2013 NFL mock draft: SB Nation sticks with Ezekiel Ansah for Lions

Just like last week, SB Nation's newest 2013 NFL mock draft has the Detroit Lions taking BYU defensive end Ezekiel Ansah. Since the last mock draft, the Lions have increased their need for a defensive end by releasing Kyle Vanden Bosch, so it's no surprise that the pick hasn't changed.

This pick is described in the mock draft as one of a "few weird picks to make things interesting." The position certainly isn't weird, but I suppose having Ansah go as high as No. 5 overall could be characterized as a bit strange. While his stock certainly seems to be trending up after his dominant Senior Bowl performance, most mocks still have him somewhere in the teens. In that regard, it'd be a bit of an upset if the Lions took Ansah over guys like Texas A&M's Damontre Moore and Florida State's Bjoern Werner.

The reason Ansah hasn't been projected to go this high more often is because he is viewed as such a raw talent. He's athletic, but he's still relatively new to the game of football. In that sense, he could be a boom or bust type of pick, which is perhaps why more mock drafts don't have the Lions taking him. There's a certain risk involved in any pick, but there's especially one with Ansah. Just take a look at what an anonymous scout (yes, I'm going there) told ProFootballWeekly:

"Everyone has been talking about (BYU DE) Ziggy Ansah and throwing around comparisons. If a guy has length, some twitch and a motor, people think it’s Jason Pierre-Paul. He ain’t. Otherwise, they wouldn’t align him inside so much. He’s a one-year wonder and a tweener. ... Put on the bowl game. He was getting pushed down the field and a ball was thrown at his chest and he intercepts it. He fell into it — he didn’t create it. That’s how he produced this year."

Clearly, more scouting needs to be done before we fully jump on the Ansah bandwagon. Even so, the fact that the Lions got to spend so much time with him at the Senior Bowl should give them a leg up when it comes to scouting Ansah.

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