On Tuesday, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah released his second mock draft of the 2026 season. While Jeremiah paired the Detroit Lions with an edge rusher in both of his recent mock drafts, his decision-making in Tuesday’s mock draft was a bit surprising, as it goes against his previous logic and current top 50 rankings.
Like his previous mock draft, Jeremiah had the draft’s top two offensive tackles—Utah’s Spencer Fano and Miami’s Francis Mauigoa—and the top two edge rushers—Texas Tech’s David Bailey
and Miami’s Reuben Bain—were claimed as top 10 picks. In fact, in this updated version, all four players are off the board in the first six selections, which should all but eliminate the idea that Detroit might trade up for one of these blue-chip players.
Despite the Lions on the clock at pick No. 17, no other offensive tackles or edge rushers were projected to come off the board, leaving the Lions with the third-best option at both positions available to them.
And with pick No. 17, Jeremiah projects the Lions to select…
T.J. Parker, EDGE, Clemson (6-foot-3 1/2, 263)
Here’s Jeremiah’s explanation for his projection:
“Parker had an underwhelming 2025 season, but he bounced back in a big way at the Senior Bowl. I think he’s climbing draft boards once again.“
What’s curious about this projection is that Parker checked in as the No. 38 best player—and seventh best edge rusher—in Jeremiah’s Top 50 rankings. Now, it’s worth noting that Jeremiah pointed out a strong Senior Bowl week for Parker, and his top 50 list was made before those practices, but that’s still quite a jump to make. What’s more likely is that Parker’s rise up Jeremiah’s board is due to two factors: Positional dropoff and insider sources.
This draft class is unique in the fact that there’s a notable dropoff at multiple positions after the first tier of players, followed by a large group of prospects that are likely only separated by team preference. Meaning, after the first two edge rushers were selected, there isn’t much graded difference between EDGE3 and EDGE7, making each prospect’s value different for every team.
This is where Jeremiah’s inside sources could be coming into play. Either he heard that Parker was too low in his rankings, or it’s even possible he heard from a Lions’ source that the team may lean Parker over players like Miami’s Akeem Messidor (who he paired with Detroit in his first mock draft) and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk, both of whom rank much higher in Jeremiah’s rankings.
Regardless of the reason for the pairing, whenever a prospect not commonly mocked to the Lions is projected by a well-respected, connected analyst, it’s worth noting.
Here are a few other prospects I would have considered for the Lions in this mock draft (and where Jeremiah projected them):
- Faulk (pick No. 19)
- Messidor (20)
- Blake Miller, LT, Clemson (23) — Note: This is a name I continue to hear rising up boards quickly
- Monroe Freeling, LT, Georgia (24)
- Caleb Lomu, LT, Utah (28)
