The 2020 Draft is coming up this week

With the draft coming up this week I wanted to make a quick blog entry to get things started.

I have have updated my estimated depth chart to include the 2020 roster as it stands today. I had to change some of the positions as the Lions have changed some of the job descriptions as they move into a versatile yet 3-4 base. I believe the Lions will look for D-Line players who can play either inside (when in 4-3 mode) or outside (when in 3-4 mode) so versatility is going to be key.

Guys like Chase Young, Javon Kinlaw, and A.J. Epenesa come to mind as some options. LB/S Isaiah Simmons is versatile all on his own, he makes me think of Matt Patricia's desire for versatile players. Jeff Okudah is expected to play man coverage very well in the NFL and that keeps him on the radar, as well as a number of other CBs throughout the draft.

But the Lions can't draft them all. One maybe two, and to get two they'd have to trade down. Now Quinn in the past has always (always) reserved the number of draft picks he has from his roster of 90 people. Up until last week the Lions had 9 draft picks and 81 players under contract. Then they released 3 players last week, taking them down to 78... and they have not signed anyone to take those spots. This, to me, means they have trades lined up that will add 3 more picks to their board. We won't know if that is what will happen until Thursday night, but it could.

I have made my top 123 board http://www.thenetrat.com/draft.html but making a contact list this year was near on impossible with visits primarily being virtual due to COVID-19 but we did get some. DBs, OL, DL, and LB were all looked at all throughout the draft boards (as we understand them). I can't think of one position that is perfectly safe from having a draft pick added to provide depth and competition, though a few are more unlikely then others. I haven't mentioned here in the blog but for the past couple months I've been writing weekly articles for www.sideLionReport.com under my real name. Here's a few of the recent articles... https://sidelionreport.com/author/gnielsen/ go there to click on any of them. I bring it up as the most recent is the one where I talk about the roster and needs and openings, etc.

So my thinking goes like this for day 1 of the draft... a trade down (or more then one maybe) 40% chance. Drafting Chase Young if there 40% chance. Drafting Isaiah Simmons in round one 30% chance (yes that's more then 100% but you can trade down and still draft a guy). Drafting an offensive tackle first pick wherever you are 25% chance. Drafting Jeff Okudah 20% chance. Drafting a QB in the first round 5% chance. Drafting Derrick Brown in the first round 6% chance. Drafting any skill position on offense with the first pick in round 1 is a 1% chance. And screwing up the draft entirely due to internet outages, power outages, or other user error type matters... at least 5 times more likely or a 5% chance.

In other words, I think, probably, the Lions draft Young if there or trade down if not.

Could I be wrong? Yep. Easily. It's just what I think at this point. Even though I have done a number (okay dozens) of mock drafts and posted them in the forum doesn't mean I'm prepared to guess about day 2 or day 3 of the draft yet until day 1 is over. So here's to the 2020 draft, what will likely turn out to be one of the strangest drafts in the history of the NFL draft.