Free agency keeps the NFL team needs for the 2020 NFL Draft ever-shifting. The Detroit Lions still have clear and obvious top needs with their top-5 pick, as all the team picking near the top still do.
It’s the second and third rounds where free agency has really impacted the draft needs for a lot of teams. That’s where a 3-round mock draft like the latest from our brother site, Draft Wire, comes in handy.
Of course, when a trade for the No. 3 spot is part of the projection it’s difficult to focus on the deeper parts of the forecast. Rightly so, because the trade that editor Luke Easterling projects here would be a headline-grabber.
In this scenario, the Miami Dolphins trade up from No. 5 to land Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa. Detroit gets the 5th pick back, as well as Miami’s pick at No. 18 (originally the Steelers’ pick). Detroit parlays the No. 3 pick into landing Ohio State CB Jeff Okudah and South Carolina DT Javon Kinlaw.
Sign me up for that exchange!
The pressing need at EDGE gets addressed in the second round, No. 35 overall, with Alabama’s Terrell Lewis. In the third round it’s Southern Illinois safety Jeremy Chinn, someone the Lions caught up close and personal during Senior Bowl week.