Wednesday open thread: Who has been the Lions’ best 2018 draft pick thus far?

Just a couple months ago, Detroit Lions fans were questioning whether general manager Bob Quinn had the chops to make it in the NFL. To their credit, there were plenty of reasons for skepticism. A’Shawn Robinson had not progressed and was benched in the season opener, Jarrad Davis was trending towards “bust” status, and Teez Tabor barely played in the first month of the season. Quinn’s draft history—especially that 2017 class—was starting to look suspect. He pulled in just a 26 percent approval rating in September.

Now things look quite different. Robinson is back to starter status and looks much better, Tabor is getting some playing time, and Davis is coming off the best game of his career. Oh, and Michael Roberts just had his first two-touchdown game of his career.

But where Quinn has shined the most thus far is with this rookie class. The Lions are getting a ton of production from their top four picks, and each have already seemed to live up to their draft status. So today’s Question of the Day is:

Which 2018 draft pick has been the Lions’ best so far?

My answer: This is tough, and the fact that it’s tough is very encouraging. Frank Ragnow has proven to be the final piece of a great offensive line. Kerryon Johnson deserves to be at the forefront of Offensive Rookie of the Year talk. Da’Shawn Hand has been the Lions’ best defensive lineman and is easily the Lions’ best pick relative to their draft position.

For that last reason, I’ll go with Hand here. There is no wrong answer, but Hand, in my opinion, has been a huge key to Detroit’s (admittedly little) success on defense. Hand already plays so many roles on the defensive line. Detroit likes to use him on the edges on potential running downs, but as a pass-rushing nose tackle on obvious passing downs. He’s excelled at both.

Look at his ridiculous Pro Football Focus grades right now: 89.6 overall, good for eighth best among all interior defenders, not just rookies. 88.0 in pass rush—fourth best. 77.7 run defense, still a solid 27th among interior defenders.

With Ezekiel Ansah out and unlikely to be re-signed by the team, fans have been looking for some future piece to this defensive line. They now undoubtedly have it in Da’Shawn Hand.

Your turn.