A Detroit Lions blog by Lions fans, for Lions fans.
Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes has earned a reputation for being aggressive in the NFL Draft. Through five drafts thus far, he’s traded up 12 times during the NFL Draft, while he’s only traded down three times. In the past two drafts alone, he’s traded up eight times but hasn’t traded down once. During […]
If you look at any Detroit Lions mock draft these days, you’ll almost certainly see an offensive tackle or defensive end mocked to them with a first or second-round pick (or both). It’s almost universally viewed as the team’s biggest needs going into next week 2026 NFL Draft. But during his pre-draft press conference on […]
With less than two weeks before the 2026 NFL Draft, our annual Community Mock Draft is getting closer to the end of the first round. As a reminder, our Community Mock Draft is where 31 of our most loyal commenters are acting as general manager of 31 different teams, while Erik Schlitt manages the Detroit […]
According to several reports, former Detroit Lions cornerback Chris Payton-Jones died on Saturday night in a fatal car crash in Florida. Payton-Jones first joined the Lions in 2018 after going undrafted following a four-year stint at Nebraska. Though Payton-Jones didn’t make the team that year, he returned to Detroit in 2020 after spending two seasons […]
The 2026 NFL Draft is just around the corner, and it could be a pivotal moment for the Detroit Lions to get their franchise back on track. While the 17th-overall pick in the draft will have a number of viable targets, Day 2 of the draft could be just as important. With multiple positions in […]
The Detroit Lions need help at offensive tackle and defensive end. This has become a fact over the recent weeks in the leadup to the 2026 NFL Draft. As mock drafts have predicted for months, one of these two positions are reasonable targets for Detroit in the first round, and there should be an ample […]
We’re nearing the end of the first round in our 2026 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft. If you’re just joining, this is a mock draft we’re creating with commenters from our community. We’ve selected 31 of our most loyal fans and slotted them to represent 31 other teams. The Detroit Lions are represented by […]
Despite their success last season, the Chicago Bears remained owned by the Detroit Lions in 2025, losing to their rival twice during the regular season. With a wildly successful season under first-time head coach Ben Johnson, they’re hoping to take their franchise to another level and get out from under the thumb of the Lions. […]
NFL Draft evaluation is an imperfect art form. Despite decades and decades of experience and more and more resources devoted to ensuring a team gets their pick “right,” NFL general managers, scouts, and other front office members continually get it wrong. Whether it’s overlooking a flaw, failing to discover a character question, lacking similar visions […]
Our 2026 NFL mock draft continues, as selected by our Pride of Detroit Community. The Cleveland Browns are on the clock again. With the sixth overall pick, acting Browns general manager—commenter Col.Aureliano—took Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling. With some offensive line investment, where will they go with the 24th overall pick? Before we get to […]
While many Detroit Lions fans were understandably upset about how the 2025 season went, the Philadelphia Eagles fell nearly as far. After winning the Super Bowl in the 2024 season, the Eagles just never looked right in 2025. Sure, they finished 11-6, but their offense was a disaster last year (19th in scoring) and they […]
With less than two weeks until the 2026 NFL Draft, analysts are fine-tuning their mock drafts after months of collecting information. In this installment of the mock draft roundup, the majority of projections—62 of the 66 we explored—are pairing the Detroit Lions with an offensive lineman in the first round. Let’s take a look at […]
How do good teams approach the draft? When it comes to the NFL draft, good teams tend to prioritize their biggest future needs early on. Fans are eager to see the biggest remaining questions on the roster right now addressed early. When looking at the Lions’ situation, it’s easy to get gridlocked into the idea […]
Earlier this week, we published our latest SB Nation Reacts survey, sponsored by the folks over at FanDuel Sportsbook, asking Detroit Lions fans the question: Which OT is the best prospect for the Lions in the 2026 NFL draft? For this exercise, we provided Lions fans with six offensive tackle prospects to choose from and […]
The Los Angeles Chargers consistently seem on the precipice of becoming a primary AFC contender. But perception is not always reality. Despite posting far more winning seasons than losing, the Chargers haven’t made it past the Wild Card in almost a decade, and the last time they even saw the AFC Championship game was 2007. […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers are going through a rare transition. Gone is Mike Tomlin, in is Mike McCarthy. The Steelers almost never have an inaugural coach, but in our Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft—where our community creates their own two-round mock—the Steelers also have a new general manager. That manager for this exercise is GM […]
Of the many events of the NFL offseason, most would agree that the NFL Draft is the king of them all. It is the time of year when teams can make the biggest wholesale changes to their roster, and in turn, their team’s future. For example, think back to the 2021 NFL Draft. The Detroit […]
The 2026 NFL Draft just weeks away and for those looking to polish their mock drafts, a newly released comprehensive draft guide could help. This week, The Athletic released its annual behemoth draft guide, affectionately called “The Beast.” Authored by NFL Draft Analyst Dane Brugler each year, this work of sports art features over 600 pages […]
The Pride of Detroit 2026 NFL mock draft—as completed by our commenters—rolls on. It’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to pick again, which means commenter 1951LION is on the clock. With the Cowboys’ previous pick, 1951LION selected cornerback Mansoor Delane with the 12th overall pick. Now what will they do with Pick 20? Before we […]
Is it just me, or is the time that takes place between the end of the Super Bowl and the draft the slowest moving portion of the calendar each year? Where the fall feels like it is moving at 1.5 speed, the end of Winter feels the exact opposite. With that said. we are now […]
The Carolina Panthers are on the clock for our 2026 NFL mock draft, as selected by our Pride of Detroit community. Representing the Panthers are commenter… LionsFaninCarolina. Imagine that. It’s almost like I made that happen on purpose. Before we get to the pick, head to our 2026 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker. […]
We’re officially just two weeks away from the 2026 NFL Draft. In a lot of ways, we’re in the golden era of Detroit Lions drafts. Despite his two most recent drafts yet to bear a ton of fruit, Lions general manager Brad Holmes has rightfully earned a reputation as being an impressively good college scouter. […]
After the Detroit Lions have made their pick in our 2026 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, it’s time to continue with our site-wide, two-round mock. As a reminder, this mock is being completed by our community. We have 31 of our most loyal commenters acting as general manager for 31 teams. Erik Schlitt picked […]
At this point, it almost feels like we’ve exhaused the conversations about the Detroit Lions taking an offensive tackle or defensive end with their 17th overall pick and their second-round selection (50th overall). Everyone has made their opinion known on their preference for this year’s offensive line class, and most have picked their favorite pass […]
Our 2026 Pride of Detroit Community Mock is well underway, and over the past week, we have seen members of our community make selections for the first 16 picks, putting the Detroit Lions on the clock. (Track each pick here.) As we do every year in this exercise, we picked a handful of players that Lions fans […]