DETROIT – I didn’t realize it until now, but in a weird way, Brad Holmes has ruined the build-up to the NFL draft for Detroit Lions fans.
Sure, it’ll be fun to see who the Lions add to an already championship-caliber roster. But even with the draft right here in Downtown Detroit, this week doesn’t have the same spice as usual.
It’s not just because of where the Lions are picking, either. It’s much more difficult to predict what the Lions might do at the end of the first round, but that alone doesn’t take away from the draft’s appeal.
What ruins the excitement is that no matter what, we’re all going to be happy. There are no stakes. We don’t have to worry about the Lions screwing everything up.
Every Lions draft in the pre-Holmes era came with a thrill of uncertainty. There was always a strong chance the Lions would do something moronic, so when they actually made a smart pick, it felt that much better.
But because the Lions have Holmes, I don’t see any realistic scenario where we’ll be second-guessing them this weekend.
Take last year’s draft, for example. Holmes was willing to trade back to take a player almost nobody expected to go in the first round: Jahmyr Gibbs. It seemed like a really strange choice for a team that had already signed David Montgomery.
Then Gibbs rushed for 945 yards and 10 touchdowns while catching 52 passes for 316 yards and another score. Yep, I think that pick worked out pretty well.
Holmes landed Brian Branch, Sam LaPorta, and Jack Campbell after Gibbs. His previous first selections -- Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson -- have been slam dunks.
Kerby Joseph and Alim McNeill were third-rounders. He got Amon-Ra St. Brown and Derrick Barnes in the fourth. Malcolm Rodriguez and James Houston in the sixth.
Holmes has been so flawless in his drafting that no matter what he does this weekend, I think most Lions fans will be content. It’s like playing UNLV early in a college football season -- nobody gets overly excited when you know you’re going to win.
Since there’s not much reason to speculate over the next four days, we’re basically just going to sit back and wait. Holmes might patch a defensive hole with an edge rusher or a cornerback. He could shore up the offensive line. He could even target a weapon in the passing game.
I don’t care. Holmes could take a player I’ve never heard of at the back of the first round, and my immediate instinct would be to trust his decision.
That definitely takes away some of the thrill of the draft. But I don’t think anybody in Detroit is complaining.
