ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn has been raked by fans for a perceived reach on Jahlani Tavai.

The Hawaii linebacker was expected by the draft industrial complex to be selected on Day 3. NFL.com listed him as a fourth- or fifth-round pick, for example. Yet the Lions took him in the second, at 43rd overall.

But there were reports that emerged after the pick indicating the Patriots were considering Tavai around the same area, and Quinn confirmed Tuesday morning believes Tavai wasn’t going to last 15 more picks, let alone two more rounds.

“I’m pretty convinced that he probably wouldn’t have been there if we traded back, say, 10 to 15 spots,” Quinn said during an interview with 97.1 The Ticket. “I think he probably would have been gone -- can’t say that for sure, because you never know -- but we do a pretty in-depth study of what other teams like, what other teams need, what other teams that Jahlani, in particular, visited with, what other teams he did private workouts with. So I can never say for sure if he’d be there or not, but I think our intelligence told us that if we traded back 10 or 15 spots, he probably would never have been there.”

Quinn didn’t identify which teams he was threatened by for Tavai, but his old pals in New England are the best bet. Tavai is the sort of big-bodied linebacker that the Patriots have used for years. At 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, he’s a little smaller than Dont’a Hightower (6-3 and 260 pounds), a first-round pick that has found stardom in New England. And Tavai is almost exactly the same size as Kyle Van Noy (6-3 and 250 pounds), who flamed out as a second-round pick in Detroit before finding his stride as an important piece in that New England defense.

A defense, of course, that Matt Patricia has brought to Detroit.

But the Lions didn’t have that kind of big, stand-up linebacker. That prevented Patricia from accessing certain parts of his playbook. With Tavai now aboard, the Lions should be able to unlock more of the defense. That’s why he was so high on Detroit’s board, especially given the scarcity of that body type in this draft.

"We like thick-built linebackers – really thick guys that can take on blocks,” Quinn said after making the pick. "But when they play on the edge, they have enough playing strength and enough arm length to set the edge like where (Devon) Kennard plays. (Tavai) can go out there against a good tight end, hold the edge of the defense, which is crucially important. Then you see him play off the ball. You play him like (Jarrad Davis) or Christian (Jones) and that’s the versatility.

"It’s just something where these guys are hard to find. Really felt fortunate to be able to get him, because there was some interest in and around our picks that we were getting pretty nervous there for a few picks.”

On Tuesday morning, Quinn reiterated he feels more comfortable drafting for this defensive scheme, now that Patricia has replaced Jim Caldwell and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. The Year 1 results seem to back him up, with Tracy Walker and Da’Shawn Hand -- last year’s third- and fourth-round picks -- enjoying good rookie years. Hand had an instant impact on that defensive line, with ProFootballFocus ranking him as the No. 1 rookie interior defender in the league, while Walker was good enough to push Glover Quin for playing time. Now Quin is out, and Walker is poised to step into the starting lineup full time in Year 2.

A’Shawn Robinson, a second-round pick from Quinn’s first class back in 2016, also enjoyed a career year in the new scheme.

This year, Quinn spent four of his first five picks on defense: Tavai, safety Will Harris (Boston College), defensive end Austin Bryant (Clemson) and cornerback Amari Oruwariye (Penn State). He also added nose tackle P.J. Johnson (Arizona) in the seventh. And each of those players brings above-average size and/or length to his position.

Harris is a 6-foot-1 safety, and Bryant is a 271-pound defensive end, and Oruwariye is a 6-foot-2 corner, and Johnson checks in at a ponderous 335 pounds. And of course there’s Tavai, who instantly becomes Detroit’s biggest linebacker (not counting Kennard, who places almost exclusively on the edge these days).

“I think just defensively, the players in our front seven, our defensive line and our linebackers, are really drastically different type of players than what we had in the previous scheme, with the exception of the two guys that I mentioned before with A’Shawn and J.D.,” Quinn told The Ticket. “There’s some players that are good enough players that can play in any scheme, but some of the smaller, lighter guys that kind of play sideline to sideline, those guys really don’t work in this defense. So you have to kind of move on from those guys and try to re-invent what you’re doing up front when the coaching staff changes and the coaches want a certain type of player to execute the scheme.”

Other highlights from Quinn’s radio interview:

On the value of taking a tight end in the top 10: “I think there’s value in any position you look at across the league, if you use guys correctly and they’re good players, which we obviously think T.J. (Hockenson) is. So when he went into the draft process, we had a bunch of names that we would have liked at that spot and as the weeks kind of got narrowed down toward the draft, we narrowed in on T.J. We were hoping he was going to be there at eight, at the end of the day it was a very easy decision when we were on the clock. He’s someone that we fully vetted and really put a lot of time and effort into making sure he was a good fit for us on the field as well as off the field, and really for us it was a really easy decision.”

On how he feels going into Year 4 in Detroit: “I think we feel better about the team right now than we did a year ago. I think with the players we added in free agency, with the draft that just happened -- and these draft guys have yet to even step in the building yet, so we’re not going to put any of them in the starting lineup just yet -- but I think since Matt got here and we worked together on the roster the last two offseasons, we kind of feel like, in particular the defense is more of a defense that Matt’s used to using with multiple players up front that can do different things, changing the defensive play style from the previous scheme with Teryl and coach Caldwell to what Matt and coach (Paul) Pasqualoni are doing, it’s really drastically different in style of player we’re looking for, especially in the front seven. That’s something that takes a little time. Fortunately for us, we had a couple players here that could really play in any scheme. I’d say that Jarrad Davis and A’Shawn Robinson were two guys that really once Matt got here with his staff, those guys fit in pretty good. So we’re getting there."

On not drafting an offensive lineman despite the departure of T.J. Lang: “We spent a lot of time on the offensive linemen. We just felt at the times when we were picking, and the guys that were available, there just wasn’t great value. We’ll have some announcements next week on some rookie free agents that we really feel strong about -- I’m not saying those guys are going to compete to start, but I think with the players we have in the offensive line room, veterans returning, with the Graham Glasgows, the Frank Ragnows, the Joe Dahls, the Kenny Wiggins, Aboushi, even Tyrell Crosby, you can throw him in there, I think there’s a lot of candidates to go in there at right guard. Then you throw in the rookies that will come in next week. So we feel really good about the depth of the offensive line."