Lions' 2023 Draft Clues After Brad Holmes' Media Session

Brad Holmes was asked about the value of drafting a running back early and his thoughts on targeting a quarterback.

The Detroit Lions are one of the team's in an enviable position heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. 

Speaking with reporters on a conference call, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah expressed, “They’re in great shape. I don’t know if there’s many teams you’d rather be than them right now with where they are as an organization and the assets they have to go ahead and make that next step." 

Detroit general manager Brad Holmes has positioned the Lions to be able to target multiple different positions all throughout the draft. 

"There’s still work to be done. Every Draft is different, and like I told you guys last year when picking at two, we pretty much knew what that cluster was at that time. It’s gotten closer, but it’s just a lot more film, a lot more research has been done," said Holmes. "We’ve had a lot more meetings since that time, so just all the research and just kind of sticking to our process and just rendering the results from that and just being confident in our process. That’s how I can always sleep good at night, knowing we’ll come up with the right group.”

After spending nearly 40 minutes discussing a myriad of topics, here are three draft clues that Holmes potentially revealed, and in his own words. 

Lions are very likely going to draft a quarterback in 2023 

"Yeah. I mean, of course. It’s a position on the football field that you got to have. And, I’m not trying to be a smart ass about that, but yeah. I mean, we’d like to add another one. Whether it’s through the draft, whether it’s after the draft, just like I talked about to you guys probably in Arizona, that some of these quarterbacks, they’re waiting till after the draft to see what teams do. Guys that have had a lot more experience. That’s always a possibility, but we won’t be pinched. We won’t be forced to do anything that doesn’t line up and doesn’t match. But, we’ll get, by training camp, when we get in there, we’ll make sure that we’ll have another quarterback at some point."

Holmes is not opposed to targeting a running back early in the first round 

"I just kind of look at it as they’re all football players. They’re all football players, and if they can help you, they can help you. I understand the narrative about that. But, if you think that player is that good, then if he’s out there producing for you -- I don’t think anybody’s going to look back and say, I don’t think anybody’s said in 2016 or ’17 or ’18, ‘Wow, Todd (Gurley), he really picked him at 10.’ No, he was just a really good running back, and he was one of the top prospects in the draft. We didn’t really bat an eye about it.”

Strategy about drafting players that may stir up headlines

"If we go that route of acquiring a player that may stir some headlines, yeah, you definitely want to make sure that she’s (Sheila Hamp) aware. That’s kind of always how we’ve run our process and our approach, and she’s an excellent listener. She sees things all big-picture, and she has a lot of wise counsel. Obviously, you wouldn’t do anything to compromise our culture or the integrity or put her in a bad spot or the organization in a bad spot. Definitely make sure all things are communicated with her, especially when it comes to that kind of stuff.”