{"id":587323,"date":"2026-04-05T15:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587323\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:48:07","slug":"espn-shares-7-round-nfl-mock-draft-for-detroit-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587323\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN shares 7-round NFL mock draft for Detroit Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

With nine picks in the upcoming 2026 NFL draft<\/a>, the Detroit Lions<\/a> have an opportunity to address some of their key needs and to hopefully restock towards a return trip to the NFC Championship game and beyond.<\/p>\n

As the draft in Pittsburgh creeps closer, ESPN’s Matt Miller put together a full seven-round mock draft<\/a>. Who do the Lions draft in Miller’s seven-round mock?<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Here’s how Miller sees the Lions’ nine selections unfolding:<\/p>\n

ESPN 7-round Detroit Lions 2026 NFL mock draft<\/p>\n

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

Round 2 (No. 50 overall): UCF EDGE, Malachi Lawrence<\/p>\n

Round 4 (No. 118 overall): Michigan<\/a> LB, Jimmy Rolder<\/p>\n

Round 4 (No. 128 overall): Clemson<\/a> DT, DeMonte Capehart<\/p>\n

Round 5 (No. 157 overall): Virginia RB, J’Mari Taylor<\/p>\n

Round 5 (No. 181 overall): Texas Tech WR, Reggie Virgil<\/p>\n

Round 6 (No. 205 overall): Baylor QB, Sawyer Robertson<\/p>\n

Round 6 (No. 213 overall): Iowa G, Beau Stephens<\/p>\n

Round 7 (No. 222 overall): Washington CB, Ephesians Prysock<\/p>\n

Here’s what Miller wrote about the Lions’ projected first-round selection, Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling:<\/p>\n

Taylor Decker’s release leaves an opening at left tackle barring a move from Penei Sewell from the right side. Either way, the Lions need tackle help. Freeling was a one-year starter at Georgia but has elite traits in terms of movement, size (6-foot-7, 315 pounds) and 4.93 speed. Freeling is one of the few proven left tackles with a Round 1 grade and has the upside of a higher-end starter thanks to his upper-level athletic skills plus his development over the course of the 2025 season. – Matt Miller, ESPN<\/p>\n

And on Detroit’s second-round selection, UCF EDGE Malachi Lawrence:<\/p>\n

We’ve been begging for the Lions to pick an edge rusher to play opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Lawrence is a speedy, upside rusher with 4.52 speed and a 253-pound frame. He can easily slot in for departed free agent Al-Quadin Muhammad and be a Week 1 starter. – Matt Miller, ESPN<\/p>\n

Detroit addresses its two largest needs with its first two selections under this projection. Then, the Lions make selections at linebacker and defensive tackle before a run of four offensive players and capping the draft with some corner help.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/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

Advertisement<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: ESPN shares 7-round NFL mock draft for Detroit Lions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With nine picks in the upcoming 2026 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions have an opportunity to address some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[28783,109528,64,63,229254,3055,287234,794,161670,254519,282179,15427,241700,593,30313,5132,231625,85,92990],"class_list":{"0":"post-587323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-aidan-hutchinson","9":"tag-al-quadin-muhammad","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-demonte-capehart","13":"tag-detroit-lions","14":"tag-ephesians-prysock","15":"tag-espn","16":"tag-first-round-selection","17":"tag-malachi-lawrence","18":"tag-matt-miller","19":"tag-mock-draft","20":"tag-monroe-freeling","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-penei-sewell","23":"tag-pittsburgh","24":"tag-sawyer-robertson","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-taylor-decker"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}