The Detroit Lions have vaulted from the depths of yet another rebuild to a top Super Bowl contender over the last few years, largely on the strength of what they’ve done in the draft under general manager Brad Holmes.

Often, the Lions have ignored the traditional tropes of positional value to hit on studs (Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell). Other times, fortune has smiled on them (Aidan Hutchinson not being taken No. 1 overall).

The other side of drafting so much young talent is the piper that must be paid when it comes time for second contracts, and not everyone (at least in theory) will be able to be retained. So keeping the pipeline of cheap young talent full via savvy drafting will be important, and there are no signs it won’t continue.

As the 2024 college football season winds down toward conference title games, bowl games and the 12-team College Football Playoff, let’s take a run at a short Lions’ mock draft for 2025.

Lions go boring route of a Super Bowl contender in 3-round 2025 mock draft
First Round, No. 32 overall: LT Overton, EDGE, Alabama
Holmes clearly has affinity for Alabama players, though it’s worth wondering how that players will be impacted down the road as who played for Nick Saban move on. The Lions also have a clear need at edge rusher, so Overton was the pick here.

Using Pro Football Focus’ mock draft simulator, here’s how a three-round 2025 mock for the Lions came out.

Overton (6-foot-5, 283 pounds) has just two sacks this season, but he has 31 quarterback pressures on 218 pass rush snaps (according to Pro Football Focus) with solid all-around grades from PFF (80.4 overall, 76.6 run defense grade, 78.0 pass rush grade) with the kind of alignment versatility the Lions value highly.