2013 DBN Mock Draft: Detroit Lions Select DE/OLB Ezekiel Ansah at No. 5

With the fifth pick in the 2013 Dawgs By Nature NFL Community Mock Draft, the Detroit Lions select...

Ezekiel Ansah, DE/OLB, BYU

This selection and write-up was made by macdowellm03:

Ezekiel Ansah is big and fast. Playing for BYU may not strike fear into your opponents like it would had he played for an SEC team, but all of that is overrated anyway. Ansah has been placed atop the boards for many teams due to his stellar combine performance, putting up a 4.63 40-yard dash time, and a 34.5 inch vertical. For a man who is 6’5" and 270 pounds, that is astronomical. He is also very instinctual and smart. He know what he is supposed to do and where he is supposed to be. The only real knock against him would be his lack of stats in college, but all of the mental and physical tools are there.

The Detroit Lions are quite the mystery when it comes to the draft, but not when it comes to their defensive line. With the release of Kyle Vanden Bosch, a spot on the line has opened up. It would have needed upgrading anyway, even had they retained Vanden Bosch, as he is 34 years old. Adding Ansah to the likes of the ever-so-dirty Ndamukong Suh and Cliff Avril, should they chose to re-sign him, would put this defensive line on the map. Combine that with Nick Fairley, and you have a defensive line that weighs a collective 1,138 pounds. Good luck getting through that, Adrian.

Other prospects I thought about were Dee Miliner, but that went out the window right away, and Luke Joeckel. Eric Fisher was a maybe, but after him, there are not any tackles worthy of the fifth pick in my mind.

I am still a little perplexed about Detroit's significant offensive struggles last year. There are certainly some positions they can improve on offense, but I don't see anyone they could grab at No. 5 overall, given the players who are off the board already. Any time you have Calvin Johnson on offense, the right gameplan can help get things together for you. Then, the focus shifts to defense, where stopping Aaron Rodgers and Adrian Peterson are important.

Ansah has a potentially high risk/reward payoff, so I like the pick. (A couple of weeks ago, Mike Krupka did a nice in-depth review of Ansah). I think Detroit's defensive line, considering they have both Suh and Fairley, has been a disappointment to a degree, but maybe adding another physical speciman like Ansah to the mix will help the unit take things to the next level.

The Cleveland Browns are up next, led by Cedarpoint2k3.

2013 DBN Community Mock Draft Results (so far)