Mock draft season, thankfully for some people, is almost over with the 2024 NFL Draft starting in less than week. Soon we'll know the actual draft results, not what people estimate or use draft simulators to get to.
For the Detroit Lions and general manager Brad Holmes, there's almost no way to go wrong in this year's draft. A later first-round pick than usual is one thing, but Holmes usually makes the right moves in the draft and his peers could take a lesson.
Pro Football Focus has shifted to doing some team-specific 7-round mocks as the draft nears. They have of course done one for the Lions, with Detroit standing pat with all their current picks.
Here's a look at the Lions' haul in the PFF mock.
1st Round, Pick No. 29: Zach Frazier, C/OG, West Virginia
2nd Round, Pick No. 61: Bralen Trice, EDGE, Washington
3rd Round, Pick No. 73: Andru Phillips, CB, Kentucky
5th Round, Pick No. 164: Tahj Washington, WR, USC
6th Round, Pick No. 201: Johnny Dixon, CB, Penn State
6th Round, Pick No. 205: Darius Muasau, LB, UCLA
7th Round, Pick No. 249: Kenny Logan Jr., S, Kansas
Pro Football Focus' own Lions' mock gets mediocre grade
As you learn when you use mock draft simulators and post genuine results, the board may not fall the way you'd like it to. You're simply at the mercy of who's available.
PFF's simulator grades each pick at the end of a mock run, and these picks got a C- (Frazier), a B (Trice, Phillips, Washington), a B- (Dixon), a D (Muasau) and a C+ (Logan).
Overall, the draft drew a C+ grade.
Again, actual spins through a mock draft simulator can be challenging. You won't get every player you want, or take certain positions where you might want to going in. It's funny that PFF's own grading system was so low on their Lions' mock. But it's also proof that it was a genuine and credible result, truly done with their simulator, which stands as a credit to the process that yielded it.