The road to the draft kicked off this week in Mobile, Alabama for the 2018 Senior Bowl.
NFL scouts, talent evaluators and coaches got a first-hand look at some of college football's top prospects during the week of practices.
"It's very competitive," Lions Director of Player Personnel Lance Nemark said. "It's a large pool of good football players from this draft class. It gives guys an opportunity to change the narrative of their draft value to some degree and separate themselves from other people in their group.
"Everything a player does on the field this week is evaluated in Detroit by multiple people."
One position group the Lions could be interested in is running back. There were quite a few interesting RB prospects at the Senior Bowl, including San Diego State's Rashaad Penny, who has a straightforward approach to his game.
"I like getting north and south," Penny said Tuesday. "I mean, there's really no point of going east and west. East and west is going backwards. Going north and south is going forward."
Another group the Lions could be keeping an eye on are the pass rushers. The Senior Bowl is a good opportunity to get a look at some of the small-school prospects, like UTSA defensive end Marcus Davenport.
"He's probably the player in this game who is not well known," said Phil Savage, former Cleveland Browns GM and current Executive Director of the Senior Bowl. "But by the time we get to Saturday, he's going to be the talk of the game."
SENIOR BOWL HIGHLIGHTS
Tim Twentyman and Tori Petry were both down at the Senior Bowl this week taking in practice and talking with prospects. Check out the highlights from their trip:
- Twentyman's practice Observations: Day One | Day Two
- Twentyman's 10 prospects who impressed
- Tori's 1 on 1's with: Daniel Jeremiah | Bucky Brooks | PFF's Josh Liskiewitz
- Tori & Tim's Senior Bowl week recap
LIONS AT THE PRO BOWL
While Lions scouts and coaches headed to Mobile, cornerback Darius Slay and guard T.J. Lang made their way to Orlando for the 2018 Pro Bowl. See what they've been up to this week:
- Practice photos: Day One | Day Two
- Talkin With T.J.: Pro Bowl edition
- Behind the scenes at the NFC team photo
- Slay mic'd up at practice: Day One | Day Two
- Lang at Pro Bowl Play60 clinic
- Slay visits Detroit flag footbal team's tournament
OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS:
- Mike O'Hara predicts who the Lions will take with the 20th pick in the first round of the 2018 draft.
- The Lions finished sixth in Rick Gosselin's annual special teams rankings.
- After a solid end to his rookie season, running back Tion Green is working to improve his weaknesses this offseason.
