After winning 15 games in 2024, the Detroit Lions weren't a team that needed to head into the 2025 NFL Draft with a huge sense of urgency to fill needs.
That gave them the opportunity to inject some youth into their roster at positions where they already had some options for next season.
That should create some interesting positional battles on their way to the start of the 2025 season.
The most important position battle is going to come at right guard. The Lions need to replace Kevin Zeitler after he left in free agency.
With the selection of Tate Ratledge in round two, he has entered the mix with Christian Mahogany and Giovanni Manu for this starting spot.
Before adding Ratledge, Mahogany would have been expected to be the favorite for the spot after a couple of strong starts in 2024.
Now he'll have to win the job against the team's most recent second rounder with the continued success of the offensive line at stake.
The most interesting position battle is Tyleik Williams against the rest of the team's defensive tackles for one of the Lions' two starting spots at the position.
The depth chart was already pretty crowded before he joined the roster. The Lions currently have both of last season's starters on the roster with Alim McNeill and D.J. Reader.
They also re-signed Levi Onwuzurike, who is coming off of the best season of his career. They signed Roy Lopez to a one=year deal this offseason.
Brodric Martin is also still on the roster despite not seeing the field much during the two seasons since the Lions traded up to take him in the third round.
McNeill is likely to miss the start of the seasons as he continues to work his way back from the injury that ended his 2024 season.
That will give Williams a better chance of winning a starting job right from the beginning of his rookie season, but he will still face some stiff competition to be a day one starter.
A position where the competition is a lot less challenging comes on the edge. The Lions waited until the sixth round to try and fill their biggest need.
Ahmed Hassanein becomes an immediate factor in the edge competition despite being a sixth-round pick.
The other options to line up as the second edge are Marcus Davenport and Josh Paschal.
Davenport has a lengthy injury history and underwhelming recent production. Paschal is responsible for just five sacks in the three years since he was drafted.
Despite how far he fell in the draft, it wouldn't be shocking to see Hassanein come out on top in this competition if the Lions don't add anybody else at the position.
The Lions also created a new competition with their third-round pick when they selected wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa.
As a rookie he'll compete with Tim Patrick to be the team's WR3.
At 6'4" and 214 pounds, TeSlaa is built similarly to Patrick, but is a bit faster and much younger. The team also traded up to get him, so he's obviously somebody the front office was a bit more invested in landing.
His production at Arkansas could lead to questions about his NFL readiness, but the investment in him will get him a chance to compete for a starting job right off the bat.
All of these competitions will be worth keeping an eye on as the Lions prepare for another season where they believe they can contend for a Super Bowl.
