The Lions entered this weekend’s NFL Draft in search of a safety to help strengthen a secondary that ranked near the bottom of the league last season.
They got their guy: Kerby Joseph out of Illinois.
Detroit selected Joseph with the 97th overall pick Friday night after adding even more beef to the defensive line with Kentucky’s Joshua Paschal.
Joseph, listed at 6-1, 190 lbs., played four seasons at Illinois, but only started one year. And he made the most of it, breaking out last fall with takeaways in seven of the Illini's 12 games as he earned All-Big Ten honors. He posted five interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein says Joseph "lacks prototypical instincts as a single-high safety," but that might just be because of his lack of game time.
"He's fluid in space but needs to play with better anticipation. Joseph is missing the demeanor and tackle strength for the box and is likely to be viewed as less versatile than some other safeties in the class, but he has potential in single-high and split-safety alignments," Zierlein writes.
This pick continues the Lions’ trend of bolstering the defense this offseason. Prior to the addition of Joseph, Paschal and No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit signed former Ravens safety DeShon Elliott.
