A future second round pick can be a lot of things. It can become a franchise quarterback, a difference-making pass rusher, or even a star cornerback.
What it can’t do is line up on Sunday night and help the Detroit Lions stop Tetairoa McMillan.
That was the brutal reality in the Lions’ 32-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers, a defeat that landed even harder because Carolina showed up heavily injured and still found plenty of answers. McMillan was the biggest one.
He had nine catches for 147 yards by halftime, which accounted for 82.58% of Bryce Young’s first-half passing yards. He kept rolling after the break, too, catching Young’s first throw of the second half to jump-start a long five-minute drive that ended with McMillan’s second touchdown of the game.
By the end of the night, McMillan had 14 receptions for 192 yards. Young finished with 329 passing yards, becoming the third quarterback to top 300 passing yards against the Lions.
Detroit’s offense did enough for long stretches, aside from some questionable late play-calling. The defensive line also did its part, making Young work and giving the offense chances to stay in the game. The rest of the defense, though, was a mess.
And that brings the conversation back to what the Lions didn’t do before the game ever kicked off.
A future second round pick couldn’t have played on Sunday, but it could have helped Detroit’s secondary. The Dallas Cowboys used their 2028 second-round pick to land cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Porter Jr. made his Cowboys debut in their 34-30 win over the Houston Texans. He didn’t make a splash in the box score, but he did play 24 snaps and didn’t allow a catch while being targeted once, according to Next Gen Stats.
That kind of impact would have mattered against Carolina.
The Lions were “in” on those Porter Jr. trade talks, according to head coach Dan Campbell. Detroit could have made a similar offer with a future second-rounder, though the Steelers may have preferred the Cowboys’ pick because of where that team is headed. Even if that was the case, the Lions still had room to push harder, even if it meant entering overpay territory.
Brad Holmes has earned his reputation as a strong drafter, and he’s clearly comfortable staying patient with his picks. He’s been dancing with the one who brought him. But his draft history isn’t flawless, and Carolina just exposed another crack.
Detroit needs help now. It can’t wait for Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph to return, whenever that happens.
It can’t bank on how they’ll look when they do. It can’t sit around and hope the 2027 or 2028 draft delivers a fix, because nobody knows how those boards will fall or whether those picks will hit.
And it definitely can’t ask a future pick to suit up for a 2-2 team in the present.
The secondary is the problem, and it’s dragging the team down. Holmes has the assets to address it immediately. If Detroit wants to salvage this season, one of those future draft picks may have to go.
In Other News...
Jared Goff Framed The Lions Loss Around One Fixable Problem
The frustration around Detroits Sunday night loss to Carolina wasnt hard to hear from Jared Goff, but he didnt frame it as a mystery. He said the Lions still had a chance late and were let down by the offenses inability to finish, then pointed to the sort of cleanup work that can change a game fast: penalties and communication. Even in defeat, he noted some encouraging signs in the passing game, including the deep connections with the wide receivers.
What hung over his remarks was the sense that this wasnt a talent issue so much as an execution issue. Goff also brought up the run game, which has been inefficient in recent weeks, adding another layer to the Lions offensive concerns heading into the next stretch. For a team that expected better on a national stage, the message from its quarterback was simple enough: the problem is fixable, but only if the details get sharper. [Read more 🡒]
Darius Slay Just Echoed Every Lions Fans Defensive Fear
Darius Slay didnt need much time to tap into what Lions fans have been feeling for a while. After Detroits rough Sunday Night Football loss to Carolina, the former cornerback took to social media and called out a defense that once again had trouble getting stops, a frustration that has followed the team through a season marked by injuries and other personnel problems.
The performance against the Panthers only sharpened the concern. Detroit gave up 445 yards of offense, another reminder that the issues on that side of the ball are not isolated to one bad night, and the current roster makeup does not leave many easy fixes in the short term. For a team trying to stay in the playoff picture, the fear is no longer just about one disappointing showing - it is whether the defense has enough healthy pieces and workable answers to steady itself at all. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Loss Exposed The Same Problems Fans Are Tired Of
The Lions 32-26 loss to the Panthers in Week 4 put a familiar set of frustrations back in the spotlight, and it came at a time when Detroit looked like it should have had enough firepower to avoid this kind of stumble. Instead, the offense kept shooting itself in the foot with penalties, the secondary had a hard time handling Bryce Young, and a Carolina defense that had been vulnerable against the run never really had to answer for Jahmyr Gibbs the way it should have.
There were a few encouraging signs buried in the defeat, including a defense that did a better job than expected against the Panthers tight ends. But for a team that had been trying to build momentum, the bigger concern is how many of the same issues keep showing up in the same places, leaving Detroit at 2-2 and still searching for cleaner football. [Read more 🡒]