The Detroit Lions have vaulted from the depths of yet another rebuild to a top Super Bowl contender over the last few years, largely on the strength of what they've done in the draft under general manager Brad Holmes.
Often, the Lions have ignored the traditional tropes of positional value to hit on studs (Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell). Other times, fortune has smiled on them (Aidan Hutchinson not being taken No. 1 overall).
The other side of drafting so much young talent is the piper that must be paid when it comes time for second contracts, and not everyone (at least in theory) will be able to be retained. So keeping the pipeline of cheap young talent full via savvy drafting will be important, and there are no signs it won't continue.
As the 2024 college football season winds down toward conference title games, bowl games and the 12-team College Football Playoff, let's take a run at a short Lions' mock draft for 2025.
Using Pro Football Focus' mock draft simulator, here's how a three-round 2025 mock for the Lions came out.
Lions go boring route of a Super Bowl contender in 3-round 2025 mock draft
First Round, No. 32 overall: LT Overton, EDGE, Alabama
Holmes clearly has affinity for Alabama players, though it's worth wondering how that will be impacted down the road as players who played for Nick Saban move on. The Lions also have a clear need at edge rusher, so Overton was the pick here.
Overton (6-foot-5, 283 pounds) has just two sacks this season, but he has 31 quarterback pressures on 218 pass rush snaps (according to Pro Football Focus) with solid all-around grades from PFF (80.4 overall, 76.6 run defense grade, 78.0 pass rush grade) with the kind of alignment versatility the Lions value highly.
Second Round, No. 64 overall: Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
Double-dipping on Alabama players here. Booker played both guard spots his first season with the Crimson Tide, but he has settled in at left guard the last couple seasons and this season he has allowed zero sacks and nine pressures on 323 pass blocking snaps entering Saturday's "Iron Bowl" against Auburn (97.7 PFF pass blocking efficiency).
With left guard Graham Glasgow and right guard Kevin Zeitler on the older side of 30, and Zeitler playing on a one-year deal this year, the Lions seem sure to add a guard somewhere within their first few picks of the 2025 draft.
Third Round, No. 96 overall: Ar'maj Reed-Adams, OG, Texas A&M
For lack of better options in this mock sim, went with another guard.
Reed-Adams (6-foot-5, 330 pounds) is a top-20 graded guard by PFF this season, equally good as a pass and run blocker. He has almost solely played right guard this season (three snaps at right tackle), but he mostly played left guard in 2023 and has made starts at both tackle spots in his career at A&M.
Zeitler may be re-signed before the season is over, and if not then if he is re-signed it will happen before the draft. But that's a big unknown right now, and a succession plan would be somewhere on the radar regardless. Christian Mahogany is a theoretical option to be a future starter at either guard spot for the Lions, after an illness derailed his rookie season this year, but he's a question mark.
So here, as the calendar flips to December, the Lions address a need on the defensive side then double-dip on young guards in a three-round 2025 mock. A boring path, yes, but it's a path that becomes viable when you're a Super Bowl contender with few major needs.