{"id":850290,"date":"2026-04-02T23:59:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/850290\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T23:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:59:19","slug":"nfl-com-shares-ideal-top-two-detroit-lions-draft-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/850290\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL.com shares ‘ideal’ top two Detroit Lions draft picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an NFL free agency cycle that’s been largely without splashes and defined by a series of cheap, short-term deals<\/a>, the Detroit Lions<\/a> really need to make the 2026 NFL draft count.<\/p>\n

With young stars Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Brian Branch and Sam LaPorta all in the mix to receive long-term, lucrative extensions, it makes sense why Detroit didn’t go crazy in NFL free agency.<\/p>\n

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But, again, that means the Lions need to hit in this 2026 NFL draft, especially with their two top-50 draft picks.<\/p>\n

NFL.com’s Eric Edholm shared his ideal top two picks<\/a> for each team in the 2026 NFL draft. Here’s what Edholm has as the Lions’ ideal top two picks:<\/p>\n

Detroit Lions’ ideal top two 2026 NFL draft picks<\/p>\n

Round 1: No. 17 overall: Georgia<\/a> OT Monroe Freeling<\/p>\n

Round 2: No. 50 overall: Illinois EDGE Gabe Jacas<\/p>\n

These two picks would address the Lions’ two biggest needs heading into the 2026 NFL draft with Detroit’s first two selections. Here’s what Edholm wrote about why these are the ideal top two picks for Detroit:<\/p>\n

I keep hearing that Freeling could go as high as the top 10, but this is how the table was set, and the Lions might gobble him up if he\u2019s there. The release of\u00a0Taylor Decker<\/a>\u00a0leaves a big hole that\u2019s currently set to be filled by\u00a0Larry Borom<\/a>, which is not enough. Jacas is a high-energy tone-setter who\u2019s regarded as a great leader and locker-room presence. Both are traits the Lions look for, and they\u2019re always hunting quality edge help. – Eric Edholm, NFL.com<\/p>\n

Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling feels like a projection that’s picking up steam around NFL draft circles. On the heels of last season’s offensive line regression, Lions fans should be ecstatic if the franchise finds its long-term answer opposite three-time first-team All-Pro Penei Sewell at offensive tackle.<\/p>\n

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Freeling is a 6-foot-7, 315-pound offensive tackle that tested well at the NFL combine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Larry Borom, who the Lions inked to a one-year, $5 million deal<\/a>, brings 38 career starts and 63 games of NFL regular-season experience to the Motor City. With the Freeling selection, the Lions would have a nice group of three offensive tackles heading into 2026.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Detroit needs to get Aidan Hutchinson help. Illinois’ Gabe Jacas was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2025 as he totaled 13.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. Jacas started 12 games for the Illini, tallying 43 tackles, three forced fumbles and a pass defended last season.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound EDGE is regarded as ESPN’s No. 44 overall best available player<\/a> in the upcoming 2026 NFL draft.<\/p>\n

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For more\u00a0Lions<\/a>\u00a0coverage, follow us on X,\u00a0@TheLionsWire<\/a>, and give our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0page a like.\u00a0Follow Josh on X,\u00a0@JoshOnLions<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: NFL.com shares ‘ideal’ top two Detroit Lions draft picks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After an NFL free agency cycle that’s been largely without splashes and defined by a series of cheap,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4955,1817,1524,113,9511,5409,7,23926,16688,1674,20332,54561,6,15,645,7472,19192],"class_list":{"0":"post-850290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-aidan-hutchinson","10":"tag-brian-branch","11":"tag-detroit-lions","12":"tag-draft-picks","13":"tag-eric-edholm","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-gabe-jacas","16":"tag-jack-campbell","17":"tag-jahmyr-gibbs","18":"tag-larry-borom","19":"tag-monroe-freeling","20":"tag-nfl","21":"tag-nfl-draft","22":"tag-penei-sewell","23":"tag-sam-laporta","24":"tag-taylor-decker"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116337833730572969","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}