The 29th overall pick is a very unfamiliar spot for the Detroit Lions.
They’re oftentimes selecting in the top 15, top 10, or even the top five, which is indicative of the putrid season they many times have had the year prior to the draft.
But not this year.
The Lions’ emergence has been well documented over the last 18 months, and they now hold the 29th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. And best of all, it’s a pick they didn’t acquire via trade. It’s theirs. They own it.
But while Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell sit back and look to see whom they might select with their late first-round draft choice, conservative is the last thing Detroit needs to be. Yes, the Lions were a game — actually, a half, really — away from the Super Bowl in 2023, but that doesn’t give the franchise a pass in this year’s draft.
They need to ace this thing. The NFC North is now hunting the Detroit Lions.
Think about this scenario for a minute.
The Chicago Bears select Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. The Bears then select [insert top-10 caliber player here] with the ninth pick. Immediately, Chicago improves drastically. Will it be enough to compete for the division title in 2024? Probably not, but they’ll soon be in a spot to do so.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings select their quarterback of the future, J.J. McCarthy, with the No. 11 pick in the draft and fill another need later on in the first round at No. 23 overall. Instantly, Minnesota’s offense becomes lethal, and they will be in prime position to compete for the division title.
Lastly, the Green Bay Packers, a team that was in the NFC Divisional Round last season, use their 25th overall pick on a position of need. The Packers are already likely to be the team that most compete with the Lions for the NFC North title in 2024, but if they put together a home-run draft in 2024, Detroit will get a lot more uncomfortable.
It all goes to show — the NFC North is ascending, and it’s doing so very quickly.
Green Bay was leading by a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter of an NFC Divisional Round game.
Minnesota’s hypothetical offense of McCarthy, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and Aaron Jones is lethal.
And while the Bears are probably still a year or two away from seriously competing, Caleb Williams, a former Heisman Trophy winner, will be leading a solid football team in no time.
Detroit can’t afford to sit back and play the 2024 NFL Draft conservatively. It arguably needs to be as aggressive as last season, when Holmes traded for Jahmyr Gibbs.
If the Lions play this year’s draft safe and just try not to screw up, they could find themselves being eliminated from the NFL playoffs a whole lot sooner than they were in 2023. The NFC North is coming, and it’s Holmes’ job to keep Detroit at the top.