Detroit Lions full 2020 NFL mock draft

Last season, Devon Kennard and Trey Flowers competently led the Lions with 36 quarterback hits between them. Kennard, however, has joined the New York Giants this offseason, and Detroit didn’t exactly have much production behind those two in the pass-rushing department.

At the very least, the Lions must replace the sacks left behind by Kennard and with Young unlikely in the first round, drafting an edge rusher in the second round is their best bet. A high second-round pick is a great spot to get value off the edge, and waiting any longer makes it difficult for the Lions to find an actual upgrade. There are always exceptions, prominently trade candidate Yannick Ngakoue, but it’s usually extremely hard to find a great edge defender after the first two rounds.

Yetur Gross-Matos is a possible first-round pick but he’s more likely to hear his name called early in round two because of concerns about his pro-readiness. Teams are willing to take talented projects off the edge like Gross-Matos early, but the Lions could get great value in the Penn State edge defender if he’s available here.

A potentially great foil for Flowers on the other side of the four-man defensive line, Gross-Matos has incredible length at 6-foot-5, 266 pounds and had a hair under 10 sacks in each of his past two seasons with the Nittany Lions.

Expecting Gross-Matos to be a star from the first day of his arrival is risky, but he should eventually develop into a special player for the Lions. They have to think about the long-term with their picks because they won’t win the division in 2020.