Lions general manager Brad Holmes welcomed the Detroit media to Mobile on Monday in advance of this week’s Senior Bowl. Holmes arrived in time to give a quick press conference to kick off the week.
Among the several topics Holmes hit upon: the quarterbacks here for the Senior Bowl, specifically the three on the American roster his Lions will coach this week: Sam Howell, Malik Willis and Bailey Zappe. Holmes likes what he’s seen from all three.
“The crop that came down here, it’s a great, especially on the American roster,” Holmes said Monday afternoon. “Credit to (Senior Bowl exec director) Jim Nagy for getting those top guys to come to the game. They’re all different, they all offer different flavors and capabilities.”
Holmes didn’t go into much depth on any of the players other than to cite his liking of the adversity and situation each of the trio brings with them to Mobile.
“They’ve all kind of battled some kind of adversity and I thought that was kinda cool,” Holmes said. “You’ve got Howell, he lost a lot of skill (players — 4 to the NFL) in the pass offense. He’s got kind of a new cast he’s working with. And you’ve got Willis that had the transfer (from Auburn to Liberty), and he had to go to a different level and produce.”
So what is Holmes looking for this week, and in a quarterback in general?
“Every team is looking for something different. I always say all 32 teams have 32 different boards. They have different ways that they evaluate each position. But I think this week, in particular for all of those quarterbacks of this game, it’s going to be big for them.”
One of the things we’ve learned about Holmes in his first year in Detroit: he’s not just going to give away what he’s thinking about a specific player or situation until it’s finalized. He’s learned well from senior assistant John Dorsey, who was notoriously secretive during his time as the GM of the Cleveland Browns.