Notes: Dane Brugler on NFL Draft: ‘This is just not a great year to have a top-5 pick’

Dane Brugler of The Athletic is thought of as one of the more well respected minds when it comes to the NFL Draft. When he talks, you listen. That’s why we had him join us during our 15-hour podcast a month ago, and it’s why you should absolutely read his latest Q&A with Detroit Lions beat writer Chris Burke.

The topics are wide-ranging, from Kayvon Thibodeaux vs. Aidan Hutchinson to thoughts on the quarterback and wide receiver classes to potential defensive back sleeper prospects.

But one of the things I personally found most interesting was his take on the 2022 NFL Draft class overall. Unfortunately for the Lions, he is not all that impressed with the top-tier talent in this year’s draft.

“It’s a good draft class as a whole, it is just lacking in high-end talent at the top,” Brugler wrote.

That’s not exactly a unique opinion of Brugler, but he takes that opinion to an extreme, suggesting that none of this year’s elite players may have been drafted in the top-10 last year.

“There isn’t a [Chase] Young or Myles Garrett or Ja’Marr Chase — the obvious elite prospect who will be an immediate impact player in the NFL. Hutchinson, Thibodeaux, Evan Neal, etc., are talented players, but there is a good chance none of them would have been drafted in the top 10 last year,” Brugler wrote.

• Charles Harris’ agent should just walk into Brad Holmes’ office with this graph blown up and laminated. He’s double teamed more often than almost anyone else in this league, and he’s still producing fantastic numbers:

• The Ringer’s Benjamin Solak believes in the Detroit Lions and their rebuild. A rare positive article from the national outlook.

• In case you missed our update on the weird Seahawks challenge/booth review on the Lions’ onside kick, formel NFL official Terry McAulay provided a correction and his own interpretation of what should have happened:

• Levi Onwuzurike was a big topic of Wednesday’s press conference. Both head coach Dan Campbell and defensive line coach Todd Wash gave their thoughts on his rookie season. Justin Rogers of the Detroit News has more.

• Matt Nelson and Taylor Decker both had passes thrown their way on Sunday. Nelson dropped his, while Decker caught his for the second touchdown in his career. Nelson said he got some crap from teammates, but the biggest he got was from his wife:

Meanwhile, Decker was stunting on Instagram, but the best thing to come of his post were the comments from his teammates:

(Note: kj_hey is Kerryon Johnson)

• Happy 30th anniversary to the Lions’ last playoff win. Oh god, this is depressing.

• Okay, we can’t end Notes like that. Here’s the Lions doing something cool: