The Detroit Lions announced their undrafted free agents on Monday afternoon -- 11 of them -- and over the next few days, you will get brief primers on them here as the team prepares for rookie minicamp this weekend.
Other profiles: OT Cornelius Lucas; QB James Franklin; FB Chad Abram; OL Alex Bullard; S Jerome Couplin; LB Justin Jackson
Name: Gabe Lynn
Position: Defensive back
School: Oklahoma
ESPN pre-draft position rank: No. 74 cornerback.
Career College Stats: 44 games, 25 starts, 116 tackles, 4 interceptions, 2.5 sacks.
Depth chart he’s looking at: Starters – Chris Houston, Darius Slay. Depth – Rashean Mathis, Bill Bentley, Jonte Green, Chris Greenwood, Cassius Vaughn, Aaron Hester, Nevin Lawson.
Chances of making it to camp: 80 percent. Played corner and safety at Oklahoma.
Why him: A few reasons. It starts with a common theme among a lot of the undrafted free agents -- versatility. Lynn played cornerback and safety for the Sooners and typically had to go up against some of the top offenses in college football throughout his career. He also spent time in the nickel, an important defensive position for the Lions. Plus, despite Martin Mayhew downplaying it, there is clearly a connection between the Lions and Oklahoma as the team has drafted or signed multiple former Sooners in the past few years.
The other attraction regarding Lynn is his height. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has mentioned often his desire for tall defensive backs, and Lynn is listed at 6-foot, which has typically been the minimum height for Austin's cornerbacks. So his physical traits actually make him a fairly intriguing long-term prospect for the Lions. His statistics have not been spectacular, but it appeared Oklahoma took a while to find a position for him. He was one of the first players to announce after the draft that he was heading to Detroit, so he was clearly a priority undrafted player for the Lions, although probably not on the level of Cornelius Lucas or even James Franklin.
