Lions intel we heard on night one of the 2026 NFL draft that didn’t happen, including a major trade-up for one of the draft’s top edge rushers
The Lions were apparently considering moving up for one of the draft’s top edge rushers
The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft is over and done with the Lions walked out with Clemson tackle Blake Miller. A true fit in every sense of the word.
But now that it’s over, there are still a few things we heard night one and the days leading up to it that are stuck in our heads that we now need to purge. Of course, at the end of the day, a lot of it could have just been smoke. But here’s what was floating around.
A trade-up from Rueben Bain Jr.
On Thursday, we heard multiple times that the Lions were working the phones, looking to move up to get Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain. We know that from a national point of view, multiple NFL Insiders, including ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, reported that teams around the league were viewing the Lions as a trade-up threat.
It’s worth noting that in his post-first-round presser, Lions GM Brad Holmes said that the Lions strongly considered trading up to get Blake Miller when a run on tackles started at 10. But ultimately, they felt safe when the Rams took Ty Simpson at 13.
The Lions could have theoretically had a shot at Bain had they moved up right before Tampa Bay, but that didn’t happen. There were no trades after Dallas and Miami swapped places. There wasn’t a trade at all until 23, when the Eagles moved up to get Makai Lemon.
We may never know how serious the Lions were about moving up and who they talked to. But it would seem they talked to some teams at least.
Keldric Faulk
Faulk was another guy we heard about the Lions liking multiple times. You can totally understand the thought there. Faulk was one of the best run-stopping edges in the country last year. We know the Lions really want to make sure they stop the run.
While they may have liked him, they clearly like Miller more. The Titans wound up snagging Faulk with the 31st pick after a trade up with the Patriots.
Other things that were flying around
- The Lions had a Zoom call with UCF edge rusher Malchi Lawrence, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Lawrence wound up going to the Cowboys at 23.
- The Lions did not meet with Georgia tackle Monroe Freeling, per Dave Birkett. In fact, there doesn’t really seem to be any meeting with Freeling at any point during the pre-draft process. At least nothing publicly known at this time. It really shows there might not have been much interest in him despite the fan interest.
- The Lions were in love with Alabama tackle Kaydn Proctor, per Daniel Jeremiah. We’ll never know how serious this was. At the end of the day, it kind of felt like Proctor’s agent was working overtime to generate buzz and worry teams picking high that the Lions might be coming for the tackle. If that was the case, it worked. He went 12th.
- The Lions had a top 30 meeting with Florida DT Caleb Banks, per Zach Goodall. The Lions were Fort Knox with their top-30 meetings this year. The only top-30 with a first-round prospect we found out about was this one. The Lions let him go right past them to the Vikings with the 18th pick. They must not have felt overly good about his foot injury.
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