The Detroit Lions had the best draft in the entire National Football League based on the value of where players were selected. Detroit was universally applauded by pundits for being able to land offensive lineman Christian Mahogany at pick No. 210.
The former Boston College Eagles lineman was rated as the No. 99 draft prospect by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler in his annual draft preview.
“I was shocked. I didn’t think he would still be there at that point,” said Brad Holmes, after the Lions made their final draft selection. “I can’t really go into details. I can probably point out a thing here or there that may have been a reason that we’ll keep internally, but there’s other players that I probably would have had a lot more questions on that went sooner.”
Detroit was able to land two solid cornerbacks that played in the SEC and were value selections. Holmes and the front office earned substantial value from four of their six overall draft picks
According to analyst Warren Sharp, “The Lions had the NFL’s best draft based on value, receiving substantial value in four of their six picks. Both SEC cornerbacks they selected were values based on when they took them, and they closed out the draft in the sixth round by drafting two players at pick 189 or later who were expected to go 93 and 109. The Lions traded up before making five of the six picks, but they knew value when they saw it and pounced. Detroit landed the best total value of any team in the draft this year.”
