ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions traded up to draft DT Mekhi Wingo in the sixth round of Saturday’s draft. Detroit traded picks 205 and 249 to the Houston Texans to move up to 189.
Wingo, who is undersized at 6-foot and 284 pounds, calls himself a disruptor who likes a violent style of football. Sounds like a perfect fit for coach Dan Campbell.
“To make up for the lack of size I have to do the ordinary things extremely well,’’ Wingo said on a conference call on Saturday. “Like I have to have better eyes than a guy who is 6-5 and my hand placement has to be better. I’ve been undersized my whole life, it’s not just something that just happened.’’
In 2023, Wingo played in eight games with seven starts at LSU. He missed the end of the regular season with a lower-body injury, but returned for the team’s ReliaQuest Bowl win over Wisconsin. Many players heading to the NFL, skip the bowl game but it was important to Wingo and speaks to his character.
“Of course I could’ve just packed it up, declared and did this, but it really got to me watching my team lose a few games and me being on the sidelines,’’ Wingo said in a conference call on Saturday. “Once I had my surgery I just rehabbed my butt off and made the emphasis to get back on the field and be with my guys one last time.’’
A team captain, he finished the season with 25 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He started his collegiate career at Missouri and transferred to LSU for the 2022 season.
NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein projected him as a fourth-round pick.
Zierlein’s analysis: “Wingo is a shade undersized, but his tape is fun to watch. He is compact and powerful, with the ability to separate and play off of lateral blocks quickly. He can be overcome by length or mass at times but is rarely dominated. He has first-step quickness and processing to beat blockers to erase their landmarks and is tremendously agile as a short-space tackler. Wingo has a hop-and-chop rush move typically seen from defensive ends and will be too athletic for some guards to handle as a pass rusher. Wingo could become an early backup as an even-front 3-technique but he has three down-potential and could eventually become a starter.”
He’s the Lions’ third defensive pick this draft. They selected cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw in the first two rounds. Wingo is the first defensive player out of LSU that the Lions have drafted since 1974. He and Rakestraw were teammates at Missouri for one season.
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