The general trend of class quality is not ideal, but the Detroit Lions still stand as one of the best-drafting teams in the NFL over the last five years. Perhaps more than ever though, with an allergy to doing much of anything in free agency, the 2026 draft has taken on great importance after missing the playoffs last season.
Still, Brad Holmes, Dan Campbell and the Lions front office will march to the beat of their own drum. Sure there are needs to fill, and history says they won't ignore them, but they also won't be married to need so much that they reach for a player way above where he is on their draft board.
The Lions' perceived needs for this year's draft are obvious: offensive tackle and edge rusher are at the top, followed by the secondary and everything else. As he named one surprising need each team could address in the draft later this month, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report made case for tight end as that need for the Lions.
"The Detroit Lions appear to be set at tight end on first glance. Sam LaPorta leads a group that already includes Brock Wright and they signed Tyler Conklin. It's a strong trio for a team that likes to have multiple tight ends on the field."
"The only caveat is that all three of them are set to become free agents next season. Logic would make LaPorta a priority extension candidate. However, paying him might mean they need to add depth through the draft."
"This year's class has a lot of interesting prospects on Day 3, where the Lions have the draft capital to take a swing on a prospect."
"All three of these tight end prospects can find NFL roles as blockers. With LaPorta taking the lion's share of receiving duties, Detroit could be looking to add versatile tight ends who excel as blockers to replace Wright and Conklin in the coming seasons."
Tight end indeed lands as a sneaky (or not-so sneaky) need for the Lions
An addition to the equation for the Lions at tight end is the back injury that shortened LaPorta's 2025 camp. A herniated disc and the related surgery is nothing to sneeze at, so his status for training camp, and even possibly the start of the season, lingers as a question right now. And in general, as anyone who has back issues knows, back issues often don't tend to just go away completely.
Behind LaPorta, the Lions clearly overvalued Wright when they matched the offer sheet the San Francisco 49ers signed him to a couple years ago. Conklin is an upgrade as the TE2, and he would be the TE1 if there are any unexpected hiccups in LaPorta's recovery from back surgery, but like Ballentine said he's on a one-year deal.
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Ballentine also offered some late-round tight ends who could land on the Lions' radar.
- Sam Roush, Stanford
- Josh Cuevas, Alabama
- Nate Boerkircher, Texas A&M
As evidenced by the impact of LaPorta's absence last season, tight end is a critical piece of the Lions' offense. They also use multiple tight ends a lot, routinely in the top half of the league in rate and raw number of plays over the last few years. That usage of two, and three, tight ends will ramp up as long as Drew Petzing is the offensive coordinator.
Looking beyond next season, tight end depth is looking to be a thing for the Lions. So drafting a tight end has likely been somewhere on the radar all along, while many others can easily see it as a sneakier need right now.