line position and honestly could improve the defensive line a lot. But it isn’t too promising since he states how he wants to stay in Cincinnati and play a healthy season on the Bengals this 2024-25 season.
Now looking more into the safety/secondary players that are entering the free agents that the Lions should look at, they will need to make many changes. Recently the Lions had released six-year safety Tracy Walker, and I believe they need to try trading or releasing more players. While many people say that Cameron Sutton was the biggest issue, they’re not entirely right; Cameron Sutton was tied for 12th in targets by quarterbacks this season with 89 targets. I feel that if Cameron Sutton were to become a second or third-string cornerback due to signing or drafting new cornerbacks, he could probably make himself a decent Cornerback two.
Draft Choices:
With the Lions possessing seven picks in this upcoming 2024 NFL Draft, a small mock draft could be made, I will be going over my mock draft and explaining why each player would help out.
Some players in certain positions the Lions will need are interior offensive linemen due to the impending free agency of Graham Glasgow and Jonah Jackson, not only that but the Lions will need players to play at the secondary positions, such as cornerback and safety. And finally, the Lions will be searching for a Wide receiver just to improve the position’s depth on the roster.
For the first-round pick, 29th overall. I have the Lions taking Kamari Lassiter, CB from Georgia, In coverage, he’s shown consistency in man coverage but he also looks comfortable in zone coverage with Cover-three responsibilities. That’s incredibly important as the Lions primarily run Cover one and Cover three on defense. Which is why I believe the Lions should take him as their first pick.
With the second pick for the Lions, the 61st overall pick. The Lions will want to take some sort of a defensive lineman, Which is why I believe they will take Braden Fiske, Defensive Tackle from Florida State. Braden Fiske is a good pass rusher and run stopper as an interior defensive lineman, but if he is to be paired with somebody like Alim McNeil, It’s a very promising look for the Seminole in the Lions defense. Alongside Braden Fiske, the Lions could potentially select an Edge Rusher who could improve the Defensive Line and make the Lions an even scarier team next year. This is why I believe the Lions should select Jonah Elliss, a Defensive End from Utah. Having a really good amount of pass rush moves he could be a really good duo for Aidan Hutchinson and could show his 12.5 sack season at Utah off at Detroit.
For the 92nd overall pick, the Lions should select Johnny Wilson, a 6’7 receiver who served as a second option to elite FSU receiver Keon Coleman. His size would be a big difference in the Lions receiving core and could make it more diverse as well with his size.
162nd overall pick, the Lions should select Dylan McMahon, Center N.C. State. Since Interior Offensive Linemen tend to go in later rounds McMahon would be an incredible addition, since he will also be able to move around as star player Frank Ragnow did. But he can also learn behind the best Offensive Line the Lions have ever seen.
And with the 206th overall pick, the Lions will select another Offensive Lineman Ethan Driskell, Marshall. With a massive body, the young player could also learn how to grow into an even more incredible player in this Lions Offense and develop over time.
And finally, with the 246th overall pick; the Lions will be getting a new kicker to replace their kicker and solve the kicker situation in Detroit, Will Reichard, Alabama, kicker. Of course, there’s not as much to say about kickers as there are with other players on this story. But Will Reichard was among the best of the kickers in the NCAA this year, going 22-25 with a long of 52 yards on his field goal. Not only that but Reichard set t the NCAA record for career points and hit ten field goals of 50 yards or longer.
Summary:
The Lions have a bit of work to do before we can see them in New Orleans this year, but if they play their cards right, they just might be filling this Saints stadium with a whole lotta blue and a whole lotta grit.
