Why Anthony Richardson Won't Be Available for Lions at No. 18

Daniel Jeremiah does not believe Anthony Richardson will be available for Lions at No. 18.

NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah spoke with media Friday, ahead of the 2023 Scouting Combine. 

For the Detroit Lions, the No. 6 overall pick provides Detroit general manager Brad Holmes and the front office with a prime opportunity to add a quality defensive lineman who can come in and have an immediate impact. 

In his talk with reporters, Jeremiah was first asked about the Lions, what they could do at No. 6 and which defensive linemen have positional value at that coveted position. 

In his second NFL mock draft, Jeremiah has EDGE Tyree Wilson being drafted at No. 3 by the Arizona Cardinals. 

"First edge rusher off the board? Over Will Anderson Jr.?!? There’s a lot of love for Wilson around the league," Jeremiah wrote. "His combination of size, length and production has teams very intrigued."

Jeremiah believes in Wilson's skillset, and has the 6-foot-6, 276-pound lineman very high on his draft board. 

"I think there's a lot of buzz around him, around the league," Jeremiah elaborated about Wilson. "I think the league has it with him and (Will) Anderson a lot closer than people might think. He's got just freakish wingspan and and burst and the ability to kind of use those long levers to get home. I think he's a really talented rusher. I think he's a big time athlete." 

The former scout continued, "Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to see him do anything at the combine coming off the injury that he's had. So, probably have to wait till the pro day on that one. But for me it would be him." 

Myles Murphy, who has been mocked to the Lions quite often as well, is a little more "tricky" of a proposition, based on his skill set. 

"Myles Murphy is a tricky one because it's all in there. He has it all in his body. He hasn't got it all figured out just yet," said Jeremiah. "But between his kind of his combination of length and explosiveness, I think there's more there. I think he's going to develop more as a rusher. I don't think he has a great plan at this point in time." 

Iowa EDGE rusher Lukas Van Ness was the third lineman mentioned during Jeremiah's draft discussion of the top rushers. 

"I'm going to end up moving him up in my next update of my top 50. I think I have him at 22 right now," said Jeremiah. "Again, it was curious when you're watching, because he doesn't start and I know a lot of people are sitting there going, 'How in the world you can take a guy in the top ten? He didn't start at Iowa.' I had a chance to do my homework on that. And look, that's just the way their program runs. They're going to run with the older upperclassmen, the leaders that have been in those spots. They're just going to roll those guys out there with starters, even though everybody knows this was their best guy. 

"He's got big time, big time explosiveness and power. Kind of a Bull in a china shop. Somebody who's just figuring it out. When you watch them against the best tackles he played against, he got after him. What I'm getting at is it's going to be Murphy and Van Ness that are pretty close to me. I would have Tyree Wilson ahead of those two guys."

Richardson will not be available at No. 18 for Lions

Even though Jeremiah had the Gators quarterback being mocked to the Lions in his latest projections, his latest round of talks with front office personnel has the former Florida signal-caller rocketing up draft boards. 

"He's not going to be there when it's all said and done, when the Lions pick with their second pick," Jeremiah said. "So, it's not going to be a problem in making calls just around the league. The best way to do the quarterback conversation is talk to the teams that don't need one and then you'll get kind of an accurate feel of just how they evaluate him. What they think. And Anthony Richardson is the second quarterback for several teams that I talked to."

Despite his up-and-down season, many evaluators are extremely enamored with Richardson's upside further down the road, if he ends up in the correct system. 

"We can look at the numbers, and it doesn't look great on paper. You look at the accuracy-- this, that and the other. He's got elite, elite arm strength. He's a rare athlete," Jeremiah wrote. "You don't see quarterbacks running away from LSU's defense with 80-yard touchdown runs like that. He's got a big time ceiling and big time ability."