With the Senior Bowl and other draft showcase events done, all eyes turn to the NFL scouting combine at the end of this month.

Through early mock drafts, the Detroit Lions have been commonly linked to offensive linemen and pass rushers. And that’s the route ESPN’s Matt Miller took with a post-Senior Bowl two-round mock.

General manager Brad Holmes and the Lions will operate from the 17th pick in the first round and the 50th selection in the second round.

ESPN’s latest mock draft had Detroit selecting Auburn edge defender Keldric Faulk in the first round, then Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor in the second round. Iheanachor participated in the Senior Bowl and was noted for playing well with those chances.

Honestly, the Lions need urgent help on the offensive line at tackle and center, with more interior depth at guard right up there, as well. But if they were to go for any other position than the offensive line in the first round, then adding another pass rusher feels like the best course of action.

Faulk has not been featured on our weekly roundups tracking projections for the Lions. Still, Faulk has inside-outside versatility thanks to his size (6-foot-6, 285 pounds) and powerful pass-rushing ability. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Lions have always preferred a pocket-crushing, powerful pass rusher on the other side of Aidan Hutchinson, not to mention someone who can kick inside.

Pass rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad had a breakout campaign opposite Hutchinson this most recent season. But he’s a pending free agent and likely earned outside interest after an 11-sack year.

There could be an argument that Detroit’s defense needs to embrace a little change and a new flavor for the side opposite Hutchinson. But at this stage of draft season, Faulk seems like someone who will stick as a name to watch thanks to his on-paper fit and what the Lions have targeted under Holmes.

Faulk’s production drop is concerning after posting a strong seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss in 2024. The junior mustered only two sacks and five tackles for loss in the same number of games in 2025.

Pro Football Focus ranks Faulk as the 16th-best prospect and fourth among edge defenders. He graded as a top-10 run stopper at his position for the entire season — another strong link here. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has him further down the board at 27th, while praising his frame and length, but worrying about his twitch and explosion.

Shifting to ESPN’s name for the second round. Let’s put it like this: if the Lions draft anything other than an offensive lineman in the first round, then the next selection had better be for a tackle or a center.

Iheanachor is a pure right tackle who packs some punch at 6-foot-6, 330 pounds. Veteran Lions left tackle Taylor Decker is considering retirement, and Dan Skipper has already called it a career. Whether Decker returns or not, the Lions must operate with the thinking that he’s gone this offseason. All-Pro center Frank Ragnow retired after the draft last year, and the interior offensive line never recovered.

If Decker were to return, then the Lions should still take a shot at drafting a tackle early to be prepared. If Decker walks away, then they need as many options as possible. With someone like Iheanachor in the fold, Penei Sewell could plan to move to the left side, as Miller notes in his mock draft.

Iheanachor played nearly 1,800 snaps at right tackle over the last two seasons at Arizona State, with only two snaps in three years coming elsewhere. He didn’t allow a single sack across 484 pass-blocking reps for the Sun Devils in 2025, and is widely viewed as a raw, high upside prospect.

The redshirt senior tackle moved to Los Angeles from Nigeria when he was just 13 years old and didn’t even play football in high school. But Iheanachor was able to land with a junior college (East Los Angeles) football program, continued to develop with his imposing size and put his name on the map in a hurry.

“His tape isn’t perfect, but it’s full of clues hinting he could end up being one of the best offensive linemen in this year’s draft class,” Jeremiah writes in his prospect rankings. “It might take a little time, but Iheanachor has the raw tools to develop into a high-level starter.”