2018 NFL Mock Draft 2.0: The First 20 Picks

I’ve updated my mock draft only up to the Detroit Lions’ pick. How have free agency and trades affected the #20 pick? I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

There’s nothing worse to an NFL draft junkie than waiting around for the draft to start. The Detroit Lions‘ Super Bowl , aka the NFL’s annual selection meeting, doesn’t start until Thursday, April 26th. That’s four more weeks. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. What is this, Shawshank?

Anyway, I’m going to update my predictions for most of the first round. In any instance where I don’t change my pick, I’ll just briefly refer to my previous post.

Last week, I also updated what the Lions general manager, Bob Quinn, might be thinking after some free agent moves. Not much has changed on that front, but a couple of moves do continue to change what we have to do.

New moves

Wesley Johnson, a center, formerly of the New York Jets, adds depth to the interior of the offensive line. Johnson made fifteen starts for the Jets in 2017, but was underwhelming in his performance. The Lions also added Levine Toilolo, a blocking tight end, formerly with the Atlanta Falcons. Toilolo is a replacement for Darren Fells, after he signed a deal to go to the Cleveland Browns as a free agent.

Nothing to get too excited about, not just this week, but the whole free agency period. It reads like a rendition of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Hopefully, slow and steady does win the race.

What those signings mean to fans is that the Lions aren’t spending big money on free agents, but are still trying to address needs before the draft comes. The Toilolo signing gives the Lions a very similar set of tight ends to what they had last year, at a lower cost, but without some of the production.

I’m going to take the picks in groups of five at a time, since the main thing that I want to discuss is how the things might have changed for Detroit.