Detroit Lions full 2018 NFL mock draft

The Detroit Lions will have six picks to get better as a football team in the upcoming NFL Draft. Here is the latest 2018 NFL mock draft for the Lions.

Well, it didn’t happen last year for the Detroit Lions. That’s for sure. In a weird year in the NFC North, no, Detroit did not get it done against the likes of Brett Hundley, Case Keenum and Mitchell Trubisky in divisional play. Detroit did not make the playoffs and head coach Jim Caldwell was fired. So in comes former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and his trusty No. 2 pencil to Motown.

Patricia was able to retain highly sought after offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. The new Lions head coach has a strong working relationship with general manager Bob Quinn from their time together in Foxborough. Together, they will look to usher in a new era of Lions football, one that gives the city a tough, consistent brand of football.

This will be Patricia’s first draft as a head coach, and he’ll need to hit it out of the park along with Quinn to help hasten the Lions’ brief reloading process. Detroit may be a bit back of the Minnesota Vikings for competing for a division crown in the NFC North. But that doesn’t mean that the Lions can’t compete for a wild card berth in a deep NFC.

Detroit has six picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. The Lions have primary needs at safety, running back and at guard. Secondary needs include center, wide receiver and out on the edge. Tertiary needs include offensive tackle, linebacker, tight end and guard. Here is the latest NFL mock draft for the Lions.

First Round

We all know who the No. 1 running back off the board in the upcoming draft will be. That will be Saquon Barkley out of Penn State. Now what about the second running back to be taken. If there is a running back poised to also go in the first round along with Barkley, it would have to be Derrius Guice out of LSU.

Guice had backed up Jacksonville Jaguars starting running back Leonard Fournette during his first two years in Baton Rouge. But that really doesn’t matter, as Guice emerged as a workhorse in the Bayou Bengals backfield. He rushed for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns during his sophomore and junior years in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Overall, Guice had 471 career carries in three seasons at LSU for 3,074 yards and 29 touchdowns. He improved as a receiver out of the backfield each year, as Guice leaves the SEC with 32 career receptions for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Keep in mind how horrendous LSU has been at slinging the pigskin since Zach Mettenberger went pro back in 2014.

At the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Guice ran a 4.49 40-yard dash. He put up 15 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press, posting a vertical jump of 31.5 inches. Given that Detroit has struggled to put a reliable ball carrier next to Matthew Stafford, this is a clear choice for the Lions to make in the draft.