Goals Lions must accomplish at the scouting combine
The 2023 NFL scouting combine kicks off Tuesday, February 28, from the site of Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.
The annual pre-draft event will run until March 6, and could feature as many as 319 prospects (the total number of players that were invited by the NFL).
With that said, here are four things the Detroit Lions must accomplish during the nearly week-long combine.
GET A CLOSE LOOK AT THE CORNERBACKS
The Lions have a bigtime need at defensive back — and specifically at cornerback — going into the 2023 NFL Draft.
So, the combine will offer Detroit general manager Brad Holmes a terrific opportunity to closely watch the top cornerbacks in this year’s draft class.
In a variety of recent mock drafts, Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon and Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez have been mocked to the Lions at No. 6 overall.
There have also been multiple mock drafts that have seen Holmes & Co. target the following cornerbacks at No. 18 overall: Georgia’s Kelee Ringo, South Carolina’s Cam Smith, Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr., Alabama’s Brian Branch and Maryland’s Deonte Banks.
So, I’m of the mindset that Detroit can use the combine to evaluate the position closely and narrow down its list of defensive backs that it’s willing to pursue at both No. 6 and No. 18 overall.
GET TO KNOW THE MID-TOLATE-ROUND QBS
While quarterback is not a top need for the Lions, it could be a position targeted by Holmes & Co. in the mid-to-late rounds of the 2023 draft.
With that said, Detroit should have its eyes set on a variety of signal-callers that could be drafted on either Day 2 or 3 of the draft: Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, TCU’s Max Duggan, UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Louisville’s Malik Cunningham and Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell.
I’m not saying Detroit has to draft one of the aforementioned passers, but it should at least do its due diligence and spend time interviewing each of the above QB prospects.
If I were Holmes, I’d spend some time at the combine getting to know Hooker.
I know that the ex-Volunteers passer is still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered during the 2022 season.
However, to me, he’s the only mid-to-late-round QB prospect that possesses the potential to start one day at the next level.
If the Lions were to draft Hooker, he feasibly could sit behind incumbent starter Jared Goff for a year and soak up all that he can from the veteran signalcaller in preparation for the 2024 campaign.
Hooker could then potentially be Detroit’s quarterback of the future, and the nice thing is you wouldn’t have to draft him until the third or fourth round (unless he experiences a meteoric rise up draft boards in the coming weeks).
Other quarterbacks to watch include Jake Haener out of Fresno State, Clayton Tune from Houston and Max Duggan from TCU.
This would be my plan of attack with the quarterback position at this year’s combine.
SCOUT ALL THE DRAFT’S TOP DEFENSIVE PROSPECTS
The Lions need to approach the draft with the strategy of taking the best defensive player available at No. 6 overall.
Sure, it’d be nice to grab a high-impact defensive lineman or cornerback with the pick, but if there’s a defensive player at another position that they’ve graded higher, they shouldn’t be afraid to draft the individual.
The reason why: The organization is littered with issues all across the defensive side of the ball.
It’s why Holmes & Co. should leave no stone unturned and should scout every single top defensive prospect in attendance at the combine.
FIND OUT IF TEXAS’ BIJAN ROBINSON IS WORTH TAKING
The Lions could certainly be in the market for a running back during this year’s draft.
There’s no guarantee that Detroit re-signs Jamaal Williams this offseason or that the injuryprone D’Andre Swift has a ton of staying power in the
Motor City.
It’s why Holmes and the Lions’ scouting staff should take a closer look at former Longhorns running back Bijan Robinson, the best RB in the 2023 draft class. In recent mock drafts, he’s emerged as a possibility for Detroit at No. 6 and No. 18 overall.
There’s no doubt that his film at Texas this past season was highly impressive. Perhaps most notably, the 6-foot, 220-pound back finished the 2022 campaign with a Pro Football Focus college record 104 broken tackles.
If I’m Holmes, I’m doing my due diligence and assigning multiple scouts to examine Robinson’s every step during the combine. To me, it’s the best way of finding out if it’s worth using a first-rounder on the former standout Texas back.