The Detroit Lions have five Defensive Ends on roster as of this moment. To go along with their ends, the Lions have invested a great deal into their Defensive Tackles in the past three seasons.
 
Cliff Avril is coming off his best year as a pro, where he was considered the best player on an inconsistently dominant defense. Kyle Vanden Bosch, Lawrence Jackson, and Willie Young all showed isolated dominance last season, but none of them appear to be a secure option moving forward.
 
Everette Brown was a 2009 second round draft pick. He didn’t fit what the Carolina Panthers or the San Diego Chargers were looking for, so both teams quickly moved on. Jim Schwartz is holding out hope that Brown will adapt to his Wide-Nine Defense.
 
It seems like the Lions wouldn’t need help at Defensive End, but that assumption would be wrong.
 
Cliff Avril has yet to sign his Franchise Tag. The Detroit Lions are waiting until after the draft to attempt to iron out a long-term deal. Avril appears likely to be with Detroit long-term. None of the other options, however, are likely long for Detroit.
 
Kyle Vanden Bosch is quickly approaching the end of his career. He’s losing some of his athleticism and gets lost against the run. Lawrence Jackson is solid when healthy, but Jackson has missed ten games over the past two seasons.
 
Willie Young showed some good tools this past season, but was very limited in his production. Everette Brown is a calculated risk and isn’t a guarantee to make the roster.
 
Whitney Mercilus lead the Big Ten in sacks and forced fumbles last season with sixteen and nine respectively. Mercilus is around the same height and weight as Cliff Avril is currently, but based on his skill set, is more likely to put on some weight and take over for Kyle Vanden Bosch.
 
Although Mercilus lead the Big Ten in sacks, they weren’t flashy. A lot of his production was helped by solid coverage in the Secondary.
 
The Lions also have interest in Stanford’s Left Tackle Jonathan Martin, who I see as a solid fit for Detroit at the Left Tackle position, and Cornerbacks ‘Dre Kirkpatrick and Stephon Gilmore in the first round.

In the NFL Draft, teams often find themselves drafting players close to home. This phenomenon is not about it being easier to cultivate local talent, it’s about building a relationship with players.
 
It just happens to be, that in most cases, college players are more apt to build pipeline relationships with teams close to them. There are exceptions to that rule, for example, the Patriots’ connection with Florida players because of Bill Belicheck’s relationship with Urban Meyer.
 
The Miami Dolphins, at least in recent memory, haven’t had that sort of a relationship with Florida schools.
 
According to reports, they’re looking to start building a rapport with Florida kids. The Dolphins happen to need help at Wide Receiver, and Tommy Streeter is fairly high on the Dolphin’s board.
 
Streeter’s height, weight, and speed really turned heads at the combine. Anyone that watched Miami, however, shouldn’t have been surprised with Streeter’s game-changing athleticism.
 
In contrast to his athleticism, Streeter’s ability to grab the ball in traffic has been going under the radar. Although Streeter is admittedly raw, he’s a lot further along than most draft experts give him credit for.
 
Streeter didn’t get a lot of time before last season, but he proved to be a play-maker with a Quarterback that couldn’t hit a barn from ten yards away. He can get deep at will, and that should help him get on the field early on in his career.
 
Tommy Streeter’s stock has been falling as of late, but I think he’ll be drafted in the late third or early forth.
 
The Miami Dolphins will probably look to add multiple Wide Receivers in this particularly deep draft class. The Dolphins are weak at Wide Receiver after they traded away Brandon Marshall.

Despite there being significant flaws with the majority of Corners in this draft class, as a whole, the group is as deep as any Corner class I’ve seen.
 
Stephon Gilmore is probably the cleanest Corner prospect on the board. With Janoris Jenkins’ laundry list of off-the-field issues, Morris Claiborne’s wonderlic test, and questions about ‘Dre Kirkpatrick’s maturity, Gilmore’s stock is as hot as ever.
 
Gilmore doesn’t have any glaring issues in his game, but he doesn’t appear to be a potential shut-down Corner. The majority of draft experts will tell you that Morris Claiborne and Janoris Jenkins possess better cover skills than Gilmore.
 
Does his lack of issues really justify his draft stock rising into the top twenty? I don’t agree, but teams probably do.
 
The need for the Corner position is overblown. Because this is a passing league, General Managers are flocking to the idea that you beat passing teams with superior Corner play. That idea is wrong, but that doesn’t change how many people believe it.
 
Therefore, it’s almost unfathomable at this point to ponder Gilmore falling out of the first round. Gilmore has great size for the position and shows good flexibility and quickness in drills at the combine.
 
He was impressive in the timed drills at the combine as well.
 
It’s hard to ignore how good Stephon Gilmore looked in Indianapolis, but I still question his long-term potential. Like Prince Amukamara last season, it’s possible that Gilmore is taken well above where his output would warrant.
 
Wherever he’s drafted, Gilmore will need to work on his consistency deep. He’s a good fit for teams that need a Corner, but if he’s taken in the top twenty, I don’t think he represents value. For some teams, that won’t matter.
 
However, some experts are on the other side of the fence. The NFL Network’s Mike Mayock recently said that Gilmore belonged in the top 15.
 
All prospects have varying opinions; Lucky for Gilmore, a consensus opinion on his draft stock is irrelevant. As long as one team sees his ability in the same light as Mayock, it’s likely that Gilmore will be picked in the top twenty.
 
Gilmore has recently taken visits to the Browns and the Cowboys. The Browns probably won’t take Stephon Gilmore unless he’s on the board at 22, but the Cowboys are a real possibility at 14.

While there is very little debate that the Cowboys still have a myriad of needs they could draft to fill, it seems like the Cowboys are limiting their search a little bit.
 
Just hours after Dontari Poe to Dallas was building up steam, ESPN’s Adam Schefter killed that train with the theory I put forward a few days earlier: Dallas’ choice is in Alabama.
 
It’s a documented fact that Jason Garrett has attended just two Pro Days in his two year career. One to watch his future Left Tackle Tyron Smith at USC, and another to watch ‘Dre Kirkpatrick work out at Alabama.
 
Many still believe that this is a three-person race with all three first round defenders (Courtney Upshaw, Mark Barron, and the aforementioned ‘Dre Kirkpatrick), but I don’t buy that. Upshaw and Barron were present for the workout, but neither did anything outside of talk.
 
Jason Garrett wasn’t there to talk.
 
Garrett was there to watch ‘Dre Kirkpatrick. Although ‘Dre was limited in what he did at Alabama, that doesn’t mean he’s limited to those schemes in the pros.
 
Dre generally lined up against the opposing team’s top Wide Out and played off-man zone. ‘Dre is natural in zone coverage, but he’s limited in man situations. He’s huge for the Corner position, and for a Corner, he knows how to lay the lumber.
 
That is why I’m convinced Jason Garrett was there to see if he could play Safety. Although Gerald Sensabaugh played admirably, the Cowboys have a need to improve their Safety position.
 
Dre isn’t quite as physically imposing as his teammate Mark Barron, but at Safety he’s got tremendous upside. With his instincts in zone, combined with his tremendous ability to break down in the open field, I think he may end up the better Safety.
 
I may be way off base here, but I know feel very strongly that the Cowboys were in Alabama to watch ‘Dre Kirkpatrick, not Mark Barron. Kirkpatrick as a Safety is intriguing to say the least.

There were reports a couple of days ago that should nothing weird happen, the Seahawks had came to the conclusion that David DeCastro was a likely fit. Then David Hawthorne spurned the Seahawks to go play for the Saints.
 
So where does this leave their draft board?
 
David DeCastro is still a possibility in the first round. He would be the highest drafted guard ever at the number eleven pick, but he’s the most complete guard prospect in recent memory.
 
But with David Hawthorne gone, the market is dwindling. The Inside Linebacker class is very top heavy; there are only two players that are great fits for Seattle’s defense.
 
At the top, of course, is Luke Kuechly. Kuechly has elite range, elite tackling ability, and is one of the best cover-linebackers I’ve ever seen. Simply put, he’s head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the pack.
 
An interesting option in the second round is California’s Mychal Kendricks. Kendricks is now locked into the second round. He’s more athletic than I originally thought and his ability in coverage is just below Keuchly’s.
 
At this point, the Seahawks could go either way. I think Kuechly is a little bit better than David DeCastro as a prospect, but my evaluation is irrelevant. It’s clear to me now that the Seahawks plan is not clear.
 
Although it’s easy to pencil in Kuechly at this point, the Seahawks still have other options.