Experts: Detroit Lions TE James Mitchell may have been 'third round pick' without injury

The Detroit Lions watched 80 picks go off the board in between their third round and fifth round selections, and after the wait they went back on the offensive side of the ball.

The Lions took Virginia Tech tight end James Mitchell at No. 177 overall, their first offensive player since trading up to take former Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams at No. 12 overall.

LIONS DRAFT ANALYSIS: Detroit Lions didn't need to gamble on QB in NFL draft. Defense picks on Day 2 were smart

DRAFT CENTRAL: Day 3 of NFL draft 2022: Live updates for rounds 4-7 of the NFL draft

Mitchell is the second pass catcher coming off a torn ACL to join the Lions, suffering the injury just six quarters into his 2021 season.

"(Mitchell's) season was cut short the second week of the season with an injury against Middle Tennessee State," said ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. "The talent is there, coming back from the injury when will that be for James Mitchell, that's what pushed him down in the draft to round five.

"Had he been healthy all year and continued the momentum he showed early on, maybe would've been a third round pick."

Mitchell stands 6-foot-4, 249 pounds and was a big play receiver in his two healthy seasons. He caught 21 passes for 346 yards (17.2 YPC) and two scores in 2019 before hauling in 26 passes for 435 yards (16.7 YPC) and four scores in 2020.

"Body control is excellent, speed to stress the defense vertically he shows that, also shows promise as a blocker, down-blocks, seal-blocks, second-level he did that, " said Kiper. "More strength and consistency though could be needed in that area, overall though at 6-4, 250 (pounds) the talent is there."

Mitchell played in tight on the line and split out to the slot during his time with the Hokies and on a post-draft zoom interview said that he improved as a blocker over his college days and that he's excited to learn behind T.J Hockenson and coach Dan Campbell.

Some of the experts already like where he's at in terms of helping in the run game and said this is another positive addition for the Lions.

"I'll tell you this, James Mitchell to me as a tight end, as a blocker, he's a throw back, this guy will bury you now," said ESPN's Louis Riddick. "If anybody knows tight ends at Dan Campbell, so he probably looks at this guy and goes 'let's just get him healthy' because this guy blocks like I used to like to block.

"Look, a lot of people are going to say 'until Detroit does it, I'm not going to blink, I'm just going to wait and see', but you've got to like the types of guys that they've got, the football character guys that they've got.

ESPN's Todd McShay praised Detroit for not falling victim to feeling the need to draft a quarterback, but instead plugging other holes that they had.

"It would've been real easy to take a quarerback and say 'oh we wlil develop him, we've go three picks in the top 40', but they were smart enough to realize we've got a really good bridge quarterback in Jared Goff," McShay said. "Let's build this roster...and instead of waiting there at 32 and getting a solid player, they moved up and got the best wide receiver in this class when he's healthy.

"This team was smart in its approach saying let's not reach for a quarterback."

Detroit's other three draft picks were all defensive selections, taking Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson No. 2, Kentucky lineman Josh Paschal at No. 46 and Illinois safety Kerby Joseph at No. 97.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Draft experts believe a healthy Mitchell would've been drafted earlier