DB draft preview: Expect Detroit Lions to pick up a safety

DB draft preview: Expect Detroit Lions to pick up a safety – Detroit Free Press

Lions seem content with Darius Slay and Nevin Lawson at CB spots, but could pick up a playmaker high in the draft

Take your position: Defensive backs

Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett breaks down the Lions’ positional needs in advance of this week’s NFL draft. Today’s focus: defensive backs.

On the roster: CB — Darius Slay, Nevin Lawson, Quandre Diggs, Alex Carter, Johnson Bademosi, Darrin Walls, Crezdon Butler; S — Glover Quin, Rafael Bush, Tavon Wilson, Don Carey, Isaiah Johnson,

Needs: The Lions seem comfortable entering the season with a starting cornerback tandem of Slay and Lawson, though it’s certainly possible they add another playmaker at the position high in the draft. Dependable veteran Rashean Mathis retired this off-season and Diggs is penciled in as nickel cornerback, but there’s not much proven depth in reserve. Bademosi is mostly a special-teams player, and Carter missed his entire rookie season with an ankle injury. The Lions’ need at safety is even more pronounced. Glover Quin has 11 interceptions the last two seasons, and free-agent additions Bush and Wilson will compete for the other starting spot for now. Secondary coaches Tony Oden and Alan Williams were all over the country conducting workouts this off-season, and it seems a fair bet the Lions will take a safety somewhere in the draft.

NFL draft ’16: Full coverage

Top 3 CB prospects: 1. Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida; 2. William Jackson III, Houston; 3. Eli Apple, Ohio State

Top 3 FS prospects: 1. Jalen Ramsey, Florida State; 2. Vonn Bell, Ohio State; 3. Darian Thompson, Boise State

Top 3 SS prospects: 1. Keanu Neal, Florida; 2. Karl Joseph, West Virginia; 3. Su’a Cravens, USC

Other players with Michigan ties: CB — Arjen Colquhoun, Michigan State; Leviticus Payne, Cincinnati (Southfield); S — Jarrod Wilson, Michigan; Kavon Frazier, Central Michigan

Late-round players who could interest the Lions: CB – Brandon Williams, Texas A&M; S – Ian Wells, Ohio

Draft talk: Ramsey is one of the best prospects in the draft regardless of position and a lock to go somewhere in the top 10. He can play cornerback or safety, and if his ball skills improve it’s not a stretch to say he could develop into one of the best defensive backs in the league. A handful of pure cornerbacks should go somewhere in Round 1. Hargreaves and Jackson are both potential top 15 picks. Hargreaves is a little undersized, but very good in coverage, and Jackson is one of the biggest playmakers in the draft. Apple, Clemson’s Mackensie Alexander and Miami’s Artie Burns are the next tier of corners, while Virginia Tech’s Kendall Fuller, the brother of Lions cornerback, should land somewhere on Day 2. It’s a fairly deep group of cornerbacks overall, and the Lions spent extra time with West Virginia’s Daryl Worley and Notre Dame’s KeiVarae Russell. The safety class isn’t near as deep, though there are role-playing types should be prevalent in the mid-rounds. Neal, Joseph and Bell top the list, with Cravens a linebacker on some teams’ boards. Maryland’s Sean Davis has cornerback skills, Clemson’s Jayron Kearse is an imposing 6-feet-4, and both Frazier and Wilson should come off the board on Day 3.