C
Detroit Lions
Some hits, some head-scratchers, and a C for the Lions.
by PATRICK305 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 4 steals
· 5 reaches
Nobody had Sam M'Pemba this high, and it is not close. The Lions reached 247 spots to get him at Round 6, Pick 24. Call it a C and check back in two years.
If one pick saves this weekend, it is Corleone. For all the activity, linebacker went untouched, which is hard to explain.
Job largely done: cornerback settled and 4 of 9 of the wish list covered. Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.
Call it incomplete, and check back in a couple of seasons.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 17th overall pick they get a disruptor off the edge, though the board says they badly overpaid. The biggest hole, addressed.
Malik Muhammad at the Round 2 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Kage Casey. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They talked themselves into Cameron Ball at No. 128, and the board did not agree. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Circle this one: Dontay Corleone at Round 5, Pick 17 is a fall that decides a draft. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Taking Rayshaun Benny in pick No. 181 is close to grand larceny; an interior defensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Sam M'Pemba well ahead of where he belonged. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Kobe Baynes in Round 6, Pick 32, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Louis Moore at No. 222 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.