The 2025 NFL Combine is next week and we'll get to have our first ideas of who the Detroit Lions will be looking at in terms of players and positions. For the next week, we'll be going over some of the positions we suspect the Lions will have interest in and listing some of the players that they'll definitely have their eyes on. 

The Lions showed in 2024 that they definitely need to bulk up on the edge and have depth, depth, and more depth there after injuries. The 2025 draft class is deep and there are players to be had there. Here are six guys that could be in range for the Lions. 

Mike Green, Marshall

Average draft position: 28.13

59 pressures and 17 sacks will make you think about how good a guy could be in the NFL. A really solid week at the Senior Bowl will help too. Green is rising up the board and great combine performance could put him out of reach, but he's still one to watch. His bend is what you have to see. He can get by anyone. He's a lot like James Houston but with more speed and a much deeper bag of tricks. 

Princley Umanmielan, Ole Miss 

Average draft position: 33.36

Umanmielan had a big season for the Rebels last year with 55 pressures and 11 sacks. He's got the size that you're looking for and the long arms to and he has the speed off the edge too. There's not a lot to dislike about him outside of his tackling needing some tweaking. 

Jack Sawyer, Ohio State

Average draft position: 52.06

64 pressures and 10 sacks for Sawyer in 2024. He was a big part of the Buckeyes winning the national championship. He's got a lot of what the Lions are looking for in terms of pass rush but also has the run-stopping game. The big problem is he's not the fastest around the edge. A bull rush is good, but some bend would also be nice.

J.T. Tuimoloau, Ohio State

Average draft position: 64.13

51 pressures and 15 sacks for the Buckeyes last year. Like Sawyer, he had a huge hand in helping Ohio State win it all. He is a very good run defender and that fits well with what the Lions like to do. He also doesn't have the best bend in the world. Like Sawyer, he relies a lot on power. 

Josaiah Stewart, Michigan

Average draft position: 74.44

37 pressures and nine sacks for the Wolverines in 2024. Most Lions fans should be used to this guy already. Brad Holmes should have some knowledge of him as well since he's right up the road. A good run-stopper and pass-rusher, but he's a bit undersized. Of course, we know that Holmes doesn't really care about that. 

Sai'Vion Jones, LSU

Average draft position: 75

43 pressures and 5 sacks for the Tigers in 2024. Do not get used to this guy being down this low. He just had the biggest breakout of anyone at the Senior Bowl and he's a good combine away from finding himself as high as the bottom of the first round. It's hard to see him get much higher than that though. The knock on him has been that he's not that good of an athlete. We're going to see next week if he can shut that down. 

Why analysts predicting a step back for the Lions is both right and wrong at the same time

The 2024 NFL season is over and analysts are already on to trying to make predictions for the 2025 season. ESPN got a whole group together to predict a few things like which teams will be in the Super Bowl next year and what teams will take a step back.  Four analysts had the Lions […]