Three Players the Detroit Lions could trade up for in the 2025 NFL Draft

AtoZ Sports

Mike Payton discusses three players the Detroit Lions could look to trade up for in the 2025 NFL Draft!

Transcript

00:00It's really hard to see the Lions picking at 28.

00:03And I think it's because they're going to probably trade up.

00:06And if they do trade up, here's the three guys that they could be moving up for.

00:13I'm Mike Payne with A to Z Sports Detroit.

00:15Today, we're going to talk about why the Lions could potentially trade up

00:18and who they could be trading up for in the 2025 NFL draft.

00:22First off, the Lions are the most unpredictable team

00:28that could possibly be around in the NFL draft.

00:30I think we've seen that over years.

00:33You might think, well, why would they trade up?

00:34That just doesn't seem like a Brad Holmes thing.

00:36Well, they did it last year.

00:37They traded up from 29 to 24 to get Terry and Arnold.

00:40In 2022, they traded up from 32 to 12 to get Jameson Williams.

00:46They've traded up in lower rounds, but trading up in the first is something

00:49they've done two out of the four drafts that they've drafted in,

00:52that Brad Holmes has been the GM of this team for.

00:55It's definitely something that they could be looking to do again.

00:59For a while, I've thought that trading down was probably the way that they would go because,

01:04hey, you can recoup some more picks.

01:07You trade down into the second.

01:09Maybe you have two seconds.

01:10You get an extra third out of it.

01:11Maybe you get a fourth.

01:14For a while, that made sense.

01:15Then I started thinking about it more when it comes to the roster that they currently have.

01:22This is a really good football team.

01:24I know people will freak out about the edges and maybe think that they're not

01:28that great or what have you, but this is one of the best rosters in the NFL.

01:37You could either look at it as, let's grab a bunch more players,

01:42and there'll be some projects, and maybe you get one of those guys who could be good,

01:47or you could take some of those picks, and you could move up,

01:50and you can get a player that you feel the best about,

01:54that you feel can immediately impact this roster even more.

01:59That just seems to make more sense than trading down does.

02:03If the lines were going to move up, there's three players that I've really identified

02:09that would be like, these are the top guys you would move up for.

02:13None of them are edge rushers because I think that this is such a deep edge rusher class

02:18that even if you were to pick one in the second, you're getting a pretty good guy.

02:23I think even if you were to pick one in the high third round,

02:26you're getting a pretty good player.

02:28The three guys are, first off, Alabama linebacker Jahad Campbell.

02:32Now, I know you might think, well, the Lions, they've got enough linebackers.

02:36Why would they take a linebacker?

02:37Why would they trade up for one?

02:39Well, Campbell is maybe the best defensive player in this entire draft.

02:44Abdul Carter is really good.

02:46He's great even, but I think Campbell is the guy that you can do the most with.

02:51He could play that Sam linebacker spot, or you can convert him over to an edge.

02:56He could do that.

02:57He can get to the quarterback, had eight sacks last year,

03:00but he could also be great in coverage, had a couple of broken up passes.

03:05This is kind of a do-everything guy that can do everything immediately,

03:10and I think the Lions would love to have somebody like that on their roster.

03:14The next guy is Tyler Booker, also from Alabama.

03:18I look at Booker as that's your starting guard right there.

03:21You've just lost Kevin Zeitler.

03:22That's a big loss.

03:24That's hard to replace.

03:26Do you want to maybe try one of the guards or tackles later?

03:30Maybe you get a Gray Zabel at 28 or something like that,

03:33or do you want to go for arguably the best guard in the entire draft?

03:37And that's Tyler Booker.

03:38You're going to have to move up a little bit to get him,

03:40because he's probably going to be gone by 28.

03:42I would say that he's definitely going to be gone, actually.

03:45And then the third guy is, look, it's a receiver.

03:49It's Tett McMillan from Arizona.

03:52I know you might be thinking, well, they've got Amon Rosse-Brown.

03:55They've got Jameson Williams.

03:57They have one of the best offenses in the NFL.

03:59Why would they take a receiver?

04:01Why would they trade up for one?

04:02Well, as Brad Holmes said at the NFL Combine, we are not a needs-based drafting team.

04:08This team is all about drafting the best player that they could possibly get.

04:13And McMillan is the difference between,

04:15this is a really great offense, to, oh my God, this offense cannot be stopped.

04:20It changes that much.

04:23What he brings to this Lions team, they don't have.

04:25Contested catches, just a guy who could muscle corners, body guys, still stretch the field,

04:33could do so much, could block.

04:35And just, he would just be a huge upgrade over Tim Patrick, who I love.

04:40I love Tim Patrick, but this is the chance to have an unbelievable

04:44offense with three receivers who are just crazy good.

04:48Obviously, you have got Sam LaPorta and you've got Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery too.

04:52What an offense.

04:53How do you stop that?

04:54And that's why I think that there's a possibility that they would maybe trade up for him.

04:58Or even if he fell to 28, I could still see that happening.

05:02So that is what we think at this point.

05:05We'll see what the Lions wind up actually doing, but do not be shocked

05:09if they decide to trade up for somebody.

05:11We'll see you guys next time.

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