Oklahoma wide receiver Ryan Broyles looked like a potential first-round draft pick last season before he suffered a torn ACL in November. As it turned out, that serious knee injury dropped him to the second round, where the Lions selected him 54th overall.
For Detroit, wide receiver isn’t a big need, and that may be why they felt comfortable selecting a wide receiver who will likely be at less than 100 percent at the start of training camp. The Lions can bring Broyles along slowly as a rookie and hope he develops into a player who can make a big impact in his second year.
Still, this is a surprising pick: The Lions have big needs on defense that they still haven’t addressed. Most people thought Detroit would want to come away from this draft with a new starter in their secondary, and that doesn’t look likely to happen now. Broyles may give the Lions more depth at receiver in the future, but he does nothing for their needs on defense in the present.
