B-
Detroit Lions
The Lions kept it disciplined and banked a B-.
by SamWyze ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 1 steals
· 4 reaches
The Lions torched the value chart for Blake Miller, taking him 29 spots sooner than anyone had him slotted. It does the job without flash, and the B- reflects it.
A whole weekend of picks and safety is somehow still a want. Kilgore falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
The roster is better shaped than it was, with cornerback chief among the fixes.
A competent weekend that does not make headlines and does not need to.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 17 they get an anchor for the offensive line, though the board says they badly overpaid. The biggest hole, addressed.
Gabe Jacas in slot 50 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Jalon Kilgore at the 118th pick is the proof. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
No edge and no loss on Kaleb Proctor in the 128th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Nate Boerkircher. The roster fit checks out.
Kaleb Elarms-Orr at pick 181 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A big swing on Kaelon Black at the Round 6 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
TJ Hall at the 213th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A premium they did not need to pay, Miles Kitselman a notch or two before his time. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.