2019 NFL Draft: Detroit Lions 7-round 2019 mock draft 1.0

Bob Quinn has often been criticized early in his tenure as general manager of the Detroit Lions for failing to address the defensive line. That criticism continued into last offseason and even into last season until the team got a breakout performances from A’Shawn Robinson and rookie Da’Shawn Hand and added Damon Harrison in a mid-season trade with the New York Giants. Now the Lions can feel good about the interior of their defensive line, but that shouldn’t take Houston’s Ed Oliver out of consideration.

For as solid as the Lions’ defensive line is starting to look, they still lack a truly disruptive presence in the passing game. Oliver can be that missing piece. Though he lacks ideal size for playing inside, his athleticism has him drawing comparisons to Aaron Donald. That’s high praise.

The question for where and when to play him might seem like something that needs to be figured out considering some of the personnel already in place, but the fact is it might not matter. Oliver’s athletic profile is so freaky he could put on the field anywhere in the front seven.

Don’t take that to mean the Lions should look to make him a full time linebacker, but he brings the kind of versatility that could let Matt Patricia and the Lions defense do some more exotic things with their pass rush than we saw in Patricia’s first year on the job. The possibilities really open up on third downs in passing situations when Damon Harrison comes off the field. Play him inside, play him outside, stand him up — just put him on the field.

The Lions once passed on Aaron Donald in part because they already had Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley. It wasn’t long before they had neither while Donald has gone on to be one of the most dominant defensive players in the game. There may be bigger needs or better fits for right now, but being too short-sighted in the NFL Draft is a major danger.