A report from Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network on Monday put a little roar into the Lions’ den. Garafolo noted on the network’s morning show that the Detroit Lions have had pre-draft meeting teleconferences with “several” of the top quarterback prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft. Oregon’s Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama are among those mentioned specifically by Garafolo in his report.
Herbert and Tagovailoa are both presumptive top 10 overall picks and could be in the mix as high as No. 2 overall to Washington. Detroit picks third and has no immediate need for a quarterback, though the Lions could be in the market to trade the pick to a team desiring one of the two highly-touted QBs.
Our take
Of course they are interviewing the top QBs. It’s called due diligence and it would be negligent if GM Bob Quinn and his staff failed to take advantage of the opportunity to get to better know future opponents. It doesn’t mean the Lions are drafting Herbert or Tagovailoa, nor does it mean they’re looking to dump Stafford.
Even this report is quite careful to note the truth:
The Lions aren’t moving on from Matthew Stafford this season, especially given how good he looked before a back injury wiped out the second half of his season.
and continues,
It’s not unusual for teams drafting early in the first round to do due diligence on every conceivable player who might be available in that position. With the Lions picking so high, that means knowing the quarterbacks. If they surprised and actually pulled the trigger on selecting one, it would cause a cascading effect through the rest of the draft.
Don’t read any more into the report than just that.
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