Detroit Lions: Lowering the boom in my first and last 2021 mock draft

2021 Detroit Lions Mock Draft, Fifth Round

At pick 153, I’m starting to look for either one skill that stands out or versatility that will give these players an opportunity to bring something to the table.

With that mindset, the Lions use pick number 153 to select Tulane edge rusher Cam Sample.

Sample has good functional strength and finds the ball. He isn’t blessed with speed off the edge like Elerson Smith, but at Tulane, he played all across the defensive line and was even used as a stand-up rush linebacker.

Cam has the ability to be a rotational player that will contribute against the pass and the run. He also will be able to slide to the inside on passing downs to help create some pressure up the middle. Sample’s versatility and motor could make him a quality contributor.

I hardly have time to digest the pick of Sample before the Lions are back on the board at pick number 160. There are a couple of directions I could go, but I go back to the well and continue to fortify the Lions defensive front seven.

With pick number 160 the Lions select Purdue linebacker, Derrick Barnes.

Barnes is a little short and not an overly gifted athlete, but he has a nose for the ball and arrives with an attitude. Barnes is a sure tackler who doesn’t give up yards after contact.

In the long run, Barnes could challenge for a starting position, but in the short term, he brings more depth to a position that had previously been very weak and he will almost assuredly be an immediate core special teams player while developing.

These fifth-round picks are spaced just far enough apart for me barely finish my train of thought before I’m on the clock again.