Lions Select DE Chase Young in 2020 Re-Draft

Read more on ESPN's re-draft of last year's NFL draft.

Now that the Detroit Lions have completely shifted gears and are headed towards a major rebuild, let's explore what they could have accomplished had they made a different selection in last year's NFL draft. 

Recall, the debate was centered on whether or not Detroit should draft a rookie quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick. 

Instead, Detroit chose to draft a position that oftentimes requires time to develop. 

Cornerback Jeff Okudah ended up being the selection, and of course, he struggled mightily during his rookie campaign.  

ESPN recently completed a re-draft of the first-round of last year's draft. 

With the first pick, the Bengals still chose quarterback Joe Burrow. The Washington Football Team ended up with quarterback Justin Herbert in the re-draft instead of Chase Young. 

For the Lions, had this scenario played out, they would have ended up with one of the most promising young defensive linemen that have come out of college in recent memory. 

"While it would have been tempting to go with Tua Tagovailoa here -- even after the Lions traded away Matthew Stafford and acquired Jared Goff -- this team's glaring need at the time of the draft last year and now remains the pass rush," beat writer Michael Rothstein wrote. "And Young, at the time of the draft and now, looks like a generational talent who will become a star. If this had happened then or now, the Lions would take about 15 seconds to actually make this pick."

Instead, former head coach Matt Patricia's regime collapsed, and Detroit now finds itself starting over from square one yet again. 

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