Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes is putting the final preparations together for his sixth NFL Draft after showing through the first five the ability to bring in difference-making talent that has now become the young core of this Lions football team.
Holmes has always trusted his draft board and selected the best available player. He isn’t afraid of moving up to get a player or moving back to gain assets.
“Absolutely. Yeah, if it’s the right guy,” Holmes said last week about trading picks to move up. “You guys know me. I feel like you guys get mad at me sometimes, like I do it too much sometimes. If we have that kind of conviction for a player, absolutely. We’re going to go and get him.”
Teams typically want to come out of the draft with multiple players who add overall talent and depth to the roster, and if they also fill some needs, the team can take a big leap forward.
With nine picks total this year currently, Holmes will be on the lookout for those impact players.
“I’ve always said the reason why we always go (for) the ‘best player available’ approach is because there is only one draft, and the roster’s going to change every single year,” Holmes said. “Every single year it’s going to be new needs, contracts are going to expire, things are going to happen. So, what may not seem as an immediate, ‘I need this right now or this year,’ that might not be the case for the next year.
“So, that’s what’s been our approach on that. But you know, there’s times where you might – it lines up. Maybe the best player is a perceived need, and it lines up that way. It’s lined up like that in the past, but that’s not always the case.”
Here’s a look at where Detroit could still use some depth on the roster:
