From General Manager mbaca:  I decided to go with brooks reed with this pick. Is it a reach, I don't know.  I have seen him allover the place on various mocks. I do think Detroit gets an excellent player and imagine him next to Suh that sounds just devastating to opposing offenses. Yes the Lions have other needs and I was going to go with Camari out of Wisconsin but I think they will get a better return with this pick. He reminds me alot like Clay Mathews. I also love his energy and motor and seeing him play in person I think he will do great in the NFL and I think with just two picks in the mock I have upgraded the lions  with two solid starters instead of searching for gems in the later rounds.
 
  Detroit trades for a 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th round pick, #44, #75, #151 and #179 overall to Baltimore for their 1st round pick, #26 overall
My thinking on the trade get back into the first round was simple I am not an NFL scout or Coach and I dont have the time or the rescourses to get a really good evaluation for picks later in the draft yes the lions will still have needs but I feel like I picked up two excellent players that wiill help the lions out alot.

From the Commish

Sayre:  Brooks Reed is a very interesting pick for the Lions, who already have an extremely deep defensive line. I suppose they are adopting the New York Giants strategy of just overloading at that position and making it as dominant as possible. I really like Brooks Reed as a prospect. Put him with Ndamukong Suh in Jim Schwartz's system, and I think you are giving him a great chance to succeed.