Every player who is mathematically expected to be there for the Detroit Lions at 17 in the 2026 NFL Draft
Breaking down the avergae draft positions of players who could be in the Lions’ range based on thousands of mock drafts
The 2026 NFL Draft is less than two weeks away, and everyone and their mothers want to know what the Lions plan to do with the 17th pick.
Another question is who is likely to be there? Well, we’ve done our best to figure that out for you.
Here’s every first-round player who is expected to be there for the Lions at 17.
| Player | Position | School | Average Draft Position |
| Vega Ioane | Guard | Penn State | 16th |
| Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | 18th |
| Peter Woods | DT | Clemson | 19th |
| Caleb Lomu | OT | Utah | 23rd |
| Emanuel McNeill-Warren | S | Toledo | 24th |
| Kayden McDonald | DT | Ohio State | 25th |
| Kadyn Proctor | OT | Alabama | 27th |
| Caleb Banks | DT | Florida | 28th |
| Blake Miller | OT | Clemson | 31st |
| Ahkeem Mesidor | Edge | Miami | 32nd |
There you go. This comes from our AtoZ Sports Big board, which averages out the draft position from every mock draft we’ve done since back during the 2025 season.
To dial down things a little more, let’s look at our friends over at Grinding The Mocks. They take a look at everyone’s mock drafts. Here’s who they have in the Lions range:
| Player | Position | School | Average Draft Position |
| Akheem Mesidor | Edge | Miami | 19.8 |
| Kadyn Proctor | OT | Alabama | 20.5 |
| Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | 21.2 |
| Peter Woods | DT | Clemson | 24.8 |
| Emmanuel McNeill-Warren | S | Toledo | 26 |
| Caleb Lomu | OT | Urah | 26.7 |
| Cashius Howel | Edge | Texas A&M | 26.7 |
| Blake Miller | OT | Clemson | 26.7 |
So somewhere in the middle of this, you get a pretty good selection of edge rushers and offensive tackles. Of course, you have to note that the NFL Draft is a living organism and it’s ever-changing. Especially while it’s going on. We’ll see how the board falls on the night.
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