If Chase Young is off the board, who do the Detroit Lions draft?

With the Detroit Lions having the third overall pick, it’s highly likely that Chase Young won’t be available. If that’s the case, who do they draft instead?

At last, the weekly stress for Detroit Lions fans is finally over. Finishing the season with a record of 3-12-1, Detroit locked the third overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Once playoff hopes were dashed for the Lions, the tank was on for Ohio State star defensive end, Chase Young. Midway through the season, the hopes of getting a top pick seemed slim. Lots of pieces had to fall into place, pieces that seemed far-fetched at the time.

Despite having a top three pick in the draft, Detroit still isn’t sitting in the position that they want to be in. Mock drafts like FOX, CBS, and NBC Sports all have Chase Young getting drafted to Washington, one pick before the Lions.

All of these same mock drafts have the Lions drafting Young’s teammate, cornerback, Jeffery Okudah. Now, drafting the Buckeye corner is still a great option for Detroit. But with how lackluster the pass rush was this season, getting a defensive lineman is imperative.

Nonetheless, Okudah is still a great option for the Lions. The junior corner recorded 34 total tackles, with 28 of those being solo. He also defended nine passes and snagged three interceptions.

Having him opposite of cornerback, Darius Slay, along with Justin Coleman as the slot cornerback has the potential to be a very stifling secondary.

With all the talk about the defense, I think a lot of people are overlooking the needs on offense. More specifically, the wide receiver position.

Now you may be thinking, what do you mean? We have Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay, what more do we need at wide receiver?

Well, wide receiver Danny Amendola’s contract expires this upcoming offseason. He only signed a one year deal with Detroit before the 2019 season. Despite not putting up blistering numbers, Amendola was a solid target for the whole carousel of Lions quarterbacks.

He’s only getting older though, as Amendola is the age of 34, and enters his 12th season next year. Even if he re-signs with Detroit, his reliability at the WR3 position will only deplete.

To prepare for this potential hole at receiver, I think the Lions should look at drafting Alabama wideout, Jerry Jeudy. In 13 games this past season for the Tide, he recorded 77 receptions for over 1,100 yards with 10 touchdowns and 15.1 yards per catch.

Standing at 6-foot-1 and 192 pounds, Jeudy isn’t the biggest guy out there. But his incredible speed and route running gives him huge playmaking ability. He can beat you by stretching the field, or he can beat you with his yards after the catch.

Having Jeudy would also force the defense to pick their poison on which receiver they want to lock down. It would be hard to choose from Golladay, Jones, and Jeudy.

The biggest thing for the Detroit Lions in the 2020 draft is to just not mess it up. Each year, they try too hard to find that diamond in the rough, that guy no one talks about but has superstar talent. It’s time they get the big name in the draft, and get this organization turned for the better.