What We Have Learned About Brad Holmes' Lions Draft Strategy

Could Lions GM Brad Holmes come full circle and draft an offensive lineman early?

Detroit Lions General Manager Brad Holmes speaks to the press about their 2024 NFL season / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions have been quite intentional in their draft evaluations and who they have decided to select during the tenure of general manager Brad Holmes.

A concerted effort was made at first to target players in the trenches, followed by skill players who could impact games with their sheer talent and explosive play-making abilities.

NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah was asked during a recent videoconference what he has gleamed from the draft patterns of the Lions over the past several seasons with Holmes at the helm.

“I think they’ve been really intentional about how they’ve built their team," said Jeremiah. "First of all, they started building it through the foundation with offensive and defensive line and finding guys with excellent play temperament. Guys that are finishers, that play with effort and are physical. I think that was the first part of the build.

"After that, they went hunting for as many dynamic players as they could find. With Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, the juice they brought to that offense," Jeremiah commented further. "Even (Sam) LaPorta plays really fast as a tight end. It just feels like they’ve combined the physical and the fast really, really well. The way they built it out was really, really smart."

With an offense stacked with skill players and a young defense that will develop under the guidance of new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, Detroit could come full circle and target players along the offensive and defensive lines early in the 2025 draft.

Detroit's offensive line is aging, and there is an expectation the personnel department will target an EDGE rusher in this year's draft.

"I think now, with where they are, that they’ve got some of these young skill guys at these core skill positions and you’ve got (Kevin) Zeitler as a free agent. I think you could look at them kind of going back, going full circle here," Jeremiah said. "Start big, go fast, I think you come back around and then go back to the line of scrimmage again."

Recently, Jeremiah mocked Ohio State Buckeyes offensive lineman Donovan Jackson to the Lions at No. 28 overall.

"If they can’t get Zeitler signed, I’ve mentioned (North Dakota State OL Grey) Zabel for them as someone I think is plug and play. Donovan Jackson from Ohio State is another one who I think is plug and play," Jeremiah explained. "Those are kind of more meat (and) potatoes guys, but they’re in a really good spot.”