Detroit Lions: 7-Round 2019 NFL mock draft, version 3.0
By Zac Snyder
The Detroit Lions have a need at tight end and this draft has several good options. Waiting too long could spell disaster by missing out on the handful (or two) who should be able to quickly take on a role in an NFL offense. With that in mind, not letting the third round pass without taking a tight end was a priority and so Mississippi’s Dawson Knox was an easy pick.
The tight end class was starting to thin by this point in the draft, so putting it off did not make sense. That being said, Knox is hardly a consolation or a pick forced by need and circumstance.
Box score scouts will not be impressed with what they see but the lack of statistical production was due to a lack of opportunities, something one scout noted in a quote on Knox’s NFL.com profile:
"“Honestly, I thought they could have gotten way more out of him than they did. They’ve got all those mouths to feed but he should have had more tastes. And I like the effort in the run game. Dog qualities to him.” – NFC area scout"
Bob Quinn has talked in the past about the need to evaluate what a player can do independently from what he was asked to do. Just because a prospect’s college team did not heavily utilize a player like Knox in the passing game should not be taken at face value as an indication the player can’t be utilized that way.
After testing as an elite athlete and showing aptitude as a blocker, Dawson Knox sure looks like a player the Lions would love to have the option to draft at some point on day two.