Notes: Redoing Detroit Lions 2014 NFL Draft

The 2014 NFL Draft is one that will go down as one of the pivotal moments in former Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew’s career. We are now five years removed from that draft class and exactly zero players of that class are currently signed to the Lions roster.

The last survivors of that draft class are Nevin Lawson, who signed with the Raiders last month, and receiver TJ Jones, who remains a free agent.

But the biggest mistake happened well before Detroit selected either of those players. The choice that will go down in infamy is the selection of North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron. While debates can be had about Ebron’s talent level, there’s little contention that the pick could have been spent on clearly better players available at that point.

So Michael Rothstein took the most obvious (and most correct) choice in ESPN’s 2014 NFL Draft do-over, selecting Aaron Donald with Detroit’s 10th overall pick.

It’s a pick that just about everyone can agree upon with five years of hindsight, and it’s one Lions fans continue to fantasize about any time Donald’s name is brought up.

• It appears the Lions’ latest pre-draft visit is Kentucky cornerback Lonnie Johnson. Although, this post appears to have been deleted from Johnson’s Instagram story. Lions lockdown in effect.

• The sample size is probably too small to make any confident conclusions, but ESPN’s Michael Rothstein looked at Bob Quinn’s drafting history to see if there are any trends that we may expect to continue this year.

• Aaron Rodgers talked about the knee injury he suffered during Week 1 last season, and it sounds pretty gnarly. Also of note, Lions linebacker Christian Jones apparently re-aggravated it when the Packers faced off against Detroit. (If you’re more interested in how Rodgers played on said injury, former NFL doctor David J. Chao explains here):

• Interesting note from NFC North free agency: The Vikings reportedly tried to trade defensive end Everson Griffen for Browns guard Kevin Zeitler, but Cleveland decided to deal with the Giants and get Odell Beckham Jr. instead.

• Which defensive linemen in this year’s draft fit the Lions’ profile? Erik Schlitt of Lions Wire lists several players that may be high on Detroit’s draft boards.