31. Detroit Lions - James Pearce Jr, EDGE, Tennessee
The Detroit Lions are holders of the 31st overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft at the moment. Detroit did lose stud defensive end Aidan Hutchinson for the rest of the season a few weeks ago due to a pretty brutal lower leg injury. The Lions swung a trade for DE Za’Darius Smith to try and pick up the pieces there.
It does feel like Detroit is still missing one other impact starter on defense, and you could actually argue here that they go with an offensive player, as it’s likely that offensive coordinator Ben Johnson leaves for a head coaching job this coming offseason, so they may want to cover up that loss by adding more talent to the offense.
However, in this NFL mock draft, I went with James Pearce Jr, the stud pass-rusher from Tennessee to try and give the Lions one more impact starter on defense.
32. Kansas City Chiefs - Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
How do the Kansas City Chiefs keep finding new ways to win games? It’s insane. They are the lone unbeaten team in the NFL right now and obviously hold the 32nd overall pick in the first round. The Chiefs have had some tackle problems in recent years, so I went with tackle Josh Simmons from the Ohio State University.
KC has found a way to make due with their subpar tackle play at times, and having the best interior offensive line in the NFL does help. And I guess that guy Patrick Mahomes is also pretty good. It is a testament to just how well this franchise drafts when they continually have picks at the bottom of the round. GM Brett Veach does deserve a lot of credit for being able to always field a top-tier roster.
However, Mahomes is able to overcome quite a bit, so he makes their jobs a lot easier.
There you have it, folks, our latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft.