Lions Select Quarterback in Daniel Jeremiah's Latest Mock Draft
To take a quarterback or not ... that is the multi-million dollar question for Brad Holmes and the Detroit Lions at No. 7 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
At least one NFL Draft analyst believes the answer should be "yes."
NFL Network draft pundit Daniel Jeremiah has Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields slotted to the Lions at No. 7 in his latest mock draft for NFL.com.
As Jeremiah explains,
"This could be a trade spot, with some teams picking after Detroit potentially in the market for a quarterback, but I wouldn't rule out the Lions staying put and taking a signal-caller themselves. Fields has more upside than Jared Goff."
If the Lions do indeed go quarterback at No. 7, Fields would be an intriguing option.
The 6-foot-3, 223-pound passer recorded 2,100 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions during his final campaign with the Buckeyes.
He also brings to the table the ability to beat opponents with his legs. In fact, he totaled 383 yards and five touchdowns on the ground in 2020.
Kyle Robertson, Imagn Content Services, LLC
The 2019 Heisman finalist also impressed during his Ohio State pro day March 30.
He clocked in with an unofficial 4.44 40-yard dash -- the fastest 40 time recorded by a quarterback since Robert Griffin III ran a 4.41 at the 2012 NFL scouting combine.
Here's what one NFC offensive coach said about Fields' pro day performance, per Sports Illustrated The MMQB's Albert Breer:
“He lit it up. It’s what I expected. That stuff’s not an issue. The physical stuff has always been there. He made a lot of really good throws. Everyone tries to do the movement stuff at these now, sometimes too much, but he really made a great throw running to his left. And weighing 227, running a 4.4 is impressive. … It was outstanding; for what it was. He was outstanding. … Progressing through reads is not the issue with him, it’s more when someone is open, he takes an extra hitch to throw it, and I’m not sure how much he plays on time, which goes back to I’m not sure how great his vision is. But he throws the s--- out of the ball.”
There's also the possibility that the Lions will trade down with another organization, as reported by Breer in his MMQB column this week.
According to Breer,
"And Detroit’s another team I’ve been told to keep an eye on—since they can give other teams an opportunity to jump Carolina and Denver in the quarterback line (though that’d more likely be a draft-day deal, since you can’t totally be sure who’ll be there at No. 7 right now). I’m told they’ve got a cluster of players ID’d they’d be good with at seven, but are open to doing a deal to move down as well."
If Detroit decides to retain the pick, however, you definitely can't count them out of the QB sweepstakes, especially if Fields remains available.
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