ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay released his latest mock draft, a two-rounder that involves some movement with the Lions at No. 7.
McShay mocked the Carolina Panthers moving up one spot with Detroit to make sure they can draft North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance. The Panthers give the Lions a third-round pick (No. 73) to move up the one spot.
At No. 8 overall, McShay has the Lions selecting Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
"There is one of the top four pass-catchers left here and a glaring void in the Detroit wide receiver room after Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. signed elsewhere. (Sorry, Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman aren't going to cut it as No. 1 options in a division that includes Davante Adams, Allen Robinson II, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.) Waddle is an elusive burner, giving new QB Jared Goff someone to look for early and often each week," McShay wrote.
In Round 2, McShay mocks Missouri linebacker Nick Bolton to the Lions at pick No. 41.
"Bolton could be the heir to the middle linebacker spot for Jamie Collins Sr. He shows range in coverage, strong tackling and an excellent ability to read the quarterback," McShay wrote of Bolton. "He had 95 tackles for Mizzou last season, along with five passes broken up and a pair of sacks."
McShay took part in a national conference call to go along with the release of his mock draft. Here are some of the highlights from that call:
1. McShay expects five quarterbacks to be taken in the first round – Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields and Mac Jones. But who are the next two quarterbacks McShay thinks could go off the board after those five? He thinks it will be Texas A&M's Kellen Mond and Florida's Kyle Trask.
2. This is such a stacked receiver class that McShay said if the Lions don't opt to take one at No. 7, they'll still be able to get an impact guy in Round 2. Some of the names McShay mentioned were: Purdue's Rondale Moore, Louisville's Tutu Atwell and LSU's Terrace Marshall Jr.
3. When asked about the tackle position, McShay thinks Oregon's Penei Sewell and Northwestern's Rashawn Slater can be "All-Pro type offensive tackles in the NFL."
4. The timed numbers coming out of individual pro days this offseason have been pretty remarkable, and McShay says NFL talent evaluators have questions about how legitimate some of those numbers are. They're having a hard time because they can't compare the numbers to those from the NFL Scouting Combine at a neutral site like in past years. McShay said teams and general managers have brought this up in conversations with him.
5. With so many quarterbacks and pass catchers expected to go high in this draft, teams looking for defense, particularly pass-rushing help, in the second half of the first round are going to get tremendous value, according to McShay. He said the top pass rushers in this class – Kwity Paye (Michigan), Gregory Rousseau (Miami) and Jaelan Phillips (Miami) – could get pushed back into the second half of the first round because of the offensive talent at the top. Teams in the middle and late part of the first round are going to be able to select some of the draft's best pass-rushing talent, which isn't normally the case.
