Lions need to find great 2020 NFL Draft class or face music

The Detroit Lions haven’t won a Super Bowl. Hell, they only have a single playoff win since 1957, and none since 1991.

To say Motown’s fans have been through a tough stretch is an absurd insult. Now, the Lions’ faithful gears up for a third season with head coach Matt Patricia at the helm, who endured a 3-12-1 campaign in 2019. Both he and general manager Bob Quinn — entering his fifth year with the team — are on the proverbial hot seat in Detroit, needing a great draft class after a quiet offseason to resurrect the franchise.

While many view the Lions as a downtrodden team, Quinn doesn’t feel that’s the case, despite recent comments from former Detroit stars Damon Harrison and Darius Slay. Per NFL.com:

“You can’t make everybody happy in this business in terms of how you do certain things, but I can just say from the guys that we’ve signed in free agency, the guys that wanted to be here — a number of guys in our free agent class reached out to us.

“We obviously liked them as players, but in the weeks leading up to free agency, those guys had their agent call me and say, ‘Hey, my guy wants to be there and play for Coach.’ So, you just have conversations with guys like Duron Harmon, who we traded for. I mean, I’ve never seen a player more excited to be traded — and we’ve done a lot of trades since I’ve been here — than Duron Harmon. I mean, he was like literally jumping out of my FaceTime wanting to come out here immediately. I have no concerns with that at all.”

If the Lions are going to turn their fortunes around, they desperately need a great draft. After spending well over $100 million in free agency a year ago, Quinn was quieter this time around. With the No. 3 overall selection in Thursday’s NFL Draft, the Lions must find some star players along with athletes who can fit roles.

Additionally, Detroit needs these rookies to make immediate contributions if they’re to help save Quinn and Patricia from the unemployment line.

While this rookie class appears to been of the strongest in recent memory, it’s a big ask for a team long on hardships and short on success. However, the Lions have little time to wait, with a regime change around the corner if one more rough year awaits.