What Lions Felt About 2023 NFL Draft Class Is Making Headlines

The Lions did not hand out the normal amount of first-round draft grades.

The 2023 NFL Draft was not stocked full of blue-chip, first-round talent, according to Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes. 

Holmes noted during a podcast appearance on "The Season" hosted by Peter Schrager, "Lets just call it what it is. It just wasn't as strong of a draft (class) as it has normally been." 

On average, teams typically assign first-round grades to 17-19 players every year. In 2023, the Lions handed out far less. 

“In a normal year, you’ll have like true first-round talent players," Holmes said. "You might have about 17 or 18 guys. I really haven’t seen any higher than 20 in all the years that I’ve been doing it."

As a result, the team wanted to especially target players they knew fit the culture. Selecting Jahmyr Gibbs and Jack Campbell on Day 1 left the organization relieved, as both fit exactly what the organization is looking for. 

“We ended up with 14 guys, and that was at the very end. It was less than that at one point," Holmes said. "Like at one point we had nine or 10. Jahymr (Gibbs) was always one of those guys. So, I just looked at it as like, ‘Dan, look, let’s just get who the hell we want and let’s get the hell out of there.’”

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