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The Detroit Lions are paying plenty of attentions to the prospects during the NFL Scouting Combine. The top end of the draft has a lot of defensive talent, but the combine could be a place for some of those players to really separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
Detroit have a top five pick, and going with the "best player available" method of drafting will be difficult. That said, they're no stranger to picking high and given that the top-end is heavy on defensive line talent, well, they're no stranger to drafting defensive linemen high, either.
Matthew Fairburn of SB Nation released his latest mock draft on Monday and he thinks it's par the course for the Lions, as he has them taking Ezekiel Ansah, the defensive end out of BYU:
We've had this connection in a previous mock and it continues to make sense. The Detroit Lions worked closely with Ezekiel Ansah at the Senior Bowl and desperately need help at defensive end. Ansah could be the missing piece on Detroit's defensive line.
It's true that the Lions spent time with Ansah at the Senior Bowl, but if that were the only reason for this selection, it would be quite odd. Fortunately, that's not the only reason, as Ansah has been considered one of the top defensive linemen in the draft for some time.
Many drafts have him going in the top 15 picks, and it stands to reason that some one-on-one time at the Senior Bowl could definitely have given the Lions some positive feelings on Ansah to tip the skills in his favor over guys like Bjoern Werner and Damontre Moore.
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