Lions Planning To Pick At No. 5?

According to Armando Salguero, the Lions are making plans for the draft tonight as if they will be picking at No. 5 overall. 

That would mean Detroit will have moved down from its current No. 3 overall selection with the Dolphins at No. 5, as has been rumored in the past 24 hours. 

The Lions have been open to trading down for months. Detroit is presumably targeting one of the top defenders in this draft, with Ohio State CB Jeffrey Okudah and Auburn DT Derrick Brown seen as the two most-likely options.  

ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports the Lions have also had a lot of contact with Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons, so he could be in play in a trade-back scenario for Detroit as well. 

The thinking for the Lions is they can move back, acquire more picks and still have an excellent chance of drafting the same player they would have at No. 3 overall. 

Meanwhile, a report came out yesterday the Dolphins were interested in swapping picks with the Lions, presumably to move ahead of the Giants at No. 4 for an offensive tackle. 

There are four offensive tackles widely seen as in the top tier in this draft — Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs, Alabama OT Jedrick Wills, Georgia OT Andrew Thomas and Louisville OT Mekhi Becton.

The order depends on who you ask but Miami is likely targeting one of those four. Thomas and Becton are among the two that have been linked to them. 

This has been rumored as a possibility for the Dolphins as the draft approaches, but it’s interesting considering Miami needs a quarterback and gave Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa a passing grade on his physical. 

We’ll have more on a potential trade between the Lions and Dolphins as the news is available.