The messaging has been pretty consistent leading up to the NFL Draft: quarterbacks aren’t the stars in 2022.
Malik Willis and Kenny Pickett have been the top two quarterback prospects, but there’s little idea of where they could fall. Some teams don’t have a first-round draft grade on any quarterback, while some think one could go in the top 10.
Antennas were raised even further when the Lions scheduled meetings with both Willis and Pickett this week.
As he dissected what that might mean, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Monday told the “Pat McAfee Show” that the Lions taking Willis or Pickett could result in not just the other, but multiple signal-callers going in the first round.
“It either means one of two things,” Rapoport said of the visits, “which are completely opposite: the Lions have real, legitimate interest in a quarterback at No. 2 or they have no interest and they want to make sure that if a quarterback comes around at 32, that they’re prepared. I think one of those things is true, I just don’t know which.
“If the Lions take one at No. 2 – everyone in the world has spent this whole time, you’ve heard it, talking about how bad this quarterback class is, right? … Sure, but if the Lions take one at two, we are going to get several quarterbacks in the first round because everyone is going to scramble to make sure they get their guy. That is one of the major, major inflection points and possible surprises of the draft.”
Right now, Jared Goff is the starting quarterback in Detroit, but he’s hardly a world-beater nor the long-term option under center for the Lions. If they think Willis or Pickett made sense as a Day 1 starter, they could roll with one of them or stick with Goff and have him keep the seat warm until the youngster is ready.
Either way, they’ll have their pick of any quarterback they want if that’s the route they choose to go. The Lions pick second behind the Jacksonville Jaguars, who won't be taking a quarterback after selecting Trevor Lawrence last year.
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