Another day, another mock draft.
If
this one left you punching the wall,
this one might leave you jumping for joy. The first part, anyway. It's courtesy of
CBS Sports, and it involves two first-round picks for Detroit.
We start, as usual, with the Bengals taking Joe Burrow. Then things begin to get whacky.
The Redskins take Tua Tagovailoa No. 2, leaving the Lions with the pick of the litter on defense at No. 3. They pounce on Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young over the likes of Ohio State CB Jeffrey Okudah and Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons. That's part one:
"The Lions have a terrible defense (28th by DVOA, to be specific). The good news is that the Redskins' decision to take Tua frees up the best defensive player in the draft for the Lions. This is a no-brainer, unless someone offers a haul to move up for Young."
But the Lions aren't finished. They trade back into the first round by acquiring the No. 31 pick from San Francisco -- and proceed to draft Matthew Stafford's potential successor, Washington QB Jacob Eason:
"This is still Matthew Stafford's team. But Stafford's cap hit climbs to $33 million in 2021. And his timeline probably doesn't fit the Lions' window. Stafford can start in 2020 while Eason waits his turn. There's a chance Eason would be available at No. 35, but the Lions don't risk another team taking him ahead of them."
The terms of the trade aren't laid out, but it's safe to assume the Lions would send the 35th overall pick and one of their two third-rounders to San Fran.
Eason, a transfer from Georgia, completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 3,132 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight picks last season. In a QB-heavy draft class, he's considered a fringe top-five prospect at his position. Per
CBS Sports, the 6'6 gunslinger "looks the part of a prototypical NFL QB" and "can make every throw."
The caveat is that the Lions just signed Chase Daniel to be their backup QB for the next three years. So they'd likely have to carry three quarterbacks on their active roster if they were to draft someone like Eason.
But with a Stafford trade more feasible (i.e. less impossible) next offseason, maybe this scenario isn't out of the question.
