Detroit Lions: All signs point to this first-round selection

The Other Defensive Candidates

Let’s just say that Thursday night proves all of us wrong, and the Lions get someone besides Okudah. Here is the list of remaining players that seem at all plausible to go to the Lions, as well as the likelihood that they end up with the Lions from what I gather. Indeed, it’s a pretty short list, and with Okudah at 75 percent, it leaves pretty long odds for each of these guys as well.

Chase Young, DE Ohio State: Crazy things do happen on draft night. Maybe Washington rethinks the way Young finished the season and gets cold feet. Maybe Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has a vivid dream on Wednesday night and wakes up deciding he must, must, must have Tua Tagovailoa in turquoise at any cost. A slide of even one spot drops Young into Detroit’s lap. Likelihood of this happening: 5 percent

Isaiah Simmons, LB/S Clemson: Simmons won a national championship, played in another, won the Butkus Award, and perhaps most relevant of all, was the unofficial MVP of the NFL Combine in February. His workout numbers are off the charts, and his degree of versatility just might  sway a defensive brain trust that could probably find a lot of uses for him.

Still, the potential of being a jack of all trades, but a master of none, leaves Okudah as a much safer option, especially with Darius Slay’s departure in the secondary. Likelihood of this happening: 10 percent

Derrick Brown, DT Auburn: A defensive tackle behemoth just maybe in the mold of Ndamukong Suh, Brown would instantly be expected to fill in where Damon Harrison used to roam. He doesn’t have Young’s explosiveness, Simmons’s raw athleticism and intrigue, or the ‘sure thing’ label that Okudah seems to.

But Brown has become a dark horse candidate for the Lions. And one they could probably trade down several spots to obtain. Likelihood of this happening: 7 percent