Grading each Chicago Bears NFC North rival’s first round draft picks

Detroit Lions: A

The Detroit Lions are going to be better than the Chicago Bears in 2022.

The Detroit Lions had a phenomenal first round this year. Of all the bad teams from the 2021 season, they seem like the most likely to take a step in 2022 and this draft will certainly help them.

They went into the draft with the 2nd overall pick and the 32nd overall pick. Number 32 was acquired from the Los Angeles Rams in the Matthew Stafford trade. Of course, they won the Super Bowl so it was the last pick of the first round.

With that second overall pick, they selected Aiden Hutchinson from the University of Michigan. It was a phenomenal pick for them as he is going to be an outstanding edge rusher on their defense for a very long time.

They traded pick 32 to the division rival Minnesota Vikings so that they can move up to pick Jameson Williams at 12th overall. There is a good chance that he is the best receiver in the draft which will really help the Lions develop their next quarterback. He might even make Jared Goff look a little better in 2022.

This was a very nice haul for Detroit in the first round. They got a very good edge rusher and the best wide receiver in the entire draft. In addition to giving up the 32nd pick to move up, they also gave up pick 34 (second round) and a 2022 third-round pick. It will probably be worth it.