Holmes: Kayvon Thibodeaux's 'a Good-Looking Prospect'

Read more on what Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes had to say during his media session at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday.

Brad Holmes has talked about the process that comes with the Detroit Lions' rebuild since he took over as general manager. 

Now, heading into his second draft, he’s looking to continue building a winner in the Motor City. 

Holmes made an appearance with local and national media members at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis Tuesday, taking questions from various reporters on the state of his team’s rebuild. 

In addition to answering questions about the draft, he was asked about the team’s stance on players who may be on the outside, looking in. Among those is defensive end Trey Flowers, who is entering the fourth year of a five-year, $90 million contract. 

Holmes was non-committal on the team’s decision regarding Flowers, but said it will continue to negotiate with the veteran. 

“We’ll keep open dialogue with Trey and his camp, and I think that’s the best thing to do in all these situations,” Holmes said. “Whether it’s players on expiring contracts or whatever contract status they have. You just keep the dialogue open.” 

Thoughts on EDGE defender debate

The Lions hold the No. 2 overall selection in the upcoming draft. This selection means that the team will have at least one of the top two EDGE rushers available to select. 

Those two prospects are Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux. 

At the start of the combine, it’s Hutchinson who is rated higher by most scouts. Though this status could certainly change, there’s a hometown appeal to the former standout Wolverines pass rusher who grew up in Dearborn, Mich. 

Holmes was asked about both prospects Tuesday, and he shared his thoughts on where the organization stands with each player. 

“Hopefully (Hutchinson) comes down here and he competes,” Holmes said. “From what I know of him, he seems like he’s that type of guy. He’s a local guy, he’s from Detroit, plays hard, had a very productive year. We’ll get whatever questions answered out of him throughout this week and going forward.”

Meanwhile, Thibodeaux dealt with multiple injuries in 2021, but still managed to produce seven sacks. The former top recruit in the class of 2019 is certainly appealing. 

Chris Pietsch, The Register-Guard, USA TODAY NETWORK

When the Lions were in Los Angeles taking on the Rams in Week 7, Thibodeaux and the Ducks were playing at the Rose Bowl against UCLA. Thibodeaux notched nine total tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. 

Holmes watched the game, and offered high praise for the prospect in his press conference Tuesday. 

“Well, he had a productive game that day,” Holmes said. “I don’t know if that’s because I timed it up right. But, he had a productive game, and, you know, he’s a good-looking prospect.” 

The strengths of the draft

The Lions coached the American team in the Senior Bowl, getting a chance to see some of the top upperclassman prospects up close. 

With that phase over, the front office is moving into its player acquisition phase. Holmes spoke more on the process during his media session, explaining where he feels the team is at. 

“I always say this time of year, it’s a little cloudy,” Holmes said. “Like there’s smoke around everything at this stage of the process. We feel really good where we’re at, at this stage of the process. But, I think as we finish each phase, we got through the Senior Bowl, now it’s this phase, and then we get into the pro days. Each phase, the smoke will start to clear up, and we’ll get good clarity.”

The draft is considered to be strong in several areas, most notably at EDGE. When asked Tuesday, however, Holmes deferred, and said there are a number of areas he feels good about. 

“The more that we keep going through the process, I mean, I could say all across the board,” Holmes said. “I’m seeing positions that, you know, interior defensive linemen, I think it’s a strong class. I think that was exhibited down there at the Senior Bowl, and that’s not even the players that weren’t invited down there. I think it’s a good wide receiver class, I think the safety class is good, good corner group. It’s actually a lot of positions where I think it’s shaping up to be a pretty good draft.” 

Holmes has an extensive background when it comes to scouting, so his expertise in this area is valued. He explained the importance of the combine and how it can allow members of an organization to confirm what they’ve seen on tape. 

“You definitely want to get confirmation on what those measurables are for what you thought you saw on film,” Holmes said. “Now, some measurables you already have. There’s a lot of studies that’s done in terms of (what matters) at which position. At offensive tackle, it’s arm length, ‘What are the subset of offensive tackles at this sized arm length, and what has been the success rate of those guys?’ And it runs through, ‘What is receivers and (40-yard dash) times?’ Does that really compare? And so, that’s when you really deep dive the analytics, and we have a great analytics department that we utilize heavily. But yeah, there’s certain trends that you can see start to develop when you’re deep diving the measurables.”