Detroit Lions: The perfect 3-round 2022 NFL Mock Draft 2.0

With the no. 2 overall pick, the Detroit Lions select Aidan Hutchinson.

I expect Michigan’s stellar edge-rusher Aidan Hutchinson to fall right into the lap of the Detroit Lions.

Hutchinson finished a memorable season with the Wolverines earning a spectacular overall grade of 94.5 courtesy of Pro Football Focus (PFF). Hutchinson recorded a team-high 14 sacks, 51 hurries, and nine hits over 794 defensive snaps.

The tremendous talent returned to Michigan for his senior season, hoping to inflate his draft stock after being limited to just three games last season due to injury, and there was the whole COVID-19 pandemic. First, there wasn’t going to be a season, and then the BIG Ten appeared late to the party by beginning their season far later than anyone else; if you recall, it was a complete mess.

I also assume in addition to elevating his stock, Hutchinson felt like there had been some unfinished business to attend to. Returning to Michigan allowed for one more crack at the schools’ archrival Ohio State. Michigan finally prevailed, slaying the dragon, eventually winning the Big Ten Title, and appeared in the College Football Playoff. However, Michigan’s season didn’t end the way Hutchinson and co. hoped it was without a doubt the best year the program had seen in a couple of decades.

I expect the Jacksonville Jaguars will be eager to protect their investment at quarterback by insulating him with a dominant young tackle. If my hunch is correct, the Jaguars will choose between Evan Neal or Ikem Ekwonu. This leaves the Detroit Lions with their preferred choice of edge-rusher between Hutchinson or Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Hutchinson’s success also contributed to David Ojabo’s stock vigorously rising throughout the year and settling as an expected top-15 draft choice.

Ojabo is raw, but a tremendous talent in his own right and, in my opinion making a brilliant choice coming out this season with the uncertainty of Jim Harbaugh’s future with the Wolverines and, more importantly, not having Hutchinson drawing a double-team rushing on the opposite side of the defense. Michigan is also expected to lose its defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to the Baltimore Ravens.

Change from version 1.0: None