Detroit Lions Draft: Ohio State’s Jonah Jackson expected to start

Detroit Lions General Manager (GM) Bob Quinn continues to fill roster needs, this time by moving up ten draft spots in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts for Ohio State’s starting guard Jonah Jackson.

Again, not the guard I would have targeted, but who am I.  I am just a writer.  The Detroit Lions needed to address their offensive line and moved up ten spots from 85 to 75 in a trade with the Colts to draft guard Jonah Jackson from Ohio State.

With the Detroit Lions set to start the season with Joe Dahl and Kenny Wiggins as the team’s starting guards, it was a position that desperately needed to be addressed.  The Lions moved picks 85, 149, and 182 in exchange for pick(s) 75 and 197.

For what it’s worth, NFL analyst Cris Collinsworth had projected Jackson as being a late first-round pick in his final mock draft.  Collinsworth originally had Jackson landing with the 49ers at 31.  He states Jackson’s run-blocking ability leaves much to desire but is a stellar pass protector.  While it would be nice to have a mauler opening up gaping holes for newly added rookie runner D’Andre Swift, adding a premier pass-blocker isn’t all that bad, especially when the starting quarterback has a history of having a broken back.

I held out hope the Detroit Lions were going to select either Ben Bredeson or Tyler Biadasz, but I hold out hope that Jackson, who vastly improved as the year grew old last season with the Buckeyes blocking for J.K. Dobbins.

At the NFL Combine, Jackson completed 28 bench-press reps, ran a 5.23 40-yard dash.  Jackson spent the first four years of his collegiate career with Rutgers, and with one year of eligibility left, he decided to transfer to Ohio State as a grad transfer.  Jackson is versatile; he primarily started as the teams left guard last season but also spent time at center and right guard throughout his college career.

The Detroit Lions desperately needed to improve their offensive line; I expect Detroit to draft at least one more lineman to compete for a starting job this season.