{"id":860684,"date":"2026-04-08T10:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860684\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T10:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:32:21","slug":"a-pick-by-pick-evaluation-including-alternative-options-at-each-slot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860684\/","title":{"rendered":"A pick-by-pick evaluation, including alternative options at each slot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>(Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Allen Park \u2014 Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft \u2014 general manager Brad Holmes\u2019 third at the helm \u2014 the Detroit Lions were on a good track.<\/p>\n

The franchise was coming off its first winning season in five years, having closed the previous campaign with five victories in the final six games. And a strong foundation had been laid through the past two drafts, with Holmes landing some key cogs in Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill and Kerby Joseph his first two spins through the event.<\/p>\n

Holding two first-round picks, including the No. 6 choice inherited from the Rams as the final piece from the Matthew Stafford trade two years earlier, Holmes was in position to take Detroit to new heights.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the GM capitalized on that prime opportunity.<\/p>\n

Had cornerback Devon Witherspoon made it to the Lions at the team\u2019s original No. 6 draft slot, this might have been a far different event. Instead, Seattle scooped up the versatile defensive back the pick ahead of them, spurring the Lions to trade down six spots, acquiring an early-second rounder and an additional fifth-round choice in the swap.<\/p>\n

After passing up the opportunity to select Bijan Robinson at six, the Lions happily took Gibbs, the speedy dual-threat out of Alabama, at 12.<\/p>\n

There likely would have been no regrets with Witherspoon or Robinson in Honolulu blue, but Gibbs has had a better start to his Pro career than both, racking up more than 5,000 yards from scrimmage and nearly 50 touchdowns through his first three seasons. <\/p>\n

Only 24 years old, the three-time Pro Bowler is tracking toward a lucrative long-term extension that will keep him a featured piece in Detroit\u2019s offense for years to come. <\/p>\n

Alternative option: Cornerback Christian Gonzalez (No. 17)<\/p>\n

Despite signing Cam Sutton to a multi-year contract in free agency a month earlier, the Lions still needed better talent at cornerback. Gonzalez has been awesome during his three seasons with the Patriots, holding opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating under 80.0 when targeted.<\/p>\n

Grade: A+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Getty Images) Allen Park \u2014 Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft \u2014 general manager Brad Holmes\u2019 third at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-860684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroitlions","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-lions","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116368635517612954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860684","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=860684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}