2021 NFL Mock Draft: Trey Lance to Panthers, Packers nab big OT over 3 full rounds

Another receiver is selected here as Jaylen Waddle lands with the Detroit Lions — another club that’s welcoming a new head coach. The Lions grew tired of Jim Caldwell and fired him after two-straight 9-7 records and an overall mark of 36-28. During his four seasons with Detroit, Caldwell had just one losing campaign, which was in 2015 when they went 7-9.

The Lions then replaced him with Matt Patricia, the former defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. Patricia — just like many other Bill Belichick disciples — came to the team trying to preach accountability and discipline. He tried to use the Belichick model without having the pedigree of Belichick and in the end, it led to an abysmal three seasons where he went 13-29-1 and never even won seven games in a single season. And as we noted earlier, seven games was the worst mark Caldwell had.

With Patricia out, the Lions are turning to Dan Campbell who had a weird introductory press conference. He also now has to turn to Jared Goff, who the Lions added in a trade for Matt Stafford and a bevy of draft picks. Detroit could also lose some of their best players with Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones being free agents.

Waddle coming in wouldn’t stop them from retaining Golladay but instead, would help him avoid constant double-teams. Of course, if they did lose their No. 1 wideout, the addition of Waddle could be even more important as he could step into that role for the Lions.