Reality is rebuilding Lions will need to find more prospects throughout the NFL Draft


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It seems as though there isn’t a Detroit Lions’ fan within a 100-mile radius of Ford Field that doesn’t want the club to land University of Michigan standout defensive end Aidan Hutchinson with the second pick overall in Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft.

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That could still very well happen, but the reality is the Jacksonville Jaguars hold the No. 1 pick overall and while the club has been very secretive about its selection, Hutchinson is one of a handful of players tied to the top pick.

“You better have your top five,” Lions’ general manager Brad Holmes said of his thought process. “You better have your top 10 in places because you just don’t know what’s going to happen each day.

“We do have it narrowed down and we feel confident where we’re at with how we have it paired down. We’ll just let it play out.”

While a potential player that can pressure quarterbacks on a consistent basis would be helpful to a Detroit team that struggled in that department, the reality is the club is still in a rebuilding phase and there are plenty of holes coming off a 3-13-1 campaign.

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That’s why names like Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton and even Liberty two-way quarterback threat Malik Willis, which both seem like a reach that high in the draft, have been connected to the Lions.

“Well, I’ll keep it consistent,” Holmes said. “I’ve been saying all along that we’re looking for a game-changer at that pick and, really, at any pick, and I said all positions.

“So, if that position is quarterback, then it’s a quarterback just because often it’s been slated that potential game-changers could be there in the future.”

It’s unlikely the Lions will move out of the No. 2 spot with deals often difficult to finalize at the top of the board. However, the Lions do have the final pick in the first round, which came from the Los Angeles Rams in the deal for Super Bowl-winning quarterback Matthew Stafford.

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First-round picks can be signed for up to five seasons, which isn’t the case for the remaining rounds. If a team is looking to make an investment for a longer term, which often happens with a quarterback, that final pick of the opening round could be very enticing.

“If you pick a quarterback there at 32, obviously yeah, you do have that fifth-year option,” Holmes said. “Is there a team that is sitting right at the top of the second round or the middle of the second round that would want to trade up in front of us to pick a quarterback? There is value there.”

The Lions also have the Rams’ top pick in 2023 and adding more assets for the future is something that appeals to Holmes.

“With what Dan (Campbell, the club’s head coach) and I have been trying to build here, you want to have future capital,” Holmes said. “We have that already for the 2023 draft. If we’re in the position where we can add even more future capital, that just kind of makes things better. A little bit more optimism, you could say, for the future.”

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The Lions will have the second pick in the second round at No. 34 with a pair of selections in the third round at No. 66 and No. 97.

The team has no pick in the fourth round or seventh round, but has the 177th overall pick, in the fifth round, and will select twice in the sixth round with pick No. 181 and pick No. 217 overall.

Holmes has shown an ability to find late-round value. Leading receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was a fourth-round pick going 112th overall and six of Detroit’s seven selections a year ago made it into the starting lineup. Another six undrafted free agents also started at some point and there’s one thing Holmes is always on the lookout for.

“Well, football character is, like you said, extremely high on our list of standards, especially being gritty and having grit and wanting to persevere and overcome,” said Holmes, who heads into his second draft with the Lions looking to continue the building process.

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