A dream scenario

While most of the NFL mock drafts out there converge on Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah for the Detroit Lions third overall pick, the local beat continues to buck the trend. Earlier in the month, Justin Rogers of The Detroit News decided to go with Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown, and then Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon took the bold stance of Chase Young falling to Detroit at three.

Now MLive’s Kyle Meinke is following the local beat trend. In his latest mock draft, which dropped on Tuesday, he has Ohio State edge defender Chase Young landing in Detroit as well.

In his mock, the Miami Dolphins traded up with Washington—not Detroit—to the No. 2 spot to grab Alabama Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

“With three teams desperate for a quarterback lurking in the top 10 — one of which is sitting on three first-round picks — I believe somebody is going to trade up for (Tagovailoa),” Meinke wrote. “It could happen with Detroit at third overall, and I do believe the Lions will deal that pick if Tagovailoa is still there. But I just don’t see that happening. The Dolphins, Panthers and Chargers all could use him, and Miami has the resources to make it happen here.”

This is a scenario that has been widely overlooked since many national experts have simply fallen in love with the idea of Miami trading with Detroit at three. But with so many quarterback-needy teams in the top 10—the Dolphins at five, Chargers at six, Panthers at seven, and Jaguars at nine—it could be an arms race to get as high in draft order as possible. Additionally, it’s possible some teams fall for the (loose) rumors that Detroit could be interested in Tagovailoa.

Regardless, this is a realistic scenario that Lions fans should probably keep in the back of their mind, especially now that two local writers have proposed the idea.

• SEEN magazine has a pretty awesome off-the-field profile on Lions linebacker Devon Kennard:

• Detroit Lions quarterback Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had a CT scan recently revealing that his fractured hip has healed, indicating that he’s made significant progress on his injury. Though NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport believes he’s still a month away from returning to football activities.

• Kenny Golladay has already returned to football activities and is putting in work:

• Former Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has accepted a job as LSU’s passing game coordinator.

• In other former Lions coaches news, former DBs coach Tony Oden has accepted a job as secondary coach with the 49ers. And recently-fired special teams coordinator John Bonamego is the new Rams special teams coordinator.

• It’s been over three months since Matthew Stafford has thrown a pass for the Lions. I miss this: