Lions general manager Brad Holmes conducted his yearly media session at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday. The 15-minute question-and-answer session at the podium was engaging, with Holmes addressing various offseason and team-building issues.<\/p>\n
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Yet, one of the initial remarks made by Holmes is possibly the most significant insight from the entire podium session.<\/p>\n
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“We’re not a drafting team that focuses on needs,” Holmes indicated.<\/p>\n
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He mentioned it concerning a query about selecting multiple cornerbacks in the first and second rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. Selecting Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw represented the end of a lengthy strategy, rather than an indicator of the team simply addressing a commonly acknowledged requirement.<\/p>\n
“We’re simply acquiring the top football player for our team,” Holmes added. “We don’t typically become overly focused on roles.” However, I must admit that it aligned so well due to the challenges we faced in the previous season when our secondary depth dwindled significantly.<\/p>\n
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Returning to the beginning of his response.<\/p>\n
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“We’re not a team that drafts based on needs.”<\/p>\n
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This has consistently been a focus during the Holmes\/Campbell administration. Certainly, in the initial drafts, the Lions truly required everything. They required skill, end of story, regardless of its position on the field.<\/p>\n
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In the previous year, Holmes utilized the picks following the two cornerbacks mainly on players focused on long-term development such as offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo, and running back Sione Vaki, who was a college safety. In the 2023 draft, Holmes and his Lions selected a running back, an off-ball LB, a tight end, and a safety within the first 45 picks, rather than addressing the most urgent perceived needs (at the time) of defensive tackle, cornerback, and wide receiver. An improvement at No. 2 QB, a significant necessity at that moment, was made with the following pick in Hendon Hooker.<\/p>\n
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The takeaway: pay attention to Holmes when he discusses selecting players, rather than focusing on positions. He has demonstrated that talent outweighs need in every draft. Anticipate 2025 to mirror this one.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lions general manager Brad Holmes conducted his yearly media session at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday. The 15-minute question-and-answer session at the podium was engaging, with Holmes addressing various offseason and team-building issues. Yet, one of the initial remarks made by Holmes is possibly the most significant insight from the entire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n