Day 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft and the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions didn't make any more trades on day 2 of the draft. Instead they selected two players that should help the team in positions of need. In fact, I put those very needs in my estimated depth chart weeks ago. So here is my take on the 2nd and 3rd round picks for the Lions this year.

At pick 46 (from last night's trade with the Vikings) the Lions selected DL Josh Paschal. The NFL at the time showed him as being a DE, but he can play anywhere on the DL and my source has him listed as a 5T defensive tackle, a postion I expected the Lions to draft to rotate with Brockers (and evenutally replace him). Paschal was 88th on my board, and he would not have made it to pick 97 (along with many others) so this was their 2nd round target. Paschal has an RAS score of 9.7, which means he is an elite athlete compared to other DL candidates in this draft. TheHuddleReport had him at 71 but they have no bio on him, so I had to look elsewhere. The only link you need to read to see why the Lions drafted this player is right here: https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/josh-paschal. If after reading all of that you don't understand the pick, then you don't understand Holmes.

Next is the Lions pick at 97. Safety Kerby Joseph was ranked 100th on my board, but doesn't have a RAS score due to limited information. TheHuddleReport.com also has no bio on this player, so once again looking elsewhere. Choosing the same site, with a slightly less than glowing bio, here is the read on the Lions late 3rd round pick, which is technically about what you would expect from a player at that spot in the draft. https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/kerby-joseph/wGwqSPGAxb Personally I think, in a year or two, he'll become a good safety, but he's not ready to start just now.

Since that was it for the Lions picks, this should be the end of my blog entry, but allow me to toot my own horn a bit. Each year I check to see how my top 100 does against Mel Kiper and others, and this year is no different. My total for 2022 was 82 right. I won't know the score of the competition for a day or three, so we'll see how I did then. Meanwhile, one other bit of info if I may.

RAS is a score that compares one athlete to the others. It consists of things like 3 cone, and 40 yard times, and long jump, and height and weight, and so forth. It is completely factual. From data less than 2 months old. Above average is usually 5.0 or higher, meaning a good athlete (not football player, athlete) is from around 5.0 to about 7.9, the higher the better. An elite athlete is 8.0 or higher, maximum of 10.0, again, the higher the better. It is no more possible to know if a player with a high RAS will do well in the NFL than an interview or a flip of a coin would. However, NFL teams DO like athletic players, so even though RAS might not prove good or bad players of football, it does have a tendency to help determine if a player will get drafted, purely by accident really, teams don't use RAS score as far as I know.

Oh, I forgot my point. There were 105 selections in the first 3 rounds of the 2022 draft. At 100 I had 82 right (drafted before pick 101). The next 5 picks were taken from my board ranked 93, 74, 58, 209 and 158. That means a total of 20 picks were beyond my top 100 list after 105 picks. Of those 20, eleven were elite, seven were above average to real good, and two were not scored due to lack of information. That leaves none at average or below average. I'll say that again. Of the 20 players taken later then my rank of 100, not one was an average to below average athlete. Does that mean they will have successful NFL careers, you got me, but they did get drafted. There are more elite and good athletes remaining, but there are also 4 more rounds of drafting to go, what happens next should be interesting.

As for the what the Lions will do, my guesses at this point, a cornerback, a backup offensive tackle and/or guard, and a blocking style tight end. Instead they could go in any direction, this is just my guess. Saturday will show what they are really thinking.