Tag: Detroit Lions

Lions draft DT Levi Onwuzurike in second round

From what we know of Lions head coach Dan Campbell, it seems pretty obvious from a short Zoom conversation, that second-round pick Levi Onwuzurike is his kind of player.

If he hasn’t chewed on kneecaps, he may have come close.

The Lions selected Onwuzurike, a 6-3, 290-pound defensive tackle from Washington, with the 41st overall pick on Friday night.

Meet the Lions’ newest defensive tackle.

“I like f’ing people up. I like to get off the line and just put my helmet or my hands on an offensive lineman and f’ up an offensive scheme, pretty much. I like pushing ’em back 2, 3 yards and just making ’em feel like shit,’’ Onwuzurike said on a Zoom call describing his style of play. (Note, he did not say f’ing he used the full word and did not apologize.)

Got that?

He is ready to go with the Lions. “I’ll hop on the field right now if I have to,’’ Onwuzurike said.

The defensive tackle said he and Campbell talked a lot during the pre-draft process including at the Senior Bowl.

Because he played in the Pac-12, he has played against right tackle Penei Sewell from Oregon, the Lions first-round draft pick.

“He’s an elite player, he’s a dog for sure. He was the first tackle out, first O-lineman out. He deserves all that — one of the quickest players I’ve ever played against, very balanced, very big, but he also has an athletic build, he’s almost like a tight end at the tackle position. He’s elite, we’re going to make shit happen up in Detroit,’’ Onwuzurike said of Sewell.

Onwuzurike only had 7 career sacks in college so he’s been working on his pass-rush skills.

“Everything I practiced on in the offseason from bend to pad level to everything. At the end of the day it’s about production, it’s about putting pressure on that quarterback and making that happen so your other players can succeed as well,’’ Onwuzurike said. “I’ll work to take that next step.”

The scouting report on Onwuzurike from Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline said: “Onwuzurike showed the ability to be a game changer at Washington, occupying blocks, penetrating the line of scrimmage, and even getting out in space to make plays. He comes with a large upside, but must finish his game to grab hold of the starting job in the NFL.”

The Lions remaining draft picks:

Round 3: No. 72

Round 3: No. 101 (from Rams)

Round 4: No. 112

Round 5: No. 153

Detroit Lions draft: Five things to know

With the Lions in full rebuild, re-stocking mode, the NFL draft could not possibly be more important.

Is it a bigger deal than in recent history? Quite possibly.

It will be the first major test GM Brad Holmes and his staff including Chris Spielman. Don’t forget Holmes was the director of college scouting for the Rams before Detroit hired him, so this is not all foreign territory.

Unlike a year ago, when GM Bob Quinn and his staff each worked from their houses due to the pandemic, Holmes will have company with up to 10 people in the war room with him. 

With the No. 7 pick, Holmes could have plenty of options. The key to a trade is it takes two teams. This sounds basic, but if he doesn’t move up or down and gets criticized it doesn’t mean he didn’t try.

The Lions have six draft picks overall. 

Round 1: No. 7

Round 2: No. 41

Round 3: No. 72

Round 3: No. 101 (from Rams)

Round 4: No. 112

Round 5: No. 153

The draft opens on Thursday at 8 p.m. Rounds 2 and 3 will take place starting Friday at 7 p.m. The draft for the remaining rounds will start at noon on Saturday.

Five things to know:

1. The Lions desperately need a No. 1 wide receiver but will they take one in the first round? Options include Jaylen Waddle (Alabama) and Ja’Marr Chase (LSU). Detroit has quite a history of making this move. From 2003 to 2007 they used their first-round picks on wide receivers four times. Charles Rogers (2003) was an absolute bust. Calvin Johnson (2007) is a Hall of Famer. Since Johnson, they’ve drafted three tight ends in the first round but no wide receiver. Holmes said he’s well aware of the franchise’s draft history but it should not affect who he picks.

2. Needs abound on both sides of the ball. In a pre-draft press conference Holmes would not say whether he’ll focus on offense or defense in the first round. It doesn’t make sense to limit himself. So don’t be disappointed one way or the other. This team needs work.

3. A quarterback could be a more likely pick in the first round. With Matthew Stafford gone and Jared Goff in his place, the Lions could be looking for a long-term replacement at quarterback. Trey Lance (North Dakota State) is one option. Would Ohio State’s Justin Fields be a reach at No. 7? There’s some debate on that. Quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence (Clemson), Zach Wilson (BYU) and Mac Jones (Ohio State) could go 1-2-3. If Holmes loves one of them it could be costly to try to move up.

4. Taylor Decker said this week he’d welcome help on the offensive line. Several mock drafts have Oregon’s Penei Sewell getting drafted by the Lions. From 2012 to 2018 the Lions drafted four starting offensive linemen: Riley Reiff (2012), Laken Tomlinson (2015), Decker (2016) and Frank Ragnow (2018). Only Decker and Ragnow are still with the Lions. Reiff signed with the Bengals and Tomlinson with the 49ers. There is a need. Is Sewell the guy?

5. Holmes could pull a surprise, but don’t expect him to go too far off the charts. He said he’s learned from others that when that pick is called, he must be comfortable with the decision. It’s OK if no one has mocked that person to Detroit, but he sounds like he won’t take a flyer, he’ll be totally at ease that he’s made the right pick. 

PREDICTION: WR Jaylen Waddle, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes has a draft plan, but he isn’t sharing

The countdown is on to the start of Brad Holmes’ first NFL draft as GM of the Detroit Lions.

As a rookie GM, he’s already acting like a veteran when it comes to not tipping his hand to the media.

At his virtual pre-draft press conference on Friday, basically Holmes said there are a cluster of players the Lions would draft with the seventh overall pick.

Offense? Maybe

Defense? Could be.

He’s not sharing and, of course, we didn’t expect otherwise really. He didn’t slip up either. 

“I still think that depth on both sides of the ball is of the utmost importance. I know you can probably take that as a fence answer, but I just can’t be more authentic with that,’’ Holmes said. “I look at both sides of the ball, and I just don’t think there’s ever enough depth in certain spots that you can field. I know you’d probably like for me to say we need more defense or more offense, but just looking at our depth chart every day, I do see that there are some areas to address on both sides, for sure.”

With a shiny No. 7 draft pick, he could trade it and get more value for the long term for the Lions.

“I will say the value, it’s of extreme value, I would say. Even whenever you’re picking in the top-10, obviously it’s an extremely valued pick,’’ Holmes said. “It’s very exciting to be looking at this crop of players that would be worthy of selecting.”

Will he trade up? Maybe.

Will he trade down? Could be.

He did admit there have been discussions, he didn’t way with whom.

Are you sensing a trend?

Holmes seems confident and ready to get the draft going instead of waiting until Thursday night.

He’s learned from some of the best and is heeding their advice.

Don’t look for him to take a huge risk on that first pick.

“You always want to hit a home run, but I will say when you talk about risk on the first pick, I always kind of go back to when you’re turning that pick in, you don’t want to feel nervous. I know you asked me about previous GMs, so I’ll even give the credit to Billy Devaney on that one, one that he used to always bring up, is that you want to be confident and you want to feel really, really good when you make that selection. Not a nervousness of, ‘I hope this works,’’’ Holmes said. “I’m not saying that all selections don’t have any warts, because everybody’s got a hole or something that they can improve on, but at the end of the day, do we have buy-in and do we all feel good about the pick?”

The countdown is on.