
Although members of the Detroit Lions coaching staff and front office may tell you differently, Jared Goff is not the quarterback of the future. He wasn’t bad enough in 2021 to cause the team to make a desperate move to replace him( like the Panthers), but it is clear to everyone who watched the team last year that he is not the answer. However, the 2022 Quarterback class was not good enough for the Lions to take a new shot caller.
A lot of Lions fans would solve this predicament by simply drafting a franchise guy in the upcoming 2023 draft. While this is the most likely path the team will take, there is a lot of fluctuation with draft order. The 2022 version of the Lions is expected to be much improved. Even though they dropped their first game 38-35 against the Eagles, they showed potential to be a playoff competitor this year.
The Lions are placed at 6.5 wins as the benchmark for their 2022 win total over/under. For the sake of the exercise, I have placed Detroit at the 8th pick, ahead of the 4 teams with less projected wins by Bet365 and the 3 with the same amount. The Bears, Jaguars, and Jets are essentially all locks to not take a quarterback. The Texans likely won’t take one either, but they have less stock in their QB than the previously mentioned squads. The Falcons and panthers are also question marks after they each drafted a Quarterback in the 3rd round in 2022. You never know what a team is going to do in the draft, especially so far in advance, but barring a drastic change the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks would be stupid to not take a top collegiate Quarterback come April.
So what would that mean for GM Brad Holmes and company? Well, the consensus top 2 QBs in the class(Bryce Young from Alabama and CJ Stroud from Ohio state) will most likely be off the board if the Lions do get the 8th pick in the draft. However, the 2023 Quarterback class is one of the deepest in recent history, and there are still franchise caliber guys available. Here are 3 guys Lions fans should keep an eye on during draft season.
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