Draft Prospect Deep Dive

Data for this article was provided by my friend Sam, the 2026 Consensus Draft Big Board at nflmockdraftdatabase.com, nfl.com rankings, Wikipedia.org for ages, and Youtube.com for tape.

Last night I realized the Combine is nearly upon us, and I need to dive more into some of the prospects for this year’s draft. However this has always seemed like a herculean task for me. There are so many, how do you narrow them down? Thankfully I have a good community of draftniks around me, and I reached out to one of them (my friend Sam). My request for him was to give me 5-6 prospects of random position and round ranking so that I could explore new prospects and bring it to my readers. With that, let’s dive into what some of these talented young men have to offer the Detroit Lions.

Emmanuel Pregnon, Interior Offensive Line - Oregon, 6’5 320lbs, Consensus Draft Board Round: 1-2 (Technically 2, but pick 37, so he is creeping into the 1st round)

Spending a little bit of time watching Emmanuel Pregnon’s tape, there’s no question why his draft stock has improved. Sudden and violent are the two words that jumped out to me, but not at the expense of his assignment. I watched snap after snap of him pushing defensive linemen back, or blocking immediately, and quickly shifting to another block. This makes me think not only is he strong, but he packs a fair amount of agility. A few weeks back I did some comparisons to schemes on offensive lines as well, and it appears that Oregon is a pretty good match for the Lions scheme (I mean we have one high performing duck already). The biggest concern came as I explored the prospect, I couldn’t seem to find his age. I am a little trigger shy with guys who have age questions (see Ziggy Ansah), however overall I think he would be a fine fit for the Lions.

Dillon Thieneman, Age 21, Safety - Oregon, 6’0” 205lbs, Consensus Draft Board Round: 2

Before I even watched Dillon Thieneman’s tape, I was struck by his production: 306 tackles, 8 interceptions. The Lions love a sure tackler who can defend the run, the Lions love guys who swarm to the ball, the Lions love ball hawks. I think he safely checks the boxes for all of these. Brad Holmes has a knack for finding good safeties, and I could see this young man falling right in line with what Brad likes. However, I think he will be appreciated by many teams.

Davison Igbinosun, Age 22, Cornerback - Ohio State - 6’2” 193lbs Consensus Draft Board Round: 3

Stop me if you’ve heard me say this before, the Lions love defensive backs that play the run well, have ball skills, and can tackle. As I was watching some plays from Davison Igbinosun, I noticed him playing the run and breaking up passes, over and over and over. He seems to have a very good grasp on what is required of playing cornerback. However as a Lions fan I have to take a pause again at a cornerback coming out of Ohio State after the Okudah situation. That all said, I don’t think he is an Okudah, and that was most certainly an oddity. One more positive thing I found was he has started 53 games in his college career. NFL.com uses the word “Iron Man” to describe him. The Lions defensive backfield could certainly use a dependable cornerback given injuries over the last few years.

Caden Curry, Age 22, Defensive End - Ohio State - 6’3” 260lbs Consensus Draft Board Round: 5

Looking at the stats from 2025, it certainly shows production: 66 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks. For a 5th round pick this looks pretty good. Looking back at his production it hasn’t been on this level for long, but he seems like he has potentially broken out and wants to take advantage of that by declaring for the draft. Tape looked ok to me, not crazy explosive, but we are talking about a potential 5th round pick. While he seems to be a good option late, I will hold to see what his athletic numbers show at the combine and pair that with his production and make my final judgment.

Max Llewellyn, Age 27, Defensive End - Iowa - 6’5” 263lbs Consensus Draft Board Round: 5

Max Llewellyn seems to be the standard later round edge. He seems to have a fair amount of production over the last 3 years. One of the biggest things that may hold him down is his age. My concern is that he may only have one NFL contract in him. I think the Lions are still looking to find that edge opposite hutch (perhaps it is Al-Quadin Muhammad), but also the depth. Max could be depth, but for how long? How much tread is left on his tires? Watching his tape it seems like he has a decent burst off the line, but not great. He does seem agile and uses the spin move quite a bit, and is successful in doing so, however I have concerns about the blockers who were blocking him. A number of them didn’t seem over engaged in stopping him. He is an intriguing pick for sure, and in the 5th round perhaps there is value. For lack of better wording, he doesn’t knock my socks off.

So who has a good chance to end up on the Lions?

If I had to pick 3 of these players for the Lions to draft, I would probably go this route. Emmanuel Pregnon would help shore up the interior offensive line and looks like he fits what the Lions do, so he would be my 1st. 2nd would be Dillon Thieneman out of pure need. You draft Dillon, you sign a free agent safety, and with some luck we can overcome the injuries in the safety room. Finally, I would choose Caden Curry even before his numbers come in, as I feel of the two edges he is the more likely player to stick on the roster.

Let me know what you think, leave comments below! As always, let’s go Lions!!