With the 16th pick in the Pride Of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the Detroit Lions select defensive tackle Andrew Billings. Alex Reno is the acting general manager for the Lions. Below is his rationale for the pick:
With the 16th overall pick, I'm looking nowhere other than the offensive and defensive trenches. Our fearless leader, Jeremy Reisman, did a fantastic job of explaining why the Lions should not draft a wide receiver in the first round and I completely support his take. I also don't like the idea of drafting a linebacker in the first round with DeAndre Levy returning and Tahir Whitehead under contract for another two years. When you consider the fact that the Lions only had two linebackers on the field for 75 percent of their snaps last year, I just don't see a rookie linebacker making much of an impact for them in 2016-17.
With all of that being said, it ultimately came down to me choosing between offensive and defensive line. Unfortunately, Ronnie Stanley and Sheldon Rankins are off the board, so that makes my pick a lot tougher, but that still leaves valuable talents like Taylor Decker, Jack Conklin, Andrew Billings, Jonathan Bullard, Shaq Lawson, Jarran Reed and others.
Of the OTs left, Decker is the only one I currently view as a first round talent. There's worse options out there, but since it's up to me, I'd pass up on him for several defensive line prospects that I believe offer better value. That left me to decide between the top defensive line talents left on my board: Billings, Bullard, Reed and Shaq Lawson.
Lawson is the best defensive end left on the board and has been mocked to the Lions by plenty of draftniks lately. I'm not quite seeing the hype with Lawson and currently have him labeled as a late-first rounder, so you can cross him off the list.
In the end, the best player available at a position of need is Andrew Billings. He's my No. 2 interior defensive lineman in this draft and I love this kid's upside. He just turned 21-years-old in late March and is the strongest player I've ever had the pleasure of scouting. In fact, Billings beat a 22-year-old Texas state lifting record set by The World's Strongest Man himself, Mark Henry.
Billings is still considered to be a raw prospect, but if he can refine his technique and develop a couple new pass rushing moves, then he can turn into an all-pro. For the Lions, Billings best fits as a 1-tech that can eventually replace Haloti Ngata. Honestly, for as long as it takes Ngata to get himself into game shape, don't be surprised if Billings were to steal some snaps away from Ngata early in the year.
Give me your worst, Lions fans.
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Check out our 2016 POD Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.