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Eric WoodyardApr 13, 2026, 06:00 AM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Eric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in September 2019 as an NBA reporter dedicated to the Midwest region before switching to his current role in April 2021. The Flint, Mich. native is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has authored\/co-authored three books: “Wasted,” “Ethan’s Talent Search” and “All In: The Kelvin Torbert Story”. He is a proud parent of one son, Ethan.<\/p>\n Multiple Authors<\/p>\n DETROIT — The 2026 NFL draft<\/a> (8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, ESPN App) will start on April 23 in Pittsburgh. The Detroit Lions<\/a> are scheduled to make nine of the draft’s 257 picks<\/a>, beginning with the No. 17 selection of the first round on Thursday night<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the three-day event (Rounds 2-3 on April 24 and Rounds 4-7 on April 25), we will update this page with analysis on every pick.<\/p>\n A full list of the Lions’ selections are below, in addition to positional needs.<\/p>\n NFL draft coverage: Round 1: No. 17 overall<\/p>\n Round 2: No. 50<\/p>\n Round 4: No. 118<\/p>\n Round 4: No. 128<\/p>\n Round 5: No. 157<\/p>\n Round 5: No. 181<\/p>\n Round 6: No. 205<\/p>\n Round 6: No. 213<\/p>\n Round 7: No. 222<\/p>\n Top three needs<\/a>: OL, Edge, CB<\/p>\n After struggling to adapt to new faces on the line last season and the release of veteran left tackle Taylor Decker<\/a>, Detroit can benefit from drafting an O-lineman early. Adding an edge rusher to pair with Pro Bowl defensive end Aidan Hutchinson<\/a> would also be smart, as Al-Quadin Muhammad<\/a> signed with Tampa Bay in free agency. Plus, the Lions’ cornerback room was plagued by injuries the past couple of seasons.<\/p>\n Which position group will the Lions focus on early — offensive line or defensive line?<\/p>\n Defensive line. When free agency opened, the Lions were aggressive in revamping the offensive line by adding Panthers center Cade Mays, ex-Dolphins lineman Larry Borom and veteran guard Ben Bartch. So it wouldn’t be surprising for Detroit to try to strengthen its defensive line early in the draft, particularly with a young, promising player to pair with Hutchinson. Muhammad had a breakout 2025 season, recording 11 sacks, 20 quarterback hits and nine tackles for loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eric WoodyardApr 13, 2026, 06:00 AM ET CloseEric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-865483","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\/116396999817227230","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865483","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=865483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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