Erasing Ebron: Let’s re-draft the Detroit Lions 2014 NFL Draft picks

Detroit Lions’ re-draft round 3

Again, this is backward and in hindsight but it’s an exercise in what kinds of better opportunities could have been taken by former general manager Martin Mayhew, who was dismissed after 2015. In round three, the Lions decided to use their selection on an interior offensive lineman, Travis Swanson, at pick 76.

Part of what made this a bad pick was Swanson’s injury situation as a professional athlete, which is sometimes unavoidable. Swanson started 42 games at center for the Lions from 2014-2017 and then was let go after the new coaches put Graham Glasgow in his spot; they later drafted another Razorbacks’ center, Frank Ragnow, and moved Glasgow back to guard prior to letting him leave in free agency this offseason.

Side note: Swanson replaced former long-time center, Dominic Raiola, who was never a great center, either.

Inside the Top-100 these prospects ought to be still making up the core of your team just six years later. Injuries happen, though, but it seems like the Detroit Lions are a magnet for these players.

With our picks from the previous rounds, we’ve now selected a DE, WR, OC, SS, and OLB in our backward process. We highly considered Gabe Jackson, a guard makes a lot of sense here to rebuild the interior of the offensive line. However, Bashaud Breeland who was taken at pick 102 is our final choice.

A huge problem for the Detroit Lions had been finding a cornerback to pair with Darius Slay and Breeland has started 77 games, although he’s never been a Pro-Bowl level player. Breeland at 5-11, 197-pound is athletic enough to offer help on the other side and is currently playing for the world champion Kansas City Chiefs. He only ran a 4.57-second forty but had good broad jump, short shuttle, and 10-yard split times, according to his Draft Scout profile.