The Lions have shown a lot of interest in specific tight ends ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft who bring something Detroit doesn't currently have
The 2025 NFL Draft is next week, and the Detroit Lions have been showing some heavy interest in a position that you might not think they'd have heavy interest in. That's the tight end spot. The Lions obviously have Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright, Kenny Yeboah, and Shane Zylstra at the moment, and that seems good […]
The 2025 NFL Draft is next week, and the Detroit Lions have been showing some heavy interest in a position that you might not think they'd have heavy interest in. That's the tight end spot.
The Lions obviously have Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright, Kenny Yeboah, and Shane Zylstra at the moment, and that seems good to go, but the Lions may be looking to get more out of their tight ends going forward with bringing in John Morton and Tyler Roehl. When we say more, we mean more blocking. Specifically, run blocking.
The Lions met with Alabama's C.J. Dippre, Nebraska's Thomas Fidone, Georgia Tech's Jackson Hawes, and Georgia's Ben Yurosek either formally at the combine or as a top-30 visit.
All these guys have the same thing in common, and it's that they're all pretty good at run blocking. We tracked the Pro Football Focus run blocking grade for all of these guys, and you can see that they're all pretty good at it.
| Player | Run Blocking Grade |
|---|---|
C.J. Dippre | 64.8 |
Jackson Hawes | 74.7 |
Ben Yurosek | 64.4 |
Maliq Carr | 72.9 |
Thomas Fidone | 56.8 |
With the exception of Fidone, all these guys are really good at it.
This is just something the Lions do not have right with LaPora, Wright, Yeboah, and Zylstra. They're all decent pass blockers, but check out their 2024 run blocking grades.
| Player | Run blocking grade |
|---|---|
Sam LaPorta | 55.1 |
Brock Wright | 51.8 |
Kenny Yeboah | 48.4 |
Shane Zylstra | 53.7 |
We can't guarantee that the Lions will draft a tight end, but what we can say is that if they do, it's not likely to be at a very high point in the draft. All these guys are projected to go on day three or be undrafted free agents.
If the Lions do take one, you might have to get yourself ready for an all-out battle for the second tight end spot this summer at training camp.
Final 7 round Detroit Lions mock draft ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft with full UDFA class, everything we’ve learned this offseason leads us to these picks
Here we go, Detroit Lions fans. The 2025 NFL Draft starts tonight, and the time for thinking about scenarios is over. This is our last 7-round mock draft of the year. Since January, we have had our heads buried into this draft. There was the Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl, the NFL Combine, Pro Days, League […]
