Detroit Lions 2022 NFL mock draft: Is Quarterback A Guarantee?

An 0-5 start to the 2022 season has Detroit Lions fans already looking forward to the draft, so here is a seven-round Lions mock draft.

The Detroit Lions season so far has been filled with heartbreak.  They have lost their first five games of the season, including two of those losses coming off of 50+ yard game winning field goals as time expired.

This is a relatively weak roster, with a lot holes and not much talent, so while they deserve credit for playing hard in all of their games, sometimes that doesn’t matter when you simply don’t have enough talent.

So without further ado, here is a Detroit Lions 2022 seven-round mock draft.

Round 1, 2nd Overall: Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU

The Lions are going to be in an interesting position in this draft. They have to determine whether there’s a quarterback worth taking with where their draft pick lands or if they should select one of the blue-chip non-quarterback prospects. They could also potentially trade down.

As of now, with Spencer Rattler having a very disappointing season, there doesn’t appear to be a quarterback that teams would select over some of the top non-quarterbacks in the draft. I do think Malik Willis could be worth a selection here, however over recent years NFL teams have shown that they don’t like passing on can’t miss players like Derek Stingley Jr., even when they do need a quarterback.

Stingley Jr. is easily one the best players in the draft, arguably the very best, and on top of that he plays corner, which is a position that is very valuable in today’s NFL.

He possesses all the physical tools you could possibly want in a corner as he’s got great size (6-foot-2), he’s very athletic, and he moves quite fluidly. What makes him truly special as a corner however are his rare ball skills, as a freshman at LSU he picked off six passes and broke up a total of 15, which are numbers you almost never see, especially from a freshman playing in the SEC.

Stingley Jr. had a medical procedure on his foot last week and doesn’t have a timetable for his return. While it’s unfortunately that he got injured obviously, the good news for him is that it won’t really affect his draft stock as he’s already proved himself as a high-level player.

Round 1, 24th Overall: Nicholas Petit-Frere, OT, Ohio State

This selection comes from the Los Angeles Rams via the Matthew Stafford trade which nets them a first round pick for this year and next year. Obviously, getting an additional first rounder for a team with a lot of holes is valuable, even if it’s a late round selection, now it’s just a matter of using the pick wisely.

The Detroit Lions took Penei Sewell with the seventh overall pick of last year’s draft, so pairing him with Nicholas Petit-Frere would really sure up this offensive line for the future. Petit-Frere switched to left tackle this year, but played right tackle for the Buckeyes for two seasons before so he should be able to switch back without an issue.

Petit-Frere checks off a lot of the boxes of what you want to see from offensive tackle prospects. He’s a former five-star, he’s got a good combination of movement skills, hand usage, and strength, and he’s simply just produced consistent play for a while at Ohio State.