Mike Payton discusses three players the Detroit Lions could look to trade up for in the 2025 NFL Draft!
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00:00It's really hard to see the Lions picking at 28.
00:03And I think it's because they're going to probably trade up.
00:06And if they do trade up, here's the three guys that they could be moving up for.
00:13I'm Mike Payne with A to Z Sports Detroit.
00:15Today, we're going to talk about why the Lions could potentially trade up
00:18and who they could be trading up for in the 2025 NFL draft.
00:22First off, the Lions are the most unpredictable team
00:28that could possibly be around in the NFL draft.
00:30I think we've seen that over years.
00:33You might think, well, why would they trade up?
00:34That just doesn't seem like a Brad Holmes thing.
00:36Well, they did it last year.
00:37They traded up from 29 to 24 to get Terry and Arnold.
00:40In 2022, they traded up from 32 to 12 to get Jameson Williams.
00:46They've traded up in lower rounds, but trading up in the first is something
00:49they've done two out of the four drafts that they've drafted in,
00:52that Brad Holmes has been the GM of this team for.
00:55It's definitely something that they could be looking to do again.
00:59For a while, I've thought that trading down was probably the way that they would go because,
01:04hey, you can recoup some more picks.
01:07You trade down into the second.
01:09Maybe you have two seconds.
01:10You get an extra third out of it.
01:11Maybe you get a fourth.
01:14For a while, that made sense.
01:15Then I started thinking about it more when it comes to the roster that they currently have.
01:22This is a really good football team.
01:24I know people will freak out about the edges and maybe think that they're not
01:28that great or what have you, but this is one of the best rosters in the NFL.
01:37You could either look at it as, let's grab a bunch more players,
01:42and there'll be some projects, and maybe you get one of those guys who could be good,
01:47or you could take some of those picks, and you could move up,
01:50and you can get a player that you feel the best about,
01:54that you feel can immediately impact this roster even more.
01:59That just seems to make more sense than trading down does.
02:03If the lines were going to move up, there's three players that I've really identified
02:09that would be like, these are the top guys you would move up for.
02:13None of them are edge rushers because I think that this is such a deep edge rusher class
02:18that even if you were to pick one in the second, you're getting a pretty good guy.
02:23I think even if you were to pick one in the high third round,
02:26you're getting a pretty good player.
02:28The three guys are, first off, Alabama linebacker Jahad Campbell.
02:32Now, I know you might think, well, the Lions, they've got enough linebackers.
02:36Why would they take a linebacker?
02:37Why would they trade up for one?
02:39Well, Campbell is maybe the best defensive player in this entire draft.
02:44Abdul Carter is really good.
02:46He's great even, but I think Campbell is the guy that you can do the most with.
02:51He could play that Sam linebacker spot, or you can convert him over to an edge.
02:56He could do that.
02:57He can get to the quarterback, had eight sacks last year,
03:00but he could also be great in coverage, had a couple of broken up passes.
03:05This is kind of a do-everything guy that can do everything immediately,
03:10and I think the Lions would love to have somebody like that on their roster.
03:14The next guy is Tyler Booker, also from Alabama.
03:18I look at Booker as that's your starting guard right there.
03:21You've just lost Kevin Zeitler.
03:22That's a big loss.
03:24That's hard to replace.
03:26Do you want to maybe try one of the guards or tackles later?
03:30Maybe you get a Gray Zabel at 28 or something like that,
03:33or do you want to go for arguably the best guard in the entire draft?
03:37And that's Tyler Booker.
03:38You're going to have to move up a little bit to get him,
03:40because he's probably going to be gone by 28.
03:42I would say that he's definitely going to be gone, actually.
03:45And then the third guy is, look, it's a receiver.
03:49It's Tett McMillan from Arizona.
03:52I know you might be thinking, well, they've got Amon Rosse-Brown.
03:55They've got Jameson Williams.
03:57They have one of the best offenses in the NFL.
03:59Why would they take a receiver?
04:01Why would they trade up for one?
04:02Well, as Brad Holmes said at the NFL Combine, we are not a needs-based drafting team.
04:08This team is all about drafting the best player that they could possibly get.
04:13And McMillan is the difference between,
04:15this is a really great offense, to, oh my God, this offense cannot be stopped.
04:20It changes that much.
04:23What he brings to this Lions team, they don't have.
04:25Contested catches, just a guy who could muscle corners, body guys, still stretch the field,
04:33could do so much, could block.
04:35And just, he would just be a huge upgrade over Tim Patrick, who I love.
04:40I love Tim Patrick, but this is the chance to have an unbelievable
04:44offense with three receivers who are just crazy good.
04:48Obviously, you have got Sam LaPorta and you've got Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery too.
04:52What an offense.
04:53How do you stop that?
04:54And that's why I think that there's a possibility that they would maybe trade up for him.
04:58Or even if he fell to 28, I could still see that happening.
05:02So that is what we think at this point.
05:05We'll see what the Lions wind up actually doing, but do not be shocked
05:09if they decide to trade up for somebody.
05:11We'll see you guys next time.