2026 Detroit Lions Mock Draft: Finding the right talent to take them to the playoffs again

The 2025 NFL season has come to a close, leaving us ready to start the NFL draft process.

The Detroit Lions find themselves in what might be the most competitive division in all of football, with the Bears and Packers joining them as three of the most talented teams in the NFC on paper. It's tough - but not impossible - for all three of these teams to make the playoffs in 2026. The Lions, for obvious reasons, have the most ground to make up to get back there, being the team that missed out last season.

With a solid roster in place and a few small holes to fill, let's see if we can find some luxury picks that we think can improve on the team enough to perhaps even win the division.

For this Detroit Lions mock draft, we are restricting ourselves from trading and we don't have any details on how free agency will shake out.

Let's get to it!

Detroit Lions Mock Draft Picks

• Round 1, Pick 17: Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah

• Round 2, Pick 50: LT Overton, EDGE, Alabama

• Round 4, Pick 118: Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn State

• Round 5, Pick 155: Taylen Green, QB, Arkansas

• Round 6, Pick 180: Charlie Demmings CB, Stephen F. Austin

• Round 6, Pick 204: Lewis Bond, WR, Boston College

• Round 6, Pick 212: Trey Zuhn III, C, Texas A&M

• Round 7, Pick 222: Jakobe Thomas, S, Miami (FL)

Draft Analysis

We start on both sides of the line, adding impact players Caleb Lomu and LT Overton in the first two rounds. Both players match the physical style of football that Dan Campbell wants to deploy. Depth is sorely needed at both positions, but particularly on the offensive line, so these picks feel like safe bets to be the Lions' direction come April.

The surprise here, though is the ultra-luxury selection of Taylen Green in the fifth round. Hendon Hooker was released, leaving obvious-starter Jared Goff and backup journeyman Kyle Allen as the only QBs currently on the roster. It's clear to me that, when they drafted Hendon Hooker, they were looking to find someone to develop behind Goff to be the possible heir apparent, and they could look to do the same here with Taylen Green. I think that Green could eventually become a spot-starter type that could fill in if Goff gets injured, so while the ceiling here is probably not as high as the Lions would like, they're also in a position where they can at least have a competent backup ready in the wing with time to develop him into more.

Fantasy Impacts

There are no direct fantasy impacts here. We know what the Lions are at this point - a run-first, play-action-off-it offense with a condensed target tree of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and, when healthy, Sam LaPorta. Nothing changes that here.

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