5 draft prospects the Detroit Lions should easily avoid in 2024 NFL Draft

4. Michigan CB Mike Sainristil

The idea of the Lions drafting Sainristil is one a lot of fans are fully on board with, even at No. 29 if that's what it takes to get him. And during an appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show", it's an idea that interests him as a reunion with Aidan Hutchinson.

While there is talk of Brian Branch seeing more time at safety next season, moving him out of nickel/slot corner role he was so good in as a rookie last year would be foolish.

Sainristil's size (5-foot-9, 182 pounds) says he's going to be a slot corner at the next level, and quite possibly a very good one. Last season he lined up in the slot for nearly 59 percent of his snaps (according to PFF). Narrowing to his snaps in the secondary (wide corner, free safety, slot corner), and that rate goes up to nearly 72 percent in the slot.

Plain and simply, Sainristil is a strained fit for what the Lions need most a cornerback. They really shouldn't take him at No. 29, and by the time they pick again at No. 61 (barring a trade of course) he may be gone. That he went to Michigan doesn't make him someone the Lions should blindly draft.

3. Texas DT T'Vondre Sweat

Sweat was someone the Lions showed a lot interest in early in this pre-draft process, and in the idea of him next to Alim McNeill for years to come is definitely intriguing. But a DUI arrest earlier in April invites questions about his judgement at an inopportune time, and according to Dane Brugler of The Athletic Sweat has told teams his partying days are behind him. That he apparently had "partying days" is likely something NFL teams has some awareness of before that recent DUI arrest.

The Lions have a strong emphasis on culture, and the situation with former cornerback Cameron Sutton is fresh for them as this pre-draft process has gone on. If Sweat hasn't been completely scratched from their draft broad in the wake of his DUI arrest, and in lieu of the amount he would have had to drink as a 366-pound man to register a reported .105 blood alcohol content, he has surely dropped down so far they won't be the team who takes him.

The Lions seem likely to draft a defensive tackle. But Sweat is patently unlikely to be the one.