The Lions’ current regime doesn’t always follow a conventional approach. In 2021, the front office made multiple trades with the division rival Vikings, including one that sent Pro Bowl tight TJ Hockenson to Minnesota. Since then, the team has also wholeheartedly supported Jared Goff as a potential long-term quarterback. But nothing can top the Lions’ start to the 2023 NFL Draft, which saw Detroit go against the grain for not one, but two different Day 1 selections in increasingly devalued positions.
The Lions initially traded from the No. 6 overall pick to the No. 12, losing six spots in a deal to the Cardinals. Then, at number 12, they pulled a firecracker, selecting Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Detroit wasn’t the first team to use a Day 1 pick at the position on Thursday; the Falcons used the No. 8 pick by consensus topback Bijan Robinson. But Gibbs, who stands at five-foot-tall and 199 pounds, was widely projected as more of a second-round prospect—or, at best, a late-first target.
Gibbs certainly adds electricity to the Detroit backfield. But aside from the fact that RBs tended to get out early, leading many teams to favor the position later in the draft, the Lions had already spent a lot of resources on the position this offseason. After losing veteran Jamaal Williams in free agency, the team signed former Bears starter David Montgomery to a three-year, $18 million deal, pairing him with former second-rounder D’Andre Swift.
Adding to the shock factor is the fact that top prospects were available in other emergency positions at No. 12, including Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness and anticipated top-15 cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
And that doesn’t even explain what the Lions did at No. 18, six picks later: Even with a potential starting caliber defensive lineman on the board in Pittsburgh’s Calijah Kancey, Detroit used its second Day 1 selection on Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell. Like Gibbs, he also came in as a valued candidate for his position, but was widely expected to be a late first-rounder at best. Like RB, off-ball linebacker has increasingly become a devalued role in a pass-happy NFL.