Detroit Lions: What should Bob Quinn do with the third overall pick?
By Bob Heyrman
Bob Quinn has an opportunity to finally change the direction of a franchise that’s historically struggled particularly in evaluating draft talent. The Detroit Lions would be very wise to trade out of the third pick overall.
The Detroit Lions currently sit in a tremendous spot having the third overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft. The Cincinnati Bengals own the first overall pick and by all accounts will be selecting Ohio native and LSU quarterback Joe Burrow to be their franchise quarterback.
The Washington Redskins currently sit with the second overall pick. They are expected to select Ohio State’s pass-rushing phenom Chase Young. Young is, without a doubt, the top talent in the entire draft.
Still, in a quarterback-driven league, the Bengals have no option but to pass on Young or commit to Andy Dalton for another season and finish with the first-pick overall next year and select a quarterback then. It doesn’t sound all that bad when you say it out loud; they could end up with Chase Young and Trevor Lawrence in consecutive drafts. It won’t happen, but if I were a Bengals fan it’s something I’d be lobbying for my organization to do.
That being said, we should still expect Cinci to select Burrow leaving Young to Washington. I tried to talk out a scenario where the Redskins decided to pick Tua Tagovailoa second overall and it may have happened if Dan Snyder decided to retain head coach Jay Gruden for another year.
The Redskins recently hired former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera. He’s a defensive-minded head coach who’s churned out a top defense year after year behind the stellar play of linebackers Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly.
Before his stop in Carolina, Rivera called a dominant Bears defense. At the same time, Lovie Smith was in charge en route to a Super Bowl appearance against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. The Bears defense was led by Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, along with Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman. It was a defense that carried a terrible Bears offense to the Super Bowl. Don’t forget Chicago’s offense consisted of Rex Grossman at quarterback, Thomas Davis at running back along with Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad as the teams’ starting receivers. Yikes.
Being a defensive-minded guy, there is no chance Ron Rivera passes on Chase Young even though rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins looked completely lost under center last season. Young is his Julius Peppers and I’m sure Rivera hopes Alex Smith can return as the teams’ starter next season after suffering a gruesome leg injury two-seasons ago.
But don’t completely rule out the Redskins trading back.
That leaves the Detroit Lions with plenty of options picking third overall. Let’s explore Bob Quinn’s options;