Lions Insider

By late next week, after the week-long evaluation of 328 draft prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the Lions will no-doubt have a better idea of who's worthy of their 23rd pick in April's NFL Draft.

But who might that be?

Better yet, who should that be?

There's a long way to go in the evaluation process before the Lions have any idea who'll be at the top of their draft board, but I don't mind throwing in my two cents early in the process.

The three biggest needs for the Lions, as I see them, are:

• Getting younger and more talented along the offensive line. That includes finding the eventual replacement for Jeff Backus at left tackle.
• Finding a young cornerback, solid in man coverage, who can compete for a starting spot and add depth to the unit.
• Grabbing a natural safety to contend with Amari Spievey for the starting strong safety spot opposite Louis Delmas.

A home run pick for the Lions would be getting a player like Stanford tackle Jonathan Martin, Ohio State tackle Mike Adams or Stanford guard David DeCastro. All three players have the potential to compete for a starting spot right away.

The Lions could also decide to get younger and more talented at cornerback with players like Dre Kirkpatrick (Alabama) or Janoris Jenkins (North Alabama). If those players check out at the combine and are still available at No. 23, selecting one of them makes the team better.

The Lions will have gone through the free agency process by the start of the draft and will have a better idea of their needs. It's not likely to change their draft ideology, though.

"Our philosophy draft-wise, and we talk about it pretty much every year, (is that) we will take the better player available," Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said after the season. "What we don't want to do is reach for needs at specific positions and bypass good players to reach for a need. Just the history of the draft, I have seen a lot of mistakes made doing that and we don't believe in that."

Mayhew used the example of Nick Fairley, who the team drafted at No. 13 last year, as evidence of this philosophy. The Lions already had Ndamukong Suh, Corey Williams and Sammie Hill last season, but drafted Fairley because he was the best player on their board. In fact, Fairley was the best player on the board by far at that pick and a player the Lions had hoped would fall to them.

There was a rush on quarterbacks toward the top of the draft last year (four taken in the top 12 picks) and that helped facilitate Fairley's fall to No. 13.

A top-five caliber pick, which Fairley was last season, isn't likely to fall to the Lions at No. 23 this year, though.

"We have a feel right now but we'll know with greater specificity when we bring all (the) information together and we'll have a really good feel about what the strength of the draft in that mid-20s is -- if we stay at that 23rd spot -- and what positions we'll be looking at," said Lions president Tom Lewand in a conference call with season ticket holders last when asked about the draft. "You'll have a feel for that and will know if you can matchup talent with needs in some areas."

Theoretically, there should be a larger group of players with similar grades available to the Lions at No. 23. More than any year since Lewand and Mayhew have been in charge, it should be easier to match talent with need.

The Lions have been one of the better drafting teams over the last three years but they're in a different position now in terms of roster talent and needs. The Lions are starting to feel the salary cap pressure from years of picking at the top of the draft and are at a point now where they have to pay their stars and play their young players.

That means they'd be better served by selecting a player that can come in and contribute right away at a position that could use the help.