Despite having a clear need at the position in the wake of Josh Reynolds leaving, the Detroit Lions did not make any significant additions to their wide receivers room this offseason.
Instead, the Lions are hoping for guys already on the roster to step up, and namely Jameson Williams, who has had a disappointing start to his career that makes him a wild card as he enters his third season.
Depending on how that unfolds, the Lions could be in the market for a receiver early in next year's draft, and ESPN's Matt Miller sees that happening in his recent mock where the Lions take Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka at No. 30 overall.
Miller's analysis is as follows:
I expect that general manager Brad Holmes will put some focus on receiver depth next offseason. The Lions are waiting to see what Jameson Williams can be in his third season after a series of setbacks due to injury and suspension, but the WR3 role is open for business. Egbuka is a savvy route runner with sure hands and toughness over the middle that would fit Detroit's offense. The senior should bounce back from a down year in 2023 (41 catches for 515 yards and four TDs) and post numbers closer to his huge 2022 season (74 catches for 1,151 yards and 10 TDs).
Even if Williams pans out, the Lions might look to add a better option for their No. 3 role, as Miller points out. Currently, Kalif Raymond and Donovan Peoples-Jones are vying for that role, among others, but they aren't really long-term solutions.
Here's more on Egbuka, per Damian Parson of The Draft Network, who compares the Ohio State receiver to St. Brown:
Egbuka is a productive, highly intelligent, and skilled run-after-catch WR prospect. He projects as a movement Z or slot receiver who can feast on defenses with a two-way go. His work in the quick game and the middle of the field translates to being a gritty chain-moving threat. In the mold of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Egbuka has a high ceiling working out of the slot as the point man of the passing attack.
Because of the presence of St. Brown, it might seem like a bad idea to add another slot receiver like him, but the Lions' star wideout has played more and more snaps outside since entering the league. St. Brown played a career-high 43.6% of his snaps out wide in 2023, per Pro Football Focus.
Adding to that, Egbuka does have experience playing outside, and he has the right size (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) to be effective there at the next level, giving Detroit options on how to deploy him.
