The top of the NFL draft was flipped on its head Friday afternoon when the Chicago Bears agreed to trade the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers.
It wasn’t necessarily surprising to see the Bears move out of the top spot, after publicly putting that pick on the block, but by dropping down to the ninth spot in the draft order with the swap they drastically increased the odds three quarterbacks will be selected in the first five picks.
In response to the shakeup with the top 10, multiple national draft analysts quickly produced updated mock drafts. And while the trade has the potential to impact who will be available for the Detroit Lions at No. 6, both The Athletic’s Dane Brugler and ESPN’s Todd McShay have the team taking a player who was expected to be on the board before the Bears and Panthers made the deal, Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
“No change here from my post-combine mock,” Brugler wrote. “From the Lions’ perspective, the need is there, and Gonzalez is one of the best talents in the draft. While last year’s class produced a number of quality rookie cornerbacks, Gonzalez would have been my No. 2 prospect in that CB group, behind only Sauce Gardner.”
Gonzalez, who played just one season at Oregon after transferring from Colorado, had a stellar campaign with the Ducks in 2022, allowing a passer rating of 74.7 when targeted in coverage and coming away with four interceptions. He followed that up with eye-popping athletic testing at the Combine this month. He measures 6-foot-1, 197 pounds, and his 4.38-second 40-yard dash and 41.5-inch vertical establish him as one of the best athletes to ever play the position.
“I know I keep using the 6.2 yards allowed per play number for the Lions, but it was the NFL’s sixth-worst number for the past decade,” McShay worte. “Armed with a pair of first-rounders and a chunk of cap space, Detroit has to get better on that side of the ball. It has gotten up-and-down production from Jeff Okudah, the team’s top-three pick in 2020, and the other corner spot is open with Amani Oruwariye primed to be a free agent next week.”
Ignoring that McShay glosses over the fact Jerry Jacobs supplanted Oruwariye in the starting lineup early last season, and is a favorite of the coaching staff, it is true the Lions are in the market for upgrades at cornerback. And there’s certainly a strong case to be made for someone of Gonzalez’s caliber. Still, it’s interesting to see McShay has Detroit passing on Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who would fill an even bigger roster need.
Even ahead of the combine, McShay noted character concerns with Carter. That vague offering was seemingly validated when two arrest warrants were recently issued for the prospect, for reckless driving and racing, stemming from an auto crash that resulted in the death of a former teammate and Georgia football staffer.
With the legal process still pending, there’s little clarity on how those misdemeanor charges will impact perceptions of Carter. McShay acknowledges as much, but has Carter dropping to the No. 12 pick in his latest projection. Brugler doesn’t share that assessment, having the talented interior defender going to Seattle at No. 5, one pick ahead of the Lions. That left Detroit to pass over Texas Tech edge rusher Tyree Wilson, whom McShay pegged to the Seahawks.
Brugler’s updated mock stops at 10 picks, while McShay churned out a full, first-round projection. Supplementing the Gonzalez selection, the ESPN analyst has Detroit grabbing Iowa defensive end Lukas Van Ness at No. 18.
“While he never started a game at Iowa, he played a lot for the Hawkeyes, averaging 450 snaps per season over two years,” McShay wrote. “And Van Ness turned that into seven sacks in each campaign. Add that production to an edge rush group that already includes 2022 picks Aidan Hutchinson and James Houston, and the Lions could be set to improve on the 39 sacks they generated in 2022 (tied for 18th). It was no surprise when Van Ness tested well in Indianapolis. He has the quickness, power and versatility to dominate in the NFL.”
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers