Daily DLP: Reviewing where mock drafts missed in 2025 Detroit Lions Podcast

Hey, everyone, Jeffers. I'm here with your daily DLP. It is Wednesday, April 8th. We're

getting very close to the 2026 NFL draft. We are a little over two weeks out. And I thought I

would take the opportunity today, since we're looking at a lot of mock drafts, to go back a year,

to two weeks out from the 2025 NFL draft, and see where the pulse was in mock drafts and tone,

and who the experts, using that term loosely, I'm also throwing myself into it,

how the lion's going, not in the final mock drafts, but in the mock drafts that came out around

this time last year. And I used a couple of resources, lion's wire, where I used to work. I used

to assign Billy Recetti to do a weekly mock draft roundup. I looked up Billy's work. Billy still

does great work. He's always looking for more gigs. So if you need somebody who knows a lot about

football in general, he's a good guy. Good guy in general. Pride and Detroit also tracked it.

The Detroit Free Press also had a tracker that came out 10 days before. So we're not quite

to that point yet, but it's close enough that it makes sense. And some of the mock drafts

probably came out around this time. So let's look back where we were a year ago. And I will remind you,

the lions took Thai-league Williams defensive tackle Ohio State with their first round pick,

because nobody really had that. Now, in the spirit of,

look, so I work for the huge show. And the huge show is nothing if not self-promotion. That's

something that we're good at there. And I'm just going to bring this up. I'm going to show it.

March 10th, 2025. I responded to beast. By the way, beast does great work. He used to work for me

at the Detroit Lions draft. Rest in peace back in over 15 years ago. I stuck to that site.

And he was one of the original writers there. And we were getting into a conversation on Blue Sky.

About, and he talked about the defensive tackle hole was pretty glaring. And I responded,

and it's dated right there, 12.20 p.m. on March 10th, 2025. Thai-league Williams is my current

first round expectation. I know they like him from the combine, but will he be there and will they

like him most? That ladies of gentlemen is the only mention of Thai-league Williams as a first

round pick that I can find anywhere. And I flipped off of it, because I didn't trust my information

would stay that way. Now, I will say, two days before the draft, I got a call from somebody

who is very, very well placed in NFL circles. And he told me Thai-league Williams was going to be

the pick. And I didn't believe you. Sorry. And I stuck with my wrong pick. There's a lesson there,

and I'm trying to learn it hard this year. And I hinted at this on social media too. But what I learned

coming out of the combine tends to be the most accurate information. And all the things that go on,

whether it's pro days, mock drafts, a lot of the big, big time draft nicks. By the way,

Dean Brewer released the beast today. Get it. It's worth it. I love Dean. I love the work that he

puts into it. Then the silly meaning is always right. But Dean is certainly somebody that deserves

your respect and attention. He's very good at it. But just one of the throw that out there,

just keep that in mind, because that's it again. It's the only time Thai-league Williams got

connected to the Lions that I could find on any of the social media channels. I did not go to Reddit

where the Detroit Lions podcast is, your official Detroit Lions and Reddit connection.

I never say that. I probably should say that more. That's our official title. Chris set that up

many, many years ago, over 10 years ago. A quick look back. And what was going on at this point last

year. And I will look up Billy's summary here. So my personal raised my hand here. I had Derek

Harman for Morgan. There are mentions of Kelvin Banks. Gray Zabel. A lot of mentions of Donovan

Ezoraku. In fact, he was the number one player at this point projected to the Lions at number 28

last year. Donovan Ezoraku, pass rusher, edge from Dallas. I went to Dallas from Boston College.

He also wound up being the number one player in final mocks. And there's tracking that does that too.

He was the most projected player to the Lions a year ago. Donovan Ezoraku didn't work out that way.

Other names that got a lot of mention. G. Hyde Campbell. I still don't quite get that one. Look,

great player would have loved to have him in Detroit. But with the linebacking core of the way it was

after having just paid Derek Barnes. You've got Jack Campbell who was emerging as an all pro.

And some of us did see that coming. And the Alexander Zalini is a solid coverage linebacker,

do it all leader type. Wasn't really room for him, especially with Rodrigo who didn't get hurt

until unfortunately the season would kind of wash that out. But there was that was not necessarily

a position of a lot of need. Big time mentions also for Nick Scorton and Michael Williams,

pass rusher. They both got multiple additions. Scorton was a very popular one, especially with a

PFF crowd. And I wonder. And I don't know the answer to this. And maybe you all can help me with

this. But I wonder if the perception that Brad avoids, Brad Holmes, Lansgium avoids

edge in the draft is somehow more exacerbated that the perception is more influenced by the fact

that so many of us and I'm there too, but so were all your favorite draft mix. By the fact that

everybody projected them to take an edge and he didn't. I wonder if that plays into it.

Because there is this, you know, overriding emphasis. And I see it all the time in comment

sections, even on the videos here on YouTube, that Brad doesn't draft for need. Well, I actually

disagree with that pretty strongly, but he just doesn't draft edge early. You go back in time

and look at all the picks that they they have taken. They are drafting for need. Like they do need

these guys. It might not be immediate. But they drafted Tyler Williams a year ago knowing that

DJ Reader wasn't going to be back on the football team. They drafted Terry on Arnold in the first round

knowing that they needed an outside corner. They drafted in us for extra hoping that he could be the

slot to eventually replace Amique Robertson on the inside or grow into a not starting outside

corner. Like all those guys check Campbell, Brian Branch, Kirby Joseph, Sam LaPorta,

Jumeir Gibbs. Like they needed all those guys. There was this weird thing that, you know,

they drafted Jumeir Gibbs and they still had Deandre. Like we all, I shouldn't say that.

Most of us had a very good idea that Deandre Swift was not long for Detroit at that point.

Not at all. It's somewhat baffling to me that he is still in Chicago with Ben Johnson because

they weren't exactly sympathetic when they were in Detroit. But that's Chicago's issue now.

So I wonder about that on the whole about how we might be unintentionally

making it seem like the lions are ignoring edge more because it's projected so often.

Again, I don't have it. I don't know if there's an answer to that. I don't know if it's

right or wrong. It's just something that popped into my head and I thought it was.

If you have a thought on that, let me know because that's, you know, because it's not done

intentionally. Like we're mocking what we know who, well, I should say.

Those of us in Lionsland tend to project players that have met with the Lions or that the Lions

have expressed interest in or certainly appear to have interest in based on their playing style

and background. With the reasons why I'm a big Kendrick Falk believer this year,

but also TJ Parker and also Blake Miller. And so two weeks out, I do think the first

round pick is going to be one of those three. I do. See if I'm right in a couple of weeks.

Some of the other names that were out there at that time, there was still a lot of offensive lineman,

a lot. Donovan Jackson was a popular one. Josh Connerley, popular one, Grey's Abel,

very popular one. Josh Simmons, but the biggest offensive line projection. And this was done.

And I'll just read off some of the names here. And this is probably Detroit, correct this one.

John Neill from the Detroit News, NFL.com and NFL.com Sports Illustrated USA Today,

CBS Sports, PFN, Fantasy Pros, they all had Tyler Booker offensive guard Alabama as the team's

first round projection two weeks out. It's a lot of people projecting a guard from Alabama,

Tyler Booker. Booker. He's, uh, I never really saw the fit there, honestly. I didn't,

like I got the, that was one where I, I am a believer in the positional value thing. And I don't

think that Brad viewed guard as that pressing vanita, especially when the guards in the day two

and day three range, which by the way, they drafted one of each, were very strong a year ago.

Grey's Abel certainly made sense because he could play center. And, uh, to not be a very good pick.

But I didn't get the Booker love and, uh, I don't really get the love for somebody else who's

going to be a prospect of the day. Spoiler alert. That's been a very popular projection of late

that I, I don't get it, frankly. Um, we'll talk about that in a minute.

Let's go a little bit broader out. I want to look at some of the other ones. Um, so just Dave

McKet at this point a year ago had Donovan Ezoraku, uh, Rainier Seabun, um, also from the Detroit

Free Press, uh, had Shemar Stewart. USA Today had Shavon Revel. And Donovan Ezoraku.

Um, these are different people. Jordan Reed, great guy. One of the best drafts that's out there.

Uh, at ESPN, he had Grey's Abel Melkhyper at this point, had Michael Williams, Field Yates,

Derek Harman, uh, Matt Miller had Grey's Abel. Wow. Nick Wright, Michael Williams,

kind of Rogers had Michael Williams. I'm sorry, no, he had Donovan Jackson. Um, I like Connor.

Kind of a good guy. CBS at a ton, um, uh, recent guest, Chris Trapasso had Nick Scorton.

Uh, a lot of Grey's Abel, a lot of Josh Connerley there. So what's the point to all that?

You might ask. We don't know. We don't know what the lions are going to do.

We like to think we know, at least have a good idea. But one year ago, literally nobody knew,

I had it in my hands and dropped it. I'm gonna try not to do that again this year.

So when you get worked up by seeing Jermod McCoy cornerback Tennessee in the first round,

or Vega Ioane, who we're going to get to in a second, or,

Kaden Proctor, offensive tackle Alabama. And I still maintain that I think he's gone before

the lions pick any of the offensive lineman, really. Uh, any of, really anybody, like,

it could be anyone's still. But I will push back against the, the,

this perception that Brad doesn't draft for need because that's, that's not entirely accurate.

It might just not be the need that you think it is most pressing. It might not be the need right

now. It might be the need going forward. And that tends to be what good teams do.

And Seattle didn't need Devon Wetherspoon when they took him.

Worked out pretty well. You're looking at who's, who's on expiring contracts this year?

Who do they have to replace down the line? That's what the lions are looking at as well as

immediate need. Um, they do, immediate need much more in free agency, which is where we got

DJ Wannum this year and Roger McCurray at positions of need. Christian Isian.

By the way, they're did bring back Ivante Maddox. I didn't put that in the daily,

from Monday. I did not do a daily yesterday. I was in planes and airports and cars for most

of the day. I apologize for that back home now. Got a nice. Uh, Ivante Maddox is back.

Ivante Maddox had two really nice games in Detroit last year as a reserve superstar. He can

play anywhere in the secondary as Ken Isian for the most part. I like it. I don't know the both

of them are going to make the team, but I like the fact that we've got them both in the fold right

now going into the draft. If they get challenged by a middle round draft pick, I'm good with that.

The more the merrier, see who wins. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm, I like, I like having Maddox back.

Let's shift to this guy. Prospect to the day. Venga Ioane. I learned that his first name

his, his true first name is. What is it? I got to look it up. I can't even say it right.

All alive. Venga. He goes by Vega. Venga. It's weird because there's an end in there,

even though it doesn't list, but it's not like a full end. It's like then like you get a,

Polynesian names are, uh, are, are, are, they can be difficult for those of us who come from a

European background. Let's put it that way. Three-year starter at left guard for Penn State,

only played left guard was a three-star recruit coming out. The pros and boy, they're easy to see

on film because you can flip them on there right there. Dude is a snow plow in the run game.

Moves people, period, especially if they're right in front of him at the snap.

Outstanding grip strength and shoulder torque, impressive anchor strength and foot frequency versus

power. You don't try to bull him. Venga worked very well. His punch, he packs a good punch,

there's jolt to it. It's pretty accurate. He tends to get a look, he will get a little high

at times, but overall nothing to quibble about there. So a good coordination and communication

with his line mates. That's important. That is something that the lions do look for.

Guy can communicate and have some good look for work blocks in Pastro. What do you mean by that?

Well, look for work block is when you don't have somebody initially in front of you or your

initial movement doesn't have anybody with you. So you go look for work and that's actually one

thing that's hate-rallage excels at and one of the things that the lions liked about him.

Now the cons do just not have lateral agility like at all and I don't see that get brought up

enough in the lion's talk. I'm just going to read what I wrote about him in the interior offensive

line for every round piece that I did. One of that published, let me look at that here. That published

March 11th. All right, this is what I read or what I wrote. There's a fair chance Ioane will be

gone before the lions pick at 17. He's a guard only prospect, but a very high end power oriented

one. He's a snow plow in the run game, especially when the 320 pound Ioane can initiate contact

with his punch before having to move. Ioane bears some stylistic resemblance and power-leading

run game work with one time lion's pro bowler Larry Warford in his two brief prime.

Stepping away from the quote for a second, he is a lot like Larry Warford. Now I will remind you,

Larry Warford went in the third round. Back to the quote. He doesn't have the lateral range or

quickness with his hands of the elite NFL guards, but Ioane looks like a high floor ready-made starter

for a gap duo heavy scheme like the lions. Outside zone teams, I think the Shanahan style teams

shouldn't value Ioane nearly as much as his range is limited and takes away from his in-your-face

power. He is the number one into your office alignment in this class, like consensus-wise.

I do not have a great deal of distance between him and Chase Bessonthus or Emanuel Pregnon

in the rankings, not as much as what I see Ioane elicit as a top 10 prospect. I'll just say this,

if he's a top 10 prospect in this class, this class sucks because I'm not sure he's better than

Larry Warford was, honestly. Doesn't mean he's a bad prospect, doesn't mean that he can't be a great

NFL player because Warford was for a time too. Seventeen is way too rich for that. If you've got

questions about an interior office alignment if he can move. By the way, he can also only play left

tackle, or I'm sorry, left guard. He hasn't played on the right side yet. He doesn't do special teams.

Lions don't have a pressing need there. I mean, sure he could come in and start and beat out

Christian Mahogany for that role, but then you've got a lot of bodies there. What did you draft

Miles Frazier for? Where are these guys all fit? So I genuinely don't see, and I know Daniel

Jeremiah said that to you. Somebody posted out there that the Lions were in love with Ioane,

and it was, D.J.S. was Caden Proctor, not I think about it. Sorry about that. I do buy that the

Lions would like Caden Proctor, even though I don't particularly, but I don't get the Ioane at 17

infatuation with a lot of fans because he is not as safe as he's made out to be based on my viewing

anyways. So that's where I'm at with it. I'm a good football player. I think in a better draft,

I'm not sure he goes in the first round. And again, I would much rather if they're going to take

a guard, wait around for Jope for Chase Besantis and then you'll Pregnon. There's a few

Keelan Rutledge comes to mind a little bit later. The gap between any of those guys is not

nearly as wide as it's made out to be in my opinion anyways. So that's the daily for today.

We have something special tomorrow night. Thursday night, there will be a live round table mock

draft. Now, I will not be part of it, but Chris will be in Gray will be in Russ will be in

we're trying to get Bish in as well. We'll see if that all works out. I will be in the next one

and I will have the what I would do mock draft coming for you very shortly. And I will be

publishing very soon. Perhaps even before you watch this, the a cornerback for every round of the

2026 NFL drafts. So that's that's where we're at. It's great to be home. There is nothing better

than showering in your own shower after you've been away. I just get through that out there.

Jeffers inside and off on Wednesday. Be good to one another, please. Please, we know-

you're going to be in the next one.