How Lions Brad Holmes Became One of Best General Managers in NFL

Brad Holmes has not wavered from his philosophy on roster building.

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes / Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes has remained steadfast in his approach to working collaboratively with the staff around him.

With more teams across the league adopting a collaborative approach, Holmes and Co. have paved the way as an example of how to bring a large group of people together to work effectively in order to acheive success at the highest levels.

After being identified by Detroit's vice president of football operations Mike Disner, Rod Wood and Detroit's management targeted the former Los Angeles Rams director of college scouting to become the team's next general manager, after parting ways with Bob Quinn.

Detroit's front office and coaching staff then went to work to tear down a roster that needed to be overhauled.

With the expectation the team would struggle early on, Detroit's roster was assembled by targeting players in the trenches, units that would help the team play a physical brand of football on both offense and defense.

“Offensive line, that’s critical. When you don’t have them, it can make life hard in a lot of different areas. We’ve had to do more work on the defensive side of the ball and there wasn’t a lot of pieces there when we got here, so we had to do a lot more work there," said Holmes. "It’s always of the utmost importance and we feel really good about our offensive line now. We love what we did in free agency and I feel like we could line down and play now and be totally fine. If we do add somebody, it’s going to be hard to crack one of those big boys up front."

Being convicted on each draft pick

In three years, the 44-year-old has drafted five Pro Bowlers. While not every single pick has worked out, Holmes has silenced many critics who questioned the team's stated "draft and develop" approach since 2021.

“I just think we make sure we’re convicted on every single pick," Holmes told reporters at his pre-draft media session. "You guys have heard me say it, it’s no secret, it’s about the right football player. As long as we’re convicted on the football player, then you sleep good at night," said Holmes. "That’s a lot of work that goes into being convicted on the right player. We just had Top 30 visits. We had medical meetings. There is a lot of stuff that’s like, ‘OK, this is the right guy.’ We’re still looking at tape now. It’s a lot that gets to that conviction.

"But as long as Dan (Campbell) and I are really aligned and convicted and we’re still like, ‘This guy fits,’ and not getting into the – I think at the Owners Meetings there were questions asked about like drafting an outside corner. No, we draft the right football player we’re convicted on," Holmes explained further. "If the outside corner was the right football player we’re convicted on, then we would take that player. We don’t really get anchored on positions. We don’t really get anchored on windows. We don’t get anchored on – it’s just, there’s only one Draft every year."

The Lions have an in-depth, thorough process to how they approach scouting. With Holmes' background being specifically in college scouting, he has the wherewithal to deeply evaluate each potential addition to the Lions' roster.

As a result, his picks have had a high hit rate.

"There’s a lot of work that goes into it, so that’s our recipe," Holmes said. "We just kind of look for guys that we’re convicted on that are right fits for us and we don’t get into the premium positions and the – look, you can pick another position, and that doesn’t mean the guy’s the right fit. I know you guys were asking after the last Draft, ‘Well how come you guys didn’t pick another position?’ Well, it’s like, no it’s not another position, who? Which player? You don’t just pick a, whatever the premium position is. You don’t just pick a player because he plays that position. No, he has to be the right football player. That’s what we stuck to, and it’s worked so far for us.”

Identifying 'Dan Campbell' guys

Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell have been aligned in their philosophy regarding building a team and drafting player.

While the team was unveiling their new uniforms, Holmes was invited to attend by the team's popular head coach. Instead of attending festivities attended by season-ticket members, Holmes decided to stay and work, as the draft was just a few days away.

Holmes and Campbell have grown close, working together with the common goal and desire to hand principal owner Sheila Hamp the Lombardi trophy after winning a Super Bowl.

So how does Holmes target players that Campbell wants? There are a variety of factors. Most of the evaluations take place in meetings, where the staff can target the personalities of prospects.

If the two parties gel niceley, then the prospect becomes more of a commodity for Holmes' crew.