With only one more game to go for the Lions this season, the countdown is officially on for the 2022 NFL Draft.
Brad Holmes & Co. are slotted to make two selections in the first round of the draft, presently at No. 2 overall and then toward the end of the round (via the playoff-bound L.A. Rams).
Let's take a look now at who the Lions could be taking with those two picks.
First round, No. 2 overall: Georgia LB Nakobe Dean
Holmes and Detroit's front office throw a curveball here, and select the standout Georgia linebacker.
The 2021 Butkus Award winner and first-team All-America selection was all over the field against the Michigan Wolverines in the '21 College Football Playoff semifinal round.
His big night in the Orange Bowl included seven total tackles (two tackles for loss), as well as a season-best five QB hits, a sack and a forced fumble.
Michigan's offensive line, which won the 2021 Joe Moore Award for the best collegiate football offensive line unit, had trouble blocking Dean all night long. And, that could be a foreshadowing of the problems that offensive lines at the next level will encounter against Dean.
Dean hasn't previously been mocked to go as high as No. 2. However, his stock has certainly risen since his "coming-out-party" on the national stage against Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines, and there's no doubt that the Bulldogs product would immediately upgrade the Lions' linebacker corps.
If I'm Holmes, I'm saying forget all the prognostications and I'm taking the high-impact linebacker with the No. 2 pick.
First round, No. 30 overall (via the Matthew Stafford trade with the Rams): USC WR Drake London
Detroit pairs emerging wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown with his former USC teammate, Drake London.
In 2021, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound London caught 88 balls for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns for the Trojans.
St. Brown and London would have the potential to form an electric receiving combo in the Motor City, providing the Lions with two players to build around on the offensive side of the ball for years to come.
If I'm Holmes, I'm snagging the former multi-sport standout -- he's also played on the USC basketball team -- at this spot in the first round.
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