Tag: Brad Holmes

Why defensive end/EDGE shouldn’t be a Lions draft priority

The Detroit Lions have quite a few draft needs but defensive end/EDGE isn’t anywhere close to the top of those needs

There is considerable debate already about where the Detroit Lions should look to use their first-round picks in the 2023 NFL draft. It’s not just about specific players either; positional need is a root discussion point for the entire draft conversation tree.

The EDGE position, primarily defensive end in Detroit’s base 4-2-5 defense, is often seeded as one of the top draft needs or desires. But a little deeper look into the Lions current roster construction and coaching style nips that perceived need in the bud.

Detroit struck gold with No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson in the 2022 NFL draft. Hutchinson led all rookies in sacks, but his impact grew beyond the pass rush. Hutchinson became just the second defensive lineman in NFL history to record at least 7.5 sacks, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries in a season. Not just rookies, mind you, but all players.

He was joined by fellow rookie James Houston in setting a new NFL mark for sacks by a rookie class. Hutchinson finished with 9.5 while Houston, who did not play in the first half of the season, bagged eight.

It was an outstanding boost to the Lions defense, which surged from historically awful to one of the league’s better units over the course of the season. General manager Brad Holmes, who spent three picks in the 2022 NFL draft on pass rushers, was thrilled with the early returns.

Here was an ebullient Holmes assessing the defensive ends and pass rush in his end-of-season press conference,

“I think you know our pass rush is on the come. Obviously, Aidan (Hutchinson) with 9.5 sacks. I think he’s only going to get better. James Houston’s only going to get better – so and then guys that we did not have available to us, is Charles Harris. I mean Charles Harris, he had to go on IR, so him coming back, Romeo (Okwara) had to kind of come back slowly from a really tough injury, so there’s pieces there. They always weren’t available to us, but we saw enough growth”

All of those players are under contract through 2023. So is Julian Okwara, who was not mentioned by Holmes. Then there are the hybrid players, John Cominsky and Josh Paschal.

Cominsky is a free agent, albeit one who has practically begged the Lions to re-sign him this offseason. The 27-year-old (same age as Harris and Romeo Okwara) was a catalyst for the Detroit defense, the embodiment of grit. He notched four sacks and 44 QB pressures (per PFF) in 14 games while playing just over 80 percent of his reps at DE. Like Hutchinson, he can comfortably flop to either side of the formation.

Paschal was the Lions’ second-round pick in 2022 out of Kentucky. Despite missing the entire offseason and the first half of the regular season with injuries, Paschal stepped in and produced 15 pressures and two sacks on 120 pass rush reps. That’s a better pass rush pressure rate than Giants first-rounder Kayvon Thibodeaux logged as a rookie.

Like Cominsky, he’s a bigger end at over 270 pounds, which allows him to play some 5-technique when the Lions go to an odd-man front. Paschal is now healthy and will get the benefit of a full offseason to work out and build upon his rookie experience.

Now consider the Lions and their organizational philosophy of player development. It’s a core pillar of what Holmes, Dan Campbell and the Lions are all about.

Put all of that into a blender and combine it and you’ve got a smooth, young, diversely talented group of young ends and EDGEs. Sure, there’s room for a sweet cherry on top in the form of an early draft pick, but that would come at the expense of other positions (CB, S, No. 2 and No. 3 QB, ILB, OL depth/ starting RG) where the blender mixes up lesser ingredients and well water ice cubes. I strongly believe that and I also strongly believe the Lions see it that way, too.

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Flashback: The Lions interviewed Brad Holmes for GM 2 years ago today

Friday flashback: The Lions interviewed Brad Holmes for GM 2 years ago today and hired him the next day

It’s Friday the 13th of January, but there is nothing scary about what this date represents in Detroit Lions history. Two years ago today, on January 13th, 2021, the Lions completed their in-person interview with GM candidate Brad Holmes.

This was Holmes’ second interview with the Lions and first in-person visit to Detroit. He had already interviewed twice for the GM vacancy with the Atlanta Falcons as well.

He was not considered a slam-dunk candidate. Holmes wasn’t a well-known commodity or candidate outside of Los Angeles, where he had served as the Rams’ director of collegiate scouting for several seasons. His interview appearance in Detroit made him one of the co-favorites to land the job, along with then-Saints VP and assistant GM, Terry Fontenot.

The in-person visit sealed the deal. Holmes was hired by the Lions as the GM the next day. Interestingly, Fontenot would land the Falcons’ job a few days later.

\We broke down our initial thoughts on Holmes as a candidate on the Detroit Lions Podcast later that night:

Head coach Dan Campbell was not officially hired until January 20th, a week later.

Lions GM Brad Holmes was brought to tears talking about powerful bonds with his players

What a powerful moment for a real leader in Detroit.

While they didn’t qualify for the postseason, it’s not hard to see Dan Campbell’s tight-knit Lions as one of the best stories of the 2022 NFL season. After starting 1-6, Detroit rallied to finish with a  9-8 record. Eventually, while already eliminated from the playoffs, the Lions spitefully punched Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the mouth to drag their rivals down into the muck with them.

As the Lions look ahead to what might be a bright future in Detroit, GM Brad Holmes sat down with team reporter Dannie Rogers to recap the team’s most recent campaign. And when the discussion came to how key cogs like Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown credited the GM for making their pro football dreams come true, Holmes couldn’t help himself from tearing up.

It’s obvious the now third-year GM cares a lot about his players:

Man. It can be so easy to be cynical about football culture and how executives and coaches sometimes treat their players as nothing more than machines. For Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, that clearly isn’t the case. They know they’re working with brilliant young men, with human beings, and understand that vital relationship aspect that can make a football team an actual family.

A vital offseason to sand over any flaws — particularly the NFL’s 28th-ranked defense by DVOA — awaits the Lions. With the right moves, it’s hard not to see the Lions becoming a legitimate contender come September 2023. They seem to be in excellent hands with a caring, meticulous leader like Holmes.

Listen: Detroit Lions Podcast kicks off the offseason

Listen: Detroit Lions Podcast kicks off the offseason and wraps up the win over the Packers

The latest episode of the Detroit Lions Podcast makes the transition from the regular season to the offseason, but not without first celebrating the fabulous 8-2 run to finish the season. That includes a happy revisit to Green Bay and the Lions’ 20-16 win in Week 18 that unhappily ended the Packers’ season too.

That leads into the offseason. Lions GM Brad Holmes spoke to the media and we break down what he said and where it places the Lions at the onset of free agency and the draft. What did he really say about both Jared Goff and the idea of selecting a QB high in the draft this year?

Ben Johnson is getting head coaching interview requests from multiple other teams. Does he stay in Detroit? What happens if he leaves, and who on the current staff might leave with him?

All that and more on the YouTube live stream. For the audio-only version of the show, you can listen here or queue up with your favorite podcast provider.

Breaking down what Lions GM Brad Holmes said about drafting a quarterback in 2023

Holmes gave a huge vote of confidence to Jared Goff but left the door very open to the idea of drafting a QB–with some caveats

Lions GM Brad Holmes gave his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday. Holmes covered a wide range of issues, the most popular of which deals with the team’s future plans at the quarterback position.

It’s been a hot topic of debate for some time. Jared Goff finished the season playing the best football of his seven-year NFL career, avoiding mistakes and helping guide a potent offense to lead the Lions to an 8-2 record down the stretch in 2022. But he still had his struggles when pressured, and he’s the only quarterback on the team under contract for 2023. That leaves a lot of questions about the team’s draft plans and where the No. 2 quarterback for 2023 will come from.

Here’s what Holmes said when asked specifically about the idea of using the draft pick acquired from the Rams, No. 6 overall, on a quarterback,

“I’ll say this, no seriously I think that – I think it’s a lot easier to get worse at quarterback than to get better at quarterback, and so – in this league. And so, I think what Jared (Goff) has done this year, he – captain of the ship of a top three offense, and I want to say he was top 10 statistically in most of the passing categories.

So, and again you know how we approach the draft, like we’re never going to turn down a good football player. So, if there’s a football player we really love, I mean we’re going to make sure every stone is turned. But I do think that Jared has proven to everybody that he is the starting quarterback for us.”

That is a definite vote of confidence for Goff. And an expected one; Holmes has never wavered from the notion that he believed in Goff. His belief was rewarded when Goff proved to be one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks over the final eight weeks of the season.

It’s also not exactly closing the door on using the No. 6 pick on a quarterback if the team believes he’s the best football player available. And it says nothing about the possibility of using a later pick, including the Lions’ own first-rounder at No. 18. Holmes is very careful not to answer more than is asked here.

Later, he was asked about the idea of selecting a developmental quarterback with a high — but unspecified — draft pick. Here’s what Holmes said about that:

“I think it’s a lot of merit, and there’s a lot of proof behind that. You can see countless examples of guys that got drafted high. Obviously, Patrick Mahomes comes up right off the bat of them trading up and taking him high and sitting him, but you can go back to, man, the guy that we just got done playing in Aaron Rodgers.

So, there’s a lot of proof in the pudding behind taking that approach, and I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s a premium position. They don’t grow on trees. They’re really hard to find. Just like I said earlier, it’s easy to get worse at that position than get better at that position because there’s so few of them. But I’m not against at all that philosophy of ‘draft one, let them sit and develop and just kind of see what you’ve got down the road.’”

That sure sounds like someone who hasn’t ruled out the idea of drafting a developmental-type of quarterback with a high ceiling while letting Jared Goff continue as the starter through at least 2023. It would have to be the right fit for the team, however, and his words and tone make it clear the Lions will not force the issue if they don’t like the quarterback options at No. 6 or No. 18.

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Brad Holmes press conference: Top takeaways from the Lions GM’s talk after the trade deadline

Breaking down what Lions GM Brad Holmes had to say, and didn’t say, in his press conference after trading T.J. Hockenson

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes met with the media on Wednesday afternoon, a day after dealing Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings for a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft and a third-rounder in 2024.

The focus for Holmes was on the trade and all the details that go into it. Holmes spoke shortly after head coach Dan Campbell had spoken to the same local media.

Here’s what I took away from Holmes’ press conference.

 

The Detroit Lions at the NFL trade deadline: Buy, sell, or hold?

Different options if the Lions want to be buyers, sellers or hold tight at the NFL trade deadline

The NFL’s trade deadline hits at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 1st. There has already been some interesting trade activity around the league, notably RB Christian McCaffrey from the Panthers to the 49ers and EDGE Robert Quinn leaving Chicago for Philadelphia.

It’s been quiet on the trade front in Detroit. Other than some rumored interest in tight end T.J. Hockenson, which the club refuted over the weekend, the Lions have not been linked to any players coming or going beyond message board wishlists and comment section speculation.

Still in the early stages of a massive rebuild, the Lions aren’t expected to be active players in the trade market. GM Brad Holmes will work the phones to see what might be out there, and he could find some interesting offers as either a buyer or a seller.

 

A ‘frustrated’ Lions owner Sheila Hamp defends Detroit’s rebuilding process

Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp expressed her frustration with the on-field results but defended Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell

In a surprising move, Detroit Lions owner Sheila Hamp convened reporters at the team’s headquarters in Allen Park for a short press briefing on Wednesday. Hamp wanted to let her frustration with the team’s disappointing 1-5 record and varying struggles at nearly every facet of football through the first seven weeks.

With fan sentiment at a new low following the 24-6 loss in Dallas coming out of the bye, and with media confidence in head coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes also becoming significantly lower in recent weeks, Hamp elected to address those issues straightforwardly.

Hamp’s opening statement effectively answered a lot of questions with her very clear words and tone.

“I just wanted to follow through with what I said initially, that I would be open and honest and available for (local media). So here I am. I’m sure you have a few questions for me. But I just wanted to open with a couple of comments,” Hamp stated.

“I know this is difficult. Our rebuild is hard, but we really believe in our process. We really believe we’re going to turn this thing around the right way, through the draft. It requires patience.

It’s frustrating. Am I frustrated? Absolutely. Are the fans frustrated? Absolutely. Are you guys frustrated? I think we really are making progress. We’ve seen it.”

Her words reinforce what Campbell has said in both of his press conferences this week. The team does see progress. It was certainly obvious on defense in Dallas, where the Lions D played well enough to win. But the offense crashed and burned for the second week in a row, and getting both units to play well at the same time is something that Campbell’s Lions have struggled to pull off in 23 games. Detroit is 4-18-1 since Campbell took over the dilapidated team left over from the prior regime.

Hamp acknowledged the considerable issues Campbell and Holmes inherited with an old, talent-deficient roster that dealt away franchise QB Matthew Stafford after never successfully building around him.

“This was a huge teardown and then turnaround. We’re only one-third of the way through the season, we’ve got 11 more games to go so I don’t want everyone to push the panic button and give up the ship because I think we’ve got the right people in place to pull this off. I truly believe that and I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t believe it.”

Later in the session, Hamp was asked about her confidence level in the team’s leadership, namely Holmes and Campbell. She left little room to misinterpret her obvious belief in them.

“This, I would say, was like a teardown, then a rebuild. We really had to take it down to the ground level. And it’s been not only the football side, but across the organization,” Hamp added. “We’ve put in a lot of new talent at the top. I really believe in the top leadership in this organization and I think we’ve got the people to do it, to carry this out. I think that’s what’s different.”

The first part of that statement is key. It essentially acknowledges that 2021 will not be held against the current regime, which goes in line with the six-year contract given to both Holmes and Campbell, a year longer than just about every standard deal given to coaches and GMs.

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Lions GM Brad Holmes attends Oregon vs. UCLA

Lions GM Brad Holmes attends Oregon vs. UCLA game, the first CFB game he’s attended in 2022

It’s not often that Lions GM Brad Holmes makes big trips to scout players in person. Holmes was known to attend just one college football game in 2021, the matchup between Oregon and UCLA that took place in Los Angeles while the Lions were also in LA to play the Rams the next day.

Holmes decided to take in the rematch in Eugene in 2022. The Lions GM was one of many NFL scouting presences at the game, which Oregon won 45-30 over the Bruins.

Both teams have some potential NFL draft talent. Most notably is Ducks LB Noah Sewell, the brother of Lions right tackle Penei Sewell. The younger Sewell has not had a great season for Oregon but did show well in this game, notching eight tackles and a QB pressure. Noah Sewell is generally projected as a second-round talent in current mock drafts.

Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez is widely projected as a first-round pick. Gonzalez is 6-2 and was timed at an astonishing 23 MPH with a 42′ vertical, giving him a prominent spot on Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks” list. The junior broke up two passes and recorded a TFL in this impressive outing.

UCLA RB Zach Charbonnet built upon a strong season for the Bruins, rushing for 151 yards and also catching four passes. He’s a dual-threat option out of the backfield with impressive size (6-1/220) and capable of quick acceleration and power through contact. The Michigan transfer is projected as a 3rd-4th round pick.

Ducks DT Brandon Dorlus also falls into that general projection range. Dorlus is a 6-3, 290-pound lineman who can play across the formation and wins with initial quickness and great balance. He was relatively quiet vs. UCLA (two tackles) but had a monster game against Stanford recently.

 

Detroit GM Brad Holmes’ actions and words say his Lions will never draft a LB early

Brad Holmes doesn’t see value in drafting LBs before Day 3, according to his own recent words, his actions and his background

One of the more candid tidbits from last week’s press conference featuring Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes and assistant GM Ray Agnew came with the very last question. Holmes provided an honest answer that confirms what his actions in two years of running the Lions have indicated:

Do not expect this team to draft a linebacker early. Not with Holmes in charge.

In two draft cycles, Holmes has made it clear he doesn’t see value in selecting an off-ball linebacker early in the draft. His Lions held tight until trading up to get Derrick Barnes from Purdue in the fourth round in 2021 and waited until the sixth round in 2022 to snag Oklahoma State’s Malcolm Rodriguez. Barnes and Rodriguez will have prominent roles in the Lions’ 4-2 defense in 2022, along with veteran Alex Anzalone and free agent signee, Chris Board.

Eschewing popular, highly-rated prospects at linebacker is not an accident for Holmes. He strongly believes the value in the position is late in the draft, not early.

“You can always look at past success at certain positions that you may be able to hit on in the later rounds,” Holmes said, speaking in response to a question about Rodriguez specifically. He cited safety as well,

“I was talking with Ray (Agnew) about when we were with the Rams, drafted (safety) Jordan Fuller in the sixth round, but had a pretty good idea that he’s a high-floor player that’s going to end up being a starter, so – but there’s certain positions that you can kind of look at and assess that you may be able to find gold in the later rounds, and inside linebackers, it’s a good volume of them throughout the draft.”

It’s something Holmes has learned from his long tenure in the Rams front office. The Rams almost never valued LB before Day 3. Holmes surrounded himself with people whose history tells the same story. Special assistant John Dorsey took one off-ball LB before Day 3 exactly once in six drafts. From the research into their draft tendencies when Holmes and the front office were brought in,

In the time Holmes was the director of collegiate scouting, they took exactly one non-EDGE linebacker in the first 120 picks. That was in the first draft of that era when the Rams tabbed Alec Ogletree at No. 30 overall. After that, the organization did not value the off-ball LB above taking Samson Ebukam (who is as much an EDGE as an off-ball guy) in the fourth round in 2017. Guys like Bryce Hager, Micah Kiser, Josh Forrest, all later Day 3 draft picks, are the manifestation of how the Holmes-era Rams valued the off-ball backer.

It is the same with Dorsey, who was the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns before joining the Lions,

Dorsey’s drafts showed a similar pattern. In his first draft in Kansas City, he picked Nico Johnson in the fourth round, No. 99 overall in 2013. He didn’t take another off-ball LB before the fourth round until his final draft in Cleveland in 2019, Sione Takitaki in the third.

Believe what Holmes and Agnew said about not valuing linebackers early in the draft. It’s the cloth from which they’re cut, and it’s the same cloth woven around head coach Dan Campbell from his Saints and Dolphins days. Do not expect them to change their core value seams.

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