Brad Holmes: 'We’re Not Going to Just Bridge Guys'
New Lions general manager Brad Holmes is out to make the Lions a winner.
In his previous job with the Los Angeles Rams, Holmes was part of an organization that made a Super Bowl. Now, as the leader of the Lions, he aims to do the same.
Holmes appeared on The Athletic Football Show, speaking with host Robert Mays. He covered a variety of topics, including roster building and the NFL Draft.
The NFL Draft
As a first-time general manager, working with a first-time head coach, Holmes has his work cut out for him, in terms of continuity and experience. However, those are merely excuses. Holmes recently completed his first draft as GM, one that garnered mostly rave reviews.
In terms of approaching the draft, Holmes said he and his co-workers took a widespread approach, as far as who to pick and when.
“Yeah, well, let’s be honest, we had a lot of areas of work we had to do,” Holmes said. “I’ve been hearing a lot about, like, the draft, and everybody’s saying, ‘Were you meaning to go all defensive linemen?’ And it was like, no, we could’ve went all skill. But, I will say, Dan and I sat down, and we identified what the strengths were on the roster and what the depth was and who had upside and where we need to upgrade.”
With the Rams, Holmes was a college scout. He’s very familiar with looking at college talent and identifying who will transition talent-wise into the NFL. He did a lot of that working with Rams GM Les Snead.
Holmes scouted for most of his time with the Rams, before transitioning to an expanded evaluation role.
“Coming from a college background, initially, it was just a college draft,” Holmes said. “But, Les (Snead) allowed me to participate a lot more on the pro side of things my last few years.”
Roster building
Holmes’ first high-profile move was to trade former Lions franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams in exchange for a plethora of draft capital and Jared Goff. Holmes was one of the people within LA’s organization to lobby for the team to draft Goff No. 1 overall in 2016.
Now, Holmes has him back.
“Yeah, obviously, the draft capital is great,” Holmes said, “but, to be able to also get Jared, the record that he’s done. I think his resume speaks for itself, in terms of the amount of wins that he’s had in the past four years, (which) is among the top in the league.”
Most Lions fans view Goff as little more than a stop-gap for the organization to land its future signal-caller. However, Holmes doesn’t outwardly view it that way. He once again voiced his support for Goff when speaking with The Athletic.
“You hear a lot of the outside noise, which you try to just block out,” Holmes said. “But, the last time I saw him, he was starting a divisional playoff game on the road and completing over 70 percent of his passes with a broken hand.”
In addition to adding Goff, Holmes also traded for former Rams defensive end Michael Brockers. Although some view these additions as bridge or temporary players, Holmes doesn’t share that line of thinking.
“That’s the one thing Dan and I said we’ll do,” Holmes said. “Look, we’re not going to just bridge guys, so we can have just a body there just to kind of hold the fort down as we build. We signed all guys that we were excited about and guys that we’d like.”
Other current short-term additions include defensive back Quinton Dunbar, wide receivers Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman and linebacker Alex Anzalone.
Penei Sewell and the offensive line
The Lions took Sewell No. 7 overall in this year's draft. Sewell was widely viewed as the best player available at the time. Although offensive line is one of the stronger areas on the Lions’ roster, Holmes & Co. elected to use their highest selection to add to it.
Holmes acknowledged that Sewell is ahead of the curve in terms of strength, athleticism and size. Additionally, Holmes said there is plenty of room for the rookie to still grow.
“He’s so young,” Holmes said. “And it’s not like he has a ton of things he needs to work on. But, he is young, and he’s a rookie and he hadn’t played a ton of college football. So, you add all that up, and then we feel good about his upside, which we thought was monstrous.”
Time will tell how Sewell is seen. His fate will likely tie in with Holmes, as he was the first selection made by Holmes and the new regime.
