Yes, I know the Detroit Lions season is still going. They have one more regular season game and then it's onto the playoffs. But for the college football season is over outside of Michigan and Washington. It's all about the draft for those guys. So here his first 7-round Lions mock draft of the year. I look forward to seeing how things evolve from here. 

Before we get into it, I used the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator to do this draft. Here is where the Lions draft picks stand as of right now:

• 1st: 27th pick
• 2nd: 59th pick
• 3rd: 76th pick
• 3rd: 91st pick
• 5th: 164th
• 6th: 205th
• 7th: 248th

Pick No. 27: Leonard Taylor, DT, Miami

There’s no secret that the Detroit Lions defensive line needs help. I would have loved to have taken a pass rusher here, but every guy that you’d hope for was already gone. So I moved into the interior of the line where the Lions struggle a lot outside of stopping the run. Taylor can help in both of those departments. 

Taylor is not going to fill up the box score stat sheet. That's actually one of the knocks on him is that his stats are underwhelming. The ability and the athleticism is what you're drafting here. This is a guy that can be Robin to Alim McNeill's Batman. 

He can take up space, he has a motor and there's a quickness about him that you have to love. I've done a lot of mock drafts on the simulator and he falls to 27th maybe two out of 10 times. You have to sprint to the podium if he's there. 

Pick No. 59: Jonah Elliss, Edge, Utah

Here’s a guy with a last name that you might remember. His dad Luther Elliss was a Pro Bowl defensive tackle for the Lions from 1995 to 2003. This isn’t a nostalgia pick though, the young Elliss can ball and he can get after the quarterback.

Elliss is someone that was likely going to be a first round pick before he suffered a torn labrum in November. It's a shame, becasue he was leading the country in sacks at that point with 12 in 10 games at that time. 

Elliss can be a great partner for Aidan Hutchinson and sharing a line with McNeill and Taylor makes this Lions defensive line suddenly pretty scary. 

Pick No. 76: Johnny Wilson, WR, Florida State

I’m sure there’s a lot of Lions fans that would rather go all defense up front, but this is a need. The Lions do not have a big bodied X receiver that can get contested catches in the end zone. Maybe if they did, they might have had a better shot against the Cowboys after the official messed everything up Saturday night. 

It doesn't get any bigger than Wilson. He his 6-foot-7 and 237 pounds. The man is a giant. The moment the Lions take him is the same moment the Lions would have the tallest receiver in the NFL and the second tallest receiver in NFL history. 

Height is huge, but it's not the only thing he brings to the game. He has runs a 4.42 as well. Soh e's not just a lumbering tall guy. Wilson can fly. He also has a 38 inch vertical leap. That would have been somewhere around sixth at the NFL combine last year. I just can't, in all good conscious, pass that up. 

Pick No. 91: Cooper Beebe, Guard, Kansas State

There’s a pretty good shot that the Lions might be letting Jonah Jackson hit free agency this offseason. Jackson has had a really rough season with injuries and step back in his play and things don’t seem to be getting better. He played maybe his worst game of the season on Saturday. Even if the Lions do hold onto Jackson, they need some interior depth. 

Beebe is a guy that can be an answer to either of those questions. He's been one of the best interior offensive lineman in the country this year and if the Lions can get him in the back half of the third, that's a steal. 

Beebe allowed one sack the entire season and walked out with PFF's third highest pass blocking grade of the year. Run blocking could use some help, but he has all the tools to keep Jared Goff's jersey clean. Putting him in with Decker, Ragnow, Glasgow and Sewell will only help him grow his game. This would be a steal. 

Pick No. 164: Kris Abrams-Draine, CB, Missouri

The problem that I ran into here is that I wanted to fortify the Lions defensive line and and fix a couple things on offense. So I pushed back corner a bit. Really one of the big issues with the Lions corners today is that their defensive line hasn’t gotten a ton of pressure. Now that they have been in recent weeks, you can see the passing starting to not affect them as much. It still is for sure though. 

I'm banking that the Lions spend money on their secondary in free agency again. I know there are some pass rushing free agents that are slated to be available as we talk right now, but all of those guys seem like players that will be locked up before March 13th rolls around. Still, corner depth is important. Abrams-Draine can be that and more down the line. 

Abrams-Draine was phenomenal for Mizzou this year. He was targeted 52 times and only allowed 25 catches. Quarterbacks had a 48.1% completion percentage when they threw his way. He was also fifth in the country in pass breakups and tied for third in interceptions. 

Pick no. 205: Chau Smith-Wade, CB, Washington State

Going with another cornerback here. Smith-Wade is another guy that could have gone higher, but injuries hampered that. I’m not saying first-round high, but maybe fourth-round or fifth round high. 

Smith-Wade represent the chance for the Lions to have a bit of a project at corner. You can see his ability in coverage, but it needs to be cleaned up. He has some vision issues and a problem causing penalties. Both things that can be coached up.  

Pick No. 248: Erick All, TE, Iowa

Sam LaPorta has been incredible in his rookie year. The Lions are set when it comes to their TE 1. Where they have problems is the rest of the group. Brock Wright has mostly been invisible and James Mitchell has been even more invisible. Which sucks, because I was quite high on the latter coming out of Virginia Tech. 

All is interesting option. First off, you probably already know what he can bring to the table because you saw him play at Michigan for three years before he transferred to Iowa. He was Iowa's leading receiver until he tore his ACL in October. He's likely going to miss the Senior Bowl and Combine and all those things, but there's a world where could be ready to go for the training camp of whatever team drafts him. 

It's a risky pick, but it's also a pick that's worth the risk. If he can recover and be the player he was before that, then the Lions could have a nice player with their second tight end. 

Isaiah Buggs and the Lions are parting ways

While the Detroit Lions have yet to break the news, it would appear that the Lions and defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs have parted ways with each other. Buggs posted his thankyous and goodbyes on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.  No word yet on why the Lions made this move, but it could have to do with […]