Mailbag Time!

Mailbag Time! (#1)

Information that influences my takes pulled from: nflmockdraftdatabase.com and detroitlionspodcast.com

Welcome to my first ever mailbag, and thanks to those of you who submitted questions. When I put out my request for questions I asked the following: What are you wondering about the Lions heading into the 2026 NFL Draft?

Sam asks: “Will the Lions use the draft or free agency to fix the OL? Going with known veterans or trusting the scout team?”

A critical question for the Lions future, and I think the answer lies between the two options. The first thing that came to mind was a while back when I dug in on offensive tackle. I remember looking at the free agency class of tackles, and to say the least, it is thin. I think if Taylor Decker retires this offseason (I would venture to guess the Lions already know if he will) that they will spend their first round pick on an offensive tackle. The draft does have quality day two tackles (per Jeff Risdon of Detroit Lions podcast) but I think they will go that way in round one. They may opt to go that way even if Taylor Decker stays, and have his replacement and backup in place for year one. As far as the interior offensive line, I feel we will get a starting guard in free agency, a known commodity. For center, I think they are going to move Ratledge to center. And I think we likely see a 3rd, 4th or 5th round guard picked up.

MCBC asks: “What’s the wildcard pick of this draft? There’s always one where we go… wait… what?”

This is a hard one, so I am not going to zero in as much on players as that could go so many ways. However I will zero in on a position. When the draft starts to come to (round 5, 6) we see Brad often lean into the best player available on his board. The most value. Let’s be honest, the likelihood of these hitting outside of special teams is low. So, if I had to guess I am going to say a late round QB, one who can operate the Lions offense, but has more athleticism than Goff. Now let me be clear, I expect this to be our scout team QB to start, if not just a camp arm. When I say run the Lions offense, perhaps a lesser quality arm but with good accuracy. Just thinking out loud. The Lions are quality drafters. I get Hendon Hooker was a bust, but I don’t think Brad is going to play scared. Side note, I could see us go safety deep as well, given Brad’s track record with safeties over his whole career.

Cooke asks: “Do we draft a FS if one is available that the Lions that the Lions front office like even though Brian Branch could be back late in the season. Not in the first round, but 2nd - 6th.

I think it is possible that we draft a safety late per my comment above. Brad is good at scouting safeties and may be able to find the Lions someone who is a diamond in the rough with little to no risk. If he works out, its depth, if not, it’s a low end draft pick we miss on which is common in the league.. However, I again heard a take from Jeff Risdon at Detroit Lions Podcast that has stuck with me. He made the argument of signing a veteran ring seeker to a one year deal, and letting Brian Branch take his time coming back to ensure this doesn’t become a chronic injury. Not only would this do right by the player, it takes the pressure off his back. If the veteran likes the team it could even lead to more depth. It’s a win, win, win.

Thanks for the responses, and as always, Let’s go Lions!