Detroit Lions Mock Draft 3.0: Trading back in the first round

With the tenth overall pick in the NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select Micah Parsons.

After seeing four quarterbacks selected in succession to begin the draft, Lawrence, Wilson, Fields, and Lance are all off the board, followed by the Sewell to the Bengals and Chase to Miami; I’ve decided to trade down.

In recent weeks, the often outspoken Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner, has expressed his love for Kyle Pitts.  This makes swapping picks seven for ten easy an easy proposition; after some bickering, we’ve agreed the Lions will also receive the Cowboys’ second-round pick in 2022, plus the 75th overall pick in 2021.

This is a great deal for the Detroit Lions, who need to continue to secure future draft capital in ’21 plus ’22.

The trade market won’t be nearly as valuable for the Lions at seven as it would be for the Falcons at four; teams trading up for a quarterback most of the time are willing to spend a king’s ransom, but for a tight end, things won’t nearly be as lucrative for Holmes and company.

When I selected Parsons, the four top players also available were;  Rashawn Slater, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, and Jaycee Horn.

Micah Parsons is a do-it-all linebacker that projects to be a three-down linebacker at the NFL level immediately. He’s 6-foot-2, about 245-pound frame combined with elite tackling skills, overall athleticism, and his ability to diagnose and recognize a play allows Parsons to play both inside and out.

The Penn State product has the ability to play multiple positions at the second level of any defense.  He can play as an inside linebacker on first and second down, plus he can shift over to the edge on third down to rush the passer.

Parsons is the whole package and will immediately impact the Detroit Lions, who allowed a whopping 519 total points in 2020, which ranks second-worst in NFL history. Parsons opted out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, but he amassed 191 total tackles plus 6.5 sacks in two seasons with Penn State.

Of course, Holmes needs to do his due diligence surrounding Parsons’s past, but if it all ends up clear, and the franchise feels Parsons has matured enough; he’s a perfect pick tenth overall.