A-
Detroit Lions
The Lions won the night they stopped Thieneman from sliding. Grade: A-.
by SunDGod ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 9 steals
· 0 reaches
You could see the war room lean forward. Dillon Thieneman at pick No. 113 is the sort of fall that does not happen, except it just did.
The dealing alone would carry a lesser class. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped linebacker, which is a strange place to end up.
The veteran additions, Micah Parsons chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not. Cornerback was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
In the end it comes back to Brandon Cisse, and a haul good enough to build on right away.
Pick-by-Pick
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Brandon Cisse at slot 50 is the proof. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Lee Hunter at No. 78 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Dillon Thieneman at the Round 4 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Somehow Jake Golday was still sitting there in the 118th pick, and they pounced on premier edge rusher value. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Bryce Lance in the 128th overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Circle this one: Michael Trigg at Round 5, Pick 17 is a fall that decides a draft. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
By-the-book stuff, Keagen Trost at pick No. 181 squarely in line with his ranking. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They robbed the room for Anez Cooper here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Cole Payton at pick 213 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Jadon Canady in Round 7, Pick 6. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.