Breaking down the Detroit Lions’ pre-draft visit list and what it may mean for their 2025 NFL Draft plans.
This week, the Detroit Lions had their local pro day. While reports on participants are not comprehensive and may include one or two players who didn’t actually show up, we currently have a reported list of about 30 players who were invited to the event. On top of that, some of the Lions’ top-30 and local visits are starting to leak to the media. While it’s important not to overreact too much to an incomplete list, Detroit has made it a habit of drafting players they meet with in the pre-draft process. Sometimes they’ve drafted a handful of players they had formal meetings with at the NFL Combine , sometimes they’ve picked players they brought into the facility on a pre-draft visit.
On this week’s Midweek Mailbag podcast, Erik Schlitt and I discussed the current list of pre-draft visits and tried to assess what that may mean for the team’s draft plans. For example, the Lions have seemingly had a lot of contact with SAM linebacker types (ie: Josaiah Stewart, Que Robinson). Does this mean the Lions will be more willing to have a smaller pass rusher who may not be as physical and dominant in the run game? Are they just trying to find a backup SAM? Could Detroit already be planning to move Derrick Barnes to WILL after Alex Anzalone is gone? We discuss that, the focus on safeties, and other observations from the pre-draft visit list. This conversation is at the very beginning of the podcast.
Here are some other topics we talk about on this week’s show:
- Which EDGE prospects would you take before OL Tyler Booker, if available at 28?
- Who are our top-five options at pick 28?
- How high would we trade up in this year’s draft? How high do we think Brad Holmes would trade up?
- Are the Lions more likely to trade up or trade down? What are the pros, cons of each move?
- How would you feel if the Lions drafted Kenneth Grant on Day 1 and Josaiah Stewart on Day 2?
- What are some top-heavy positions in this year’s draft? When could we see runs on specific positions?
- What are our predictions on an Aidan Hutchinson deal, and when will it happen?
You can listen to the entire show in the embedded player below, or on whichever podcasting platform you prefer.
You can also catch the entire show—plus some bonus footage—over on our YouTube and Twitch channels.