April 5, 2026, 2:55 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
As the 2026 NFL draft in the Steel City nears, final draft projections are beginning to take shape.<\/p>\n
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., Matt Miller, Jordan Reid and Field Yates put their minds together for a rotating 2026 mock draft<\/a>. When pick No. 17 popped up, Mel Kiper was on the clock with the Detroit Lions<\/a>‘ selection.<\/p>\n Who did the longtime ESPN NFL draft analyst project to the Lions?<\/p>\n ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. makes Detroit Lions’ first-round pick<\/p>\n Round 1 (No. 17 overall): Monroe Freeling, OT Georgia<\/a><\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n Regardless of which side Penei Sewell plays next season, the Lions need a long-term answer at the other offensive tackle spot. Freeling started just 17 games in college, but he’s long and quick, and his ceiling is high. – Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN<\/p>\n Freeling to the Lions feels like a projection that’s been picking up steam in recent weeks. The Lions are looking for a Taylor Decker replacement and Freeling might be too good to pass up at No. 17 if he is available.<\/p>\n As their rotating mock draft continued, Matt Miller got to make the Lions’ second-round selection at pick No. 50.<\/p>\n ESPN’s Matt Miller makes Detroit Lions’ second-round pick<\/p>\n Round 2 (No. 50 overall): Jaishawn Barham, EDGE, Michigan<\/a><\/p>\n Detroit goes down the road to get a sudden defender who is still ascending after moving from linebacker to a full-time edge rusher role. Barham could help fill the void opposite Aidan Hutchinson. – Matt Miller, ESPN<\/p>\n A name that many Lions fans are familiar with, Jaishawn Barham totaled 32 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, five quarterback hurries, four sacks, three pass breakups and one forced fumble.<\/p>\n Some help opposite Aidan Hutchinson would be a welcome sight.<\/p>\n 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 5, 2026, 2:55 p.m. ET As the 2026 NFL draft in the Steel City nears, final draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[95878,146,113,2506,7,147,6,52959,96502,97086,95882,95892,95893,95896,95888,95906,97070,95883,99521,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-855667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-lions","11":"tag-detroitlions","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-lions","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnfllions","16":"tag-sstsnlions","17":"tag-tagaidan-hutchinson","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagespn-inc","20":"tag-tagfacebook","21":"tag-tagnational-sports","22":"tag-tagnfl","23":"tag-tagoverall-positive","24":"tag-tagpenei-sewell","25":"tag-tagsports-news","26":"tag-tagtaylor-decker","27":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116353936096978897","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855667","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=855667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}