The Detroit Lions are in uncharted waters. Since being hired in 2021, GM Brad Holmes has had an unbelievable run with his draft success. He’s hit on multiple players all over the board (including UDFA) and helped bring the team to competitive relevance for the first time in decades, transforming the roster into one of the most balanced and dangerous units in the NFL.

Even with all of the injuries in 2024, the Lions still managed to finish with a team best 15 wins. That was all because of the talent evaluations within the the pro scouting department and the coaching staffs ability, under Dan Campbell, to teach and get the most out of players and push them to their limits.

With all that success, there’s still some that focus on two main things:

1. The lack of superbowl wins (or even an appearance), with 2023 being a Cinderella type run and almost getting there had it not been for an unlucky bounce, two uncharacteristic drops and a momentum killing fumble.
2. The “misses” and “wasted draft capital” to trade up for certain players.

If 2023 was the year the Lions came close and almost did the unthinkable, then surely 2024 was the year they would finally shut up the people thay bring up 0-16, 1 playoff win in 30 years, no NFC North Titles and 0 Superbowl appearances. And for a while, it looked like the Lions were on their way….until an unprecedented amount of injuries finally caught up with them in the playoffs. Now, I know what you’re gonna say, the injuries didn’t cause all this turnovers. They didn’t cause Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn to walk into Ford Field with terrible gameplans…or did they? Did the Lions have to change the way they play to compensate and hide their issues? That’s a topic for another day.

The real topic is Brad Holmes and his draft success or failures. Here is a breakdown (that I have on my Twitter/X) of every pick, by round, that Brad Holmes has made.

1st round:
Tyleik Williams (25)
Terrion Arnold (24)
Jahmyr Gibbs (23)
Jack Campbell (23)
Aidan Hutchinson (22)
Jameson Williams (22)
Penei Sewell (21)

2nd:
Tate Ratledge (25)
Ennis Rakestraw (24)
Sam Laporta (23)
Brian Branch (23)
Josh Paschal (22)
Levi Onzwurike (21)

3rd:
Issac TeSlaa (25)
Hendon Hooker (23)
Brodric Martin (23)
Kerby Joseph (22)
Alim McNeil (21)
Ifeaty Melifonwu (21)

4th:
Giovanni Manu (24)
Sione Vaki (24)
Amon Ra (21)
Derrick Barnes (21)

5th:
Miles Frazier (25)
Colby Sorsdal (23)
James Mitchell (22)

6th:
Ahmed Hassanein (25)
Mekhi Wingo (24)
Christian Mahogany (24)
Malcolm Rodriguez (22)
James Houston (22)

7th:
Dan Jackson (25)
Dominic Lovett (25)
Antoine Greene (23)
Chase Lucas (22)
Jermar Jefferson (21)

His UDFA classes:

2021 – Brock Wright, Jerry Jacobs, AJ Parker

2022 – none made any impact

2023 – Trevor Nowaske, Brandon Joseph, Steven Gilmore, Starling Thomas (starting for Arizona)

2024 – Hogan Hatten, Isaiah Williams, Loren Strickland, Isaac Ukwu, Nate Lynn

The jury is still out on 2025, because they haven’t played a game yet, but so far things look promising. TeSlaa, who was supposed to supplant Tim Patrick later this year or next year has already done that, which resulted in Patrick being traded away. Williams has looked really good and Ratledge looks impressive back at his more natural spot as a guard.

Even the 2024 draft class shows promise after hitting a few bumps. There are several reasons people have to nitpick Brad Holmes and his draft selections.

Number 1:

They’re not used to the Lions actually drafting well. In the 1st round and especially in later rounds. The Lions have always been that team that, even if they drafted a good player, managed to screw it up with developing that player.

Number 2:

He doesn’t draft the way you’re “supposed to draft”. He gets his players. He get the player he feels fits the culture of what being a Detroit Lion means and is. Draft scale be damned, position value be damned. Case in point, skipping Bijan Robinson to trade back and take Gibbs at 12, then taking Campbell at 18 in 2023. Everyone, including you (probably), trashed him for those picks.

Number 3:

The Lions are actually good enough now to take chances on projects. That bothers people, because they’re not used to this success and feel that evwry single player needs to be a HOFer right out the gate or it’s a wasted pick. Two players that fans are clamoring for took several years to develop after being drafted. Trey Hendrickson and Za’Darius Smith.

People want to find the bad in Brad Holmes taking risks and “wasting draft capital” on projects that have a much higher reward than risk involved.

After looking at Brad Holmes drafts classes…let’s take a look at the last 23 years and the previous 3 GMs.

Here is Matt Millen, GM from 2001-2008.

W/L record of 31-84 (fired in 2008 after starting 0-3)

3 Head Coaches hired

Division record of 10-35

1st Round:

Joey Harrington(02)

Charles Rogers (03)

Roy Williams (04)

Kevin Jones (04)

Mike Williams (05)

Ernie Sims (06)

Calvin Johnson (07)

Gosder Cherilus (08)

2nd Round:

Dominic Raiola (01)

Shaun Rogers (02)

Kalimba Edward (03)

Boss Bailey (04)

Teddy Lehman (05)

Shaun Cody (06)

Daniel Bullocks (07)

Drew Stanton (07)

Ikaika Alama-Francis (07)

Gerald Alexander (08)

Jordon Dizon (08)

3rd Round:

Cory Redding (03)

Stanley Wilson (05 )

Brian Calhoun (06 )

Kevin Smith (08)

4th Round:

Keith Smith (04)

5th Round:

Scotty Anderson (01)

Dan Orlovsky (05)

Jonathan Scott (06)

6th Round:

Chris Cash (02)

Bill Swancutt (05)

Johnathan Goddard (05)

7th Round:

Luke Staley (07)

Matt Murphy (07)

Victor Rodgers (07)

Here is Martin Mayhew, GM from 2009-2015

W/L record of 41-63 (not including 2008 or half of 2015 when he was fired)

2 Head Coaches Hired

Division record of 15-29

Round 1:

Matthew Stafford (09)

Brandon Pettigrew (09)
Ndamukong Suh (10)
Jahvid Best (10)
Nick Fairley (11)
Riley Reiff (12)
Ziggy Ansah (13)
Eric Ebron (14)

2nd Round:

Louis Delmas (09)

Titus Young (11)

Mikel Leshoure (11)

Ryan Broyles (12)

Darius Slay (13)

Kyle Van Noy (14)

3rd Round:

DeAndre Levy (09)
Derrick Williams (09)
Amari Spievey (10)
Bill Bentley (12)
Larry Warford (13)
Travis Swanson (14)

4th Round:

Sammie Hill (09)

Jason Fox (10)

Ronnell Lewis (12)

Devin Taylor (13)

Nevin Lawson (14)

Larry Webster (14)

5th Round:

Doug Hogue (11)

Tahir Whitehead (12)

Chris Greenwood (12)

Sam Martin (13)

Caraun Reid (14)

6th Round:

Aaron Brown (09)
Jonte Green (12)
Corey Fuller (13)
Theo Riddick (13)
TJ Jones (14)

7th Round:

Lydon Murtha (09)
Zack Follett (09)
Dan Gronkowski (09)
Willie Young (10)
Tim Toone (10)
Johnny Culbreath (11)
Travis Lewis (12)
Michael Williams (13)
Brandon Hepburn (13)
Nate Freese (14)

Here is Bob Quinn, GM from 2016-2020

W/L record of 31-43-1 (not including the final 5 games of 2020 when he was fired)

Division record of 10-17

2 Head Coaches but only hired 1 (and it was a massive failure)

Round 1:

Taylor Decker (16)
Jarrad Davis (17)
Frank Ragnow (18)
T.J. Hockenson (19)
Jeff Okudah (20)

Round 2:

A’Shawn Robinson (16)
Teez Tabor (17)
Kerryon Johnson (18)
Jahlani Tavai (19)
D’Andre Swift (20)

Round 3:

Graham Glasgow (16)
Kenny Golladay (17)
Tracy Walker (18)
Will Harris (19)
Julian Okwara (20)

Jonah Jackson (20)

Round 4:

Miles Killebrew (16)
Jalen Reeves-Maybin (17)
Da’Shawn Hand (18)
Austin Bryant (19)
Logan Stenberg (20)

Round 5:
Antwione Williams (16)
Joe Dahl (16)

Jamal Agnew (17)
Tyrell Crosby (18)

Amani Oruwariye (19)
Quintez Cephus (20)

Jason Huntley (20)

Round 6:
Jake Rudock (16)
Anthony Zettel (16)
Jimmy Landes (16)

Jeremiah Ledbetter (17)
Brad Kaaya (17)

Travis Fulgham (19)
Ty Johnson (19)

John Penisini (20)

Round 7:

Dwayne Washington (16)

Pat O’Connor (17)

Nick Bawden (18)

Isaac Nauta (19)
P.J. Johnson (19)

Jashon Cornell (20)

Yikes.

From 2001 to 2020 the Lions managed three playoff appearances with a record of 0-3, finished 0-16 and had no division titles. In that span, the Lions had nine Head Coaches with three of them being interim head coaches. Their combined record was 110-209. Basically one hundred more losses and only four winning seasons.

Under Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell 4 seasons the Lions have a W/L record of 39-28-1, with 3 winning seasons, 2 straight division titles and 2-2 playoff record.

Dan Campbell is entering his 5th season as HC, matching Jim Schwartz as the only coach to last more than four seasons. It’s a safe bet that Campbell will reach a 6th season and more.

The Lions finally have a plan in place. They have a strategy to sustain success. They have a blueprint that is allowing them to be one of the better teams in the league and remain that way.

Yes, the argument against any plan will always be “have they won a superbowl?”, and that is a very valid argument. But in the last 20 plus years, have the Lions had this type of management or plan? Or have the Lions always had dysfunction? The Detroit Lions are a place that free agents want to come play for. Rookies are excited to be drafted by and players turned analysts go from laughing about being traded there to picking them to win their first ever Superbowl.

Let’s relax on the end of the world thinking because Holmes isn’t selling the farm and going all in on a one year leap of desperation. Panicking is how you unload crazy free agent contracts to overhyped kick returners hoping they become the WRs in from of them during the Rams greatest show on turf era (congrats if you know what player I’m talking about).

In the end, the Lions have a plan. A plan that they believe will not only win them a championship soon but continue to win them games and championships for a long time.

Let’s appreciate what we finally are seeing from the worst organization in sports history. Let’s appreciate that we finally have a front office and coaching staff that is competent. And most importantly, FTB, FTP and FTV.