Lions Trade Into Fourth, Select Auburn DT Gabe Wright
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK - The Detroit Lions traded into the fourth round Saturday and selected Auburn defensive tackle Gabe Wright.
"We really like Gabe," Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "Really hard competitor, he played a lot of football in the SEC. What you see from him is he falls in the mold of what we like our defensive tackles to do and that's penetrate, attack, get off blocks and make plays. Did a really good job of that, good player, good kid. We're really glad to have him.
"We're going to anticipate that he's going to be part of that rotation at the defensive tackle as he learns and at some point be a starter in there," Austin added.
The Lions had spoken with Wright, who had 4.5 tackles for loss at Auburn last season, at the NFL combine in February. Austin said he had been pushing for the team to draft Wright because of the skill set he possesses.
"I like the fact he's got a very quick first step, he's very strong and powerful, he's got good hands, he can disengage and then he can get off and finish," Austin said.
"We think that he's going to be productive for us when we get him in here and we get him in the rotation," Austin continued. "We're hoping, obviously, like most of our defensive tackles it was around 25, 30, 35 plays a game, and that's what we're looking for."
To move into the fourth round, the Lions traded their 2016 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Lions needed depth at defensive tackle after losing four players at that position in free agency - Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, C.J. Mosley and Andre Fluellen.
Detroit had previously addressed its need at the position by trading for perennial Pro Bowl selection Haloti Ngata and signing free agent Tyrunn Walker.
