Detroit Lions three-round 2022 mock draft with number one pick

Third Round

3a. Myjai Sanders, EDGE, Cincinnati

With the potential of a near-$24 million cap hit in 2022, former big-money free agent acquisition Trey Flowers is in sort of a make-or-break season with the Detroit Lions.

Flowers played just seven games last season for Detroit, and while he certainly has never tricked anyone into thinking he would be an annual 15-sack type of player, he’s got to prove himself worthy of such a massive 2022 cap hit.

Even if the Detriot Lions bite that bullet and keep Flowers beyond this season, a player like Cincinnati’s top edge defender Myjai Sanders might be too good to pass up on.

Sanders has outstanding burst off the snap and with his combination of size and quickness, and would bring even more intensity to a Detroit defensive line that also added Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill in the 2021 NFL Draft.

3b (compensatory). Daxton Hill, S, Michigan

The Detroit Lions had just seven interceptions as a team in 2020 and they undoubtedly need improvement from their secondary in the 2021 season.

Hil is an aggressive, fast, instinctive defensive back who fits the ideal mold of a defensive back in today’s NFL in that he can float between safety and nickel.

Although he’s got just two interceptions in his first two seasons for the Wolverines, Hill has seven passes broken up and he has the potential to absolutely explode in ball production this season with his instincts and speed.