With the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select ...
... the answer will depend in large part on the first six players off the board. And whatever holes the Lions fill in free agency. Defense is an obvious need, and at every level. Depending on the future of Kenny Golladay, so is wide receiver.
Penn State LB Micah Parsons has been a popular pick for Detroit in mock drafts. So have Alabama WR's Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle and LSU WR Ja'Marr Chase. The arrival of Jared Goff probably takes the Lions out of the QB market this year.
So ... defense? Wide receiver? With as many as four teams in the top six picks potentially eyeing a QB, the draft lines up well for Detroit. ESPN draft expert Todd McShay released his latest mock Monday night and projects Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Penei Sewell and Chase as the first six players off the board -- four QB's, one O-lineman and one receiver.
Which sets the stage for the Lions to take ... the 2020 Heisman winner in DeVonta Smith. It would be the fourth Heisman winner drafted by Detroit in the Super Bowl era, and the first since Andre Ware -- seventh overall -- in 1990.
"If Philly is on the clock and both Chase and Smith are still available, you'll see some smiles from new coach Dan Campbell and new QB Jared Goff. It would mean one of the talented pass-catchers would be there for them," writes McShay.
With Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola set to be free agents along with Golladay, McShay notes that Detroit's most productive returning receiver, right now, is 2020 fifth-round pick Quintez Cephus.
"It's a problem, but not one that the Heisman winner can't help solve," says McShay. "Smith is explosive, piling on 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns in his senior year."
That included 215 yards and three touchdowns in the national championship, in nearly the first half alone. Certainly, the Lions could make use of a talent like that.
