Monday open thread: What was the Detroit Lions’ best 2018 draft pick?

We’ve all had a couple days to digest the 2018 NFL Draft. Sometimes, it effective in enabling us to see the bigger picture. Sometimes, it’s a period where we sell ourselves on draft choices that don’t deserve to be rationalized.

Either way, the Monday after the draft typically has 32 different fanbases feeling pretty good about their team’s selections. And why not tap into that optimism to start the week?

Today’s Question of the Day is:

What was the Lions’ best draft 2018 draft pick?

My answer: I’m going to give two answers here: My favorite pick and the best pick.

I believe their best pick was their first-round pick of center Frank Ragnow. Ever since free agency essentially ended, it was of my opinion that interior offensive line was the team’s biggest need. The additions of Kenny Wiggins and Wesley Johnson did little to ease my worries about the vacancy left by Travis Swanson.

While, admittedly I didn’t know much about Ragnow prior to the draft, now that I’ve spent the last 72 hours studying the Arkansas center, it’s very easy to see why Detroit made the pick. He’s just very good. He can pass block as well as he can run block, and he’s got the strength and tenacity to finish his blocks by plowing his opponent into the ground. For the first time in well over a decade, it looks like the Lions finally have an offensive line without a weak link. That’s unbelievably exciting.

My favorite pick, however, was the Lions’ move to get DT Da’Shawn Hand. I was admittedly feeling a little down on Detroit’s draft after they made the aggressive move to add Kerryon Johnson. I felt even worse when the Lions added a safety in the third round. Suddenly, the Lions were facing down the barrel of another draft gone by without the addition of a playmaking defensive lineman.

But Bob Quinn got aggressive again and got himself a talented defensive lineman that fits what Matt Patricia is trying to do on the defensive line. Hand may not be the poster-child pass-rushing defensive end that tends to rack up all the stats, but he’s versatile, and he’s already pretty well versed in what the Lions are going to do with Patricia running the show.

“Man, you know, with Coach Bo (Davis) there, I know they’ve got a kind of similar scheme like Alabama did,” Hand said of the Lions.

That trade to grab Hand, while costly, really turned around the entire draft for me. Because of the move, the Lions were able to knock off four of their major needs, rather than going yet another year without making a big addition to their defensive line.

Your turn.