Tackle Takes the Lead at 17 The Detroit Lions Podcast zeroed in on the NFL Draft board. Episode 607 asked the question that matters: what should the Detroit Lions do at 17? The table leaned offensive tackle. A fresh sweep of recent mocks all pointed to a tackle at that spot. Names floated included Procter, Manu, Holmes, Fraley, and Venga. The reasoning was simple. At 17, need meets value. If the Lions stick at that pick, a tackle fits the board and the workload in front of them. The draft room math favors it. Edge Help and the 50 Pick Edge at 17 did not land the same conviction. The group questioned whether an edge would be worth that selection. The hope is that a pass rusher slides to 50. If not, trade flexibility stays on the table. Up for a target. Back for a pocket of value. The expectation laid out was clear: across picks 17 and 50, come away with an offensive tackle and a pass rusher. There was also talk that the front office is weighing defensive end as strongly as tackle. Either way, the path was set. Protect the quarterback. Hit the quarterback. Do both by the end of Day 2. Tight End Talk and a Big-Board Curveball First-round tight end? No. That was the blunt answer. The crew would be stunned if the Detroit Lions opened with a tight end. A twist came from the show’s consensus big board. The 17th-ranked player there is a tight end. But that is a ranking, not a Lions projection. The board explains talent tiers. It does not predict Detroit’s card. The Podcast kept circling back to need and value. In this NFL, tackle at 17 tracks with both. Roster Notes, Anzalone Chatter, and What’s Next There was a sidebar on Alex Anzalone’s recent comments. He discussed returning, with the head coach wanting that outcome, while ownership and the front office reportedly felt otherwise. Quarterback talk surfaced too. A first-round quarterback did not feel imminent. That room is heavy, and health for the young pieces matters before any verdicts. Late in the segment, a pair of names came up as unlikely options at 17, with the belief that one of them might be gone anyway. The show closed with a programming note. A bigger draft roundtable is planned for early next week, with a full mock on deck. The Detroit Lions Podcast will line up the scenarios and run them, pick by pick. #detroitlions #lions #detroitlionspodcast #nfldraft #offensivetackle #passrusher #pick17 #pick50 #tightendfirstround #alexanzalone #dancampbell #mockdraftroundtable #consensusbigboard #mattmiller #procter #manu #venga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices