B-
Detroit Lions
The Lions kept it disciplined and banked a B-.
by Carter Krystyniak ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 1 steals
· 3 reaches
Call it larceny. Bud Clark sat on the board until Round 4, Pick 28, and the Lions did not need to be asked twice. It does the job without flash, and the B- reflects it.
Leaving running back unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. If Coogan pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about.
On the needs board they went 7 of 9, with cornerback the one that mattered most.
Good work on the whole, with running back the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 17 they get a building block for the line. The biggest hole, addressed.
By-the-book stuff, Gabe Jacas at No. 50 squarely in line with his ranking. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A conviction pick on Harold Perkins Jr. at pick No. 118 that the board grades a round light. It fills a real need, too.
They will replay Bud Clark at the 128th pick for years; that is how good the value is. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Zxavian Harris at pick 157 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Pat Coogan in slot 181 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A straight-up fair deal on Dallen Bentley at Round 6, Pick 24, value and slot in agreement. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Sawyer Robertson in the 213th overall pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Andre Fuller. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.