Notebook: Breaking down the past week of Wisconsinās spring ball practices
Insights from the Wisconsin Badgers' recent spring practices.
The Detroit Lions are tracking their top-30 pre-draft visits to gauge NFL Draft intentions. This year, they are focusing on formal meetings at their facility rather than events like the Senior Bowl or NFL Combine.
ALLEN PARK, MICHIGAN - JULY 27: The Detroit Lions logo is pictured during the Detroit Lions Training Camp on July 27, 2022 at the Lions Headquarters and Training Facility in Allen Park, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Detroit Lions often tell a lot about their NFL Draft intentions by the players they decide to meet. Whether itās formal meetings at the NFL Combine or pre-draft visits to their team facility in Allen Park, the Lionsā draft history has been littered with players theyāve done additional work on.
So every year, we like to track which players have had some extra contact with the team in order to see if there are any hints as to what the Lions may do during NFL Draft weekend.
This year, we opted not to track reports on Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl, or NFL Combine visits. This isnāt because those visits arenāt importantāthey areābut theyāre often reported haphazardly. For example, just about every team meets with every player at the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl, so that list wouldnāt be particularly insightful. As for the NFL Combine, we know that formal Detroit Lions meetings are often a good sign of serious interest, but it is not always made abundantly clear from reportsāor the players themselvesāwhether meetings with teams were considered formal (with the team in a private setting) or informal (in passing or one-on-one with a specific coach). Formal meetings carry weight. Informal ones, not as much.
Another thing muddying the waters this year is that the Lions did not hold a ālocal pro day,ā during which they test and meet prospects from the local Michigan area. Lions general manager Brad Holmes explained the decision earlier this week.
āJust internally we kind of made a decision to utilize that time for some other things, but still utilize the local visits as well,ā Holmes said. āWe still utilize the local visits, but we just made the decision really last summer to do away with the pro day.ā
So with that, weāre only left with the reported pre-draft visits to the Lionsā Allen Park facility, and, admittedly, there arenāt a lot of them so far. The Lions appear to be keeping things quite private this year.
But if you are unaware of the pre-draft visit process, hereās a quick explainer. Teams can host 30 prospects for these pre-draft visits, where testing, interviewing, and film breakdown happen. But players in each teamās local area do not count against that 30-player limit. Because those visits are basically identical from the playersā standpoint, weāve combined them all in the list below.
If you are more interested in a list of all of the other kind of visits, commenter FordFieldRoar did compile a good list including Combine visits as well.
Without further ado, here is the list of pre-draft visits that have been publicly reported so far:
The top-30 pre-draft visits help the Lions assess potential draft picks and indicate their serious interest in specific players.
Formal meetings are private and indicate serious interest, while informal meetings are less significant and often occur in passing.
The Lions opted not to track these visits because they are often reported inconsistently and do not provide clear insights into the team's draft intentions.
The pre-draft visits are conducted at the Lions' team facility located in Allen Park, Michigan.
Insights from the Wisconsin Badgers' recent spring practices.

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