Notes: The Draft Network praises Detroit Lions’ team building approach

One month after the draft, the Detroit Lions are still getting rave reviews for the young talent on the roster. Today, we direct your attention to analysis by Ryan Fowler and Joe Marino from The Draft Network posted earlier in the week. Fowler posted an article this past Thursday looking at the rebuild strategy pursued by the Lions:

In the article, the TDN analyst praises the accumulation of young high-potential athletes by the Lions through the draft. He specifically calls out the defensive line, defensive backs, and wide receivers as units to be excited about. This makes a ton of sense when you consider Fowler loved the Lions’ 2021 draft haul last year and gave them an instant reaction grade of A for the class as a whole.

Similarly, TDN’s Joe Marino considers this draft class a continuation of “laying a really strong foundation to build upon”:

Giving the team an A grade for its 2022 draft class, Marino thought second-overall selection Aidan Hutchinson was “the best player in the draft” and he calls Jameson Williams “the most dynamic offensive weapon in this class.” Moving to the second round, on Josh Paschal he “thinks that he’s going to be one of those players along with Aidan Hutchinson, along with guys that they drafted last year like Alim McNeill, who’s just going to be a pillar of this team on this defensive line.” Marino had high praise for third-round pick Kerby Joseph’s ball skills, thought fifth-round pick James Mitchell was an overlooked versatile piece that can be used all over the field, and felt sixth-rounder Malcolm Rodriguez was “exactly the kind of player you expect Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes to go after.”

If you want to get the KOOL AID season started out right, check out both of those pieces from The Draft Network to get hyped for the young talent on the roster. Now, on to the rest of today’s Notes:

• Happening today in the afternoon:

• Ben Linsey at Pro Football Focus identified the three highest rated players by their service on each team. Detroit’s highest rated players were all offensive linemen: center Frank Ragnow, tackle Taylor Decker, and tackle Penei Sewell.

• Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn commented on head coach Dan Campbell’s assessment of what it would be like to lose Glenn from the Lions staff:

• Ben Raven and Kyle Meinke at MLive posted the latest episode of their podcast Dungeon of Doom.

• The state of Michigan was fifth in total amount wagered last month according to Darren Rovell:

• If you remember back in February when the media team asked the Senior Bowl players coached by the Lions staff which coach was most likely able to suit up and play, they heavily favored linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard:

• An awesome group photo by the defensive line has a funny side story courtesy of our own fearless leader Jeremy Reisman: