Brad Holmes: Lions Will 'Let the Process Unfold' in 2022 NFL Draft
It’s the question that every Detroit Lions fan is dying to know the answer to: What will the organization do in the 2022 NFL Draft, specifically with its two first-round selections (No. 2 and No. 32 overall)? It’s still anyone’s guess, with less than a week to go until the draft kicks off April 28.
A large amount of the uncertainty surrounding the direction the Lions will go in is due to the way in which general manager Brad Holmes has handled himself leading up to the draft.
He’s been very discreet in revealing his strategy, often resembling a high-end poker player who is good at keeping his cards close to his vest.
He displayed this quality once again during his pre-draft media session Thursday, failing to tip his hand and only admitting that the franchise would be looking to draft a “game-changer” at No. 2 overall.
With that said, the Lions could be potentially considering more than just two players with the pick, as well as individuals that suit up at several different positions.
“Anything can happen at any day, I will say that. But, it’s not just narrowing it down to your top two. You better have your top five. You better have your top 10 in place, because you just don’t know what’s going to happen each day,” Holmes told reporters Thursday. “We do have it narrowed down, and we feel confident where we’re at with how we have it pared down. We’ll just let the process unfold.”
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While this is true, he is also willing to be aggressive and trade up in the draft if he feels the situation is right, especially with the seven picks Detroit possesses after the No. 2 overall selection.
“If there’s a player that we have buy-in and we want, I’m going to try to get that player. That’s just bottom line,” Holmes said. “There is value in being patient and sitting back. You’ve just got to assess where the value is on your draft board and what the volume and depth is. If the conviction is that high, yeah, you can’t just sit, wait and be patient and see if that player’s going to be there or not. Sometimes you’ve got to be aggressive and go and get him. That’s how I stand often. Now, there are not a lot of those players throughout the draft. But, when that player is identified, I’ll always be aggressive.”
Additionally, Holmes left the door open to the Lions potentially making a trade for the No. 1 overall pick.
“It’s like I always say, if we have that conviction on that player, and it’s like, ‘Look, it just makes sense.’ We feel like we need to go get that player, we’ll go get that player,” he said. “That’s not always the case, sometimes you don’t feel like you need (to). It’s not shunning down on that actual player. Sometimes it’s just like, ‘Hey, look, we feel pretty good where we’re at.’ We feel good about this cluster of players that I talked to you about a little bit earlier. We’ve got them graded pretty evenly, so we’ll be in good shape. It was very similar to the Penei (Sewell) situation last year.”
While the Lions are most likely to take a pass rusher at No. 2, whether it be Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux or Georgia’s Travon Walker, there still remains the possibility of the franchise selecting a quarterback with the pick.
It’s not as pressing of a need for Detroit due to the presence of incumbent starter Jared Goff. However, the organization could still be searching for an upgrade at the position, and might just like one of the signal-callers in this year’s draft class enough (i.e. Liberty’s Malik Willis) to draft a QB with its initial first-round selection. Holmes addressed the likelihood Thursday.
“I’ve been saying all along that we’re looking for a game-changer at that pick, and really at any picks, and I said all positions. So, if that position is a quarterback, then it’s a quarterback,” Holmes said. “Just because often, it’s been slated that, well, picking up there, it’s either going to be a quarterback or a pass rusher or a tackle and all that type of stuff. But, look, I said from day one, give me a game-changer at any position, and there are multiple positions where we do see that potential game-changers could be there in the future. Time will tell, of course, how they develop. We feel very confident in the coaching staff we have to develop those players. But, yeah, it could be any position. But, obviously, we spent a lot of time on these quarterbacks. We brought a few in, a couple in this week, a few in this week actually, just making sure we’re doing our due diligence and we’ve got our ducks in a row.”
Both Willis and fellow quarterback draft prospect Kenny Pickett, a product of the University of Pittsburgh, took part in pre-draft visits with the Lions this week.
Willis, due to his dual-threat ability, is the more likely of the two to be taken at No. 2. However, it doesn’t mean that he’ll be ready to start right away. Just like Pickett, he’s a developmental prospect that would benefit from learning under Goff during his first season in the NFL.
It’s why the fifth-year option, which is built into contracts for players drafted in the first round, brings added value to taking a quarterback early, especially at the back-end of the first round (where Detroit possesses pick No. 32).
“Yeah, if you pick a quarterback there at 32 obviously, yeah, you do have that fifth-year option. Is there a team that is sitting right at the top of the second round or the middle of the second round that wants to trade up in front of us to pick a quarterback? There is value there,” Holmes commented.
There is also value to scouting as many prospects as possible during each draft cycle. It’s a process that the Lions’ second-year general manager thoroughly enjoys.
“I love it every single day. Every single day, you get an opportunity to dive deeper into this process. You just love every second of it, every minute of it,” Holmes expressed. “Often, it doesn’t really feel like work. It’s your passion and what you love to do. So, there are some grueling, long hours, and there are some tough decisions. There are some, I don’t want to say sleepless nights, but there were some nights where I was waking up like, ‘Okay, what are we going to do here?’ But, at the end of the day, I’m very, very fortunate to be in the position that I’m in and very fortunate for this staff that I have surrounded myself with, that has helped us get through this process.”
