The downtime of the NFL schedule is upon us as the new league year and free agency begins on March 13.

That means one important thing: We are in the thick of the mock draft season as the NFL world tries to dissect and predict the landing spots of players during the draft, which will be hosted in downtown Detroit April 25-27.

Information about prospects is coming out at a dizzying speed as the world tries to accurately predict what college superstars will do at the next level, what teams want to do with the future of the franchise, and when certain names will be called on the stage which will be located somewhere around Campus Martius and Hart Plaza.

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The Detroit Lions find themselves in unfamiliar territory this draft season, after reaching the NFC championship game in one of the most successful seasons in franchise history. Detroit, used to holding a top-10 pick more often than not, is slated to make their first pick at No. 29, barring any trades from general manager Brad Holmes.

He will look for another successful night in the draft war room this year to try to elevate the Lions to a team that can make deep playoff runs annually. The Lions are slated to have seven selections over seven rounds, barring any potential trades.

With those reminders out of the way, here's a look at what NFL media members, including the Free Press' Dave Birkett, are predicting the Lions will do with their first-round pick in the latest mock drafts released. These will most likely change again following the NFL combine, which runs from Monday-March 4 in Indianapolis. Some prospects, such as Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell who was being mocked to the Lions before, are moving up because of strong performances at pre-draft events like the Senior Bowl.

Free Press

In Birkett's first crack at predicting how the first round shakes out, he has the Lions drafting cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. out of Missouri. Rakestraw, the fifth cornerback selected in Birkett's mock, is listed at 6-foot-0 and 188 pounds and declared for the draft after starting for three years at outside corner in the SEC.

Birkett wrote: "Cornerback is a huge position of need for the Lions, and while they’ll address it on some level in free agency, they need a long-term solution on the outside. Rakestraw doesn’t have huge ball production with one interception in four years, but he’s the type of feisty, physical corner the Lions want on defense."

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USA TODAY

USA TODAY's Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz agreed with Birkett's prediction and has the Lions selecting Rakestraw out of Missouri at 29 in his latest mock draft. Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote he would help the Lions' secondary, who was overmatched at times late in the season, while adding physicality to the roster.

"Stifling in man coverage, Rakestraw Jr. is exactly the kind of tenacious yet savvy cornerback that Dan Campbell would appreciate."

NFL.com

NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah gave Detroit its first offensive selection in this roundup of mock drafts, slotting West Virginia interior offensive lineman Zach Frazier to Detroit in his second mock draft of the offseason. Both of the Lions' starting offensive guards, Jonah Jackson and Graham Glasgow, are slated to be free agents, though both guards have expressed interest in re-signing, and Glasgow said the team wants him back.

"The Lions’ starting guards are scheduled to reach free agency this offseason, and this feels like Dan Campbell’s type of player," Jeremiah wrote. "Frazier, a state-champion wrestler in high school, could step right in at guard and eventually move to center."

Pro Football Focus

Four PFF writers, Brad Spielberger, Trevor Sikkema, Sam Monson and Steve Palazzolo, sat down and recorded a full first-round mock draft on YouTube, where they also predicted Rakestraw would be a Lion. They said edge rusher could be addressed, such as Washington's Bralen Trice, but see corner as a bigger need that should be filled. Again, Rakestraw was labeled as a good fit for Campbell's team because of his aggressive, physical playstyle.

"(Rakestraw) is one of the best run-defending corners in the class, first and foremost, they're going to be able to check that box right away," Sikkema said. "He is a really solid coverage player."

ESPN

ESPN released two mock drafts in the last week, one from Field Yates and one from Matt Miller, which both have the Lions taking an edge rusher but decided on different prospects. Yates has the Lions selecting Canton native Darius Robinson out of Missouri, while Miller has them selecting Laiatu Latu out of UCLA. Miller's mock draft, which was two rounds, also had Detroit taking T.J. Tampa out of Iowa State with the 61st pick, calling the 6-foot-2, 200-pound defensive back the potential answer to the Lions' cornerback question.

Yates wrote: "Here's one of my favorite player-team fits, as Robinson feels like the kind of brute-force player the Lions crave on their roster. After 8.5 sacks in 2023, he would give Detroit a big boost on the edge opposite Aidan Hutchinson and could feast on favorable matchups while teams allocate resources to Hutchinson on every snap."

Miller wrote: "Medical reports for the next two months will be huge for Latu after he medically retired while at Washington — and we're being conservative with him still being available at No. 29 for now. But following two healthy seasons at UCLA and 23.5 sacks during that time, the Lions could bring in a player with double-digit sack potential to line up opposite Aidan Hutchinson. And that's a terrifying proposition for NFC North quarterbacks."

Yahoo Sports

Yahoo's Charles McDonald and Nate Tice collaborated on a first-round mock draft, and landed on Latu for the Lions. They cited his potential medical concerns as the reason for his drop, but arguing his production alongside Hutchinson and McNeill could elevate Detroit's pass rush.

"The drop stops for Latu, whose medicals will give concerns to quite a few teams, but the Lions get more pass rushing help to combine with Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill," Tice wrote. "Latu lacks ideal length and he’s just OK against the run, but his pass rushing chops are worth the trade-off. He constantly creates pressure and chaos in the backfield."

Draftwire

USA TODAY's Draftwire writer Curt Popejoy is predicting a Latu-Lions connection as well in his latest mock draft. Like the other pundits, he argued the Lions need another pass rusher to team up with Hutchinson on the edge.

"The Lions need to add some punch as a pass rusher to go along with Aidan Hutchinson and Laiatu Latu is a great all-around pick with some nice polish to his pass-rush moves," Popejoy wrote.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions 2024 mock draft: Pundits predict defense in first round