10 takeaways from Holmes/Agnew Press Conference

The Den
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6. On edge rusher Eric O’Neill

It was interesting hearing Holmes talk about how much he wanted to sign O’Neill during the hectic period after the draft.

Holmes said he had his ear to the phone as director of college scouting Brian Hudspeth made his pitch to O’Neill’s camp while telling Hudspeth to make sure they got that deal done with O’Neill.

The undrafted rookie out of Rutgers had a nice camp, showing off a high motor and better athleticism than some of the testing numbers might suggest. He earned a roster spot with his consistency coming off the edge

4. On defensive lineman Skyler Gill-Howard

The first time Holmes saw rookie sixth-round pick Skyler Gill-Howard (6-0, 280) on tape, his initial thought was Gill-Howard could be an impact sub-package pass rusher from the interior at the NFL level. Gill-Howard has been better in the run game than Holmes thought he’d be from the tape study, which has been a pleasant surprise and just another reason Gill-Howard made the roster.

“Because of how he’s built because he can bend and he has this innate violence and hand usage, he gives himself a chance,” Holmes said.

7. Contract extensions

Holmes got a big contract extension done with Gibbs this offseason, which now leaves safety Brian Branch and tight end Sam LaPorta as two of the players next up for extension consideration as both head into the final year of their rookie contracts.

Holmes said he’d like to get extensions done with both players, but admitted there’s still a couple things they need to sort through before that can become a reality. Injury question marks could be high on the list. Branch is coming off a torn ACL and LaPorta had back surgery this offseason, though LaPorta was a full participant in training camp and looked good throughout the course of camp.

“In terms of us wanting those guys around. Absolutely,” Holmes said. “Hoping we can get it done.”

9. Keith Abney II at nickel

How has rookie fifth-round cornerback Keith Abney II put himself in a position to play a key role at the nickel cornerback spot heading into the season?

“He’s been a quick study,” Holmes said. “In terms of his instincts and toughness. He’s a football player.”

Abney plays much bigger than his 5-foot-9, 187-pound frame, especially in the run game. He’s got a chance to be a first-year player who makes a big impact for the Lions this season.

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The one reporter who keep jonesing about YA should be slapped …

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Dave Birkett asked a fair question about Arnold and Holmes definitely took offense to it.

It wasn’t the best look for Holmes and Daves question was fair.

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Brad answered the question 3 times before that.

“They are happy with the people they have in the secondary.”

Birkett insinuated that Rock Yasin and Brad Holmes are incompetent.

I’d have thrown Dave out on his ■■■■■■■ ear!

Dave Birkett needs to find a team that will hire him as their GM.

Brad, Ray, and, Dan, are happy with the personnel they have in the Secondary. No, they’re not incompetent because they didn’t go out and spend a shit ton of money on someone Birkett thinks is sexy!

Birkett isn’t an NFL GM! He’s a pot stirrer.

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It wasn’t the clearest question and he stumbled over it which seemed to lead to some confusion, however I agree with Air in that Holmes lost his patience pretty quick and got defensive.

It doesn’t take much to say “we want to keep those conversations and the details private, but here is how we addressed the secondary.”

It’s a nothing answer, but then so are all the softballs “your defensive line has a lot of depth and looks great, what are YOU most excited about with that group?” None of this presser was really anything earth shattering or informative for that matter.

Holmes absolutely could’ve handled it better, and Birkett also could’ve asked his question better.

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The same question. It was asked and answered at the very beginning of the presser. I was wondering what DB was trying to ask myself. The only one at fault here is TA. Once implicated, time to move on, why keep the distraction going on in camp? Was Brad/Dan/Sheila prepared? How do you prepare for the unknown? They signed and drafted DB’s, what else should they have done? We still have an up and comer on the PS, we will be hearing more from Whiteside.

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Tell the reporter he’s fired

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There’s almost nothing here of interest unfortunately. Brad and Dan dont tell you much, which I understand.

Like Dan said this is the deepest WR group he’s ever seen but yet kept the least amount of WRs in the entire league and thought so little of Duertch that they didn’t even offer him a practice squad spot. So the press ran with that comment but it was clearly total BS lol.

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This is essentially - “Brad Holmes takes test, Brad Holmes grades his own test, and fans and media rejoice that Holmes gave himself a perfect grade” :joy:

Every section was “Holmes is very happy with the depth/talent/youth, etc at this position….” Which positions again did he say he was concerned about, or felt like he didn’t do enough?

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Nobody ever says anything in these press conferences. For any team. The only thing they’re good for is to get an idea about injuries, and even then it’s just an idea because they’re all purposely vague af. And I don’t blame them, accidentally give out a little tidbit and the content machine twists and turns it and takes it out of context until it bears no resemblance to what was actually said. “You mentioned last week that you hated babies, Brad, can you tell us why you feel that way?”

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Yep - the reporter was being a hooligan

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The reporter didn’t ask a question very well and Brad didn’t answer the question very well.

Brad should’ve given the coach speak “ we are happy with our guys. However We’re looking at every position group to always constantly improve, and I’m never fully satisfied with this roster.”

Which is usually the answer he gives for questions like that which I’m surprised he didn’t say it that way

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Yeah, Dave definitely came in hot there. I’m guessing he did so partly because he (and the rest of the pool) didn’t come in hot enough last year on the similar Ragnow/Center situation, and he was over-correcting. It didn’t play well, though. Especially with the first two questions stealing his thunder.

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Of value, this is true.

Here’s the messed up part of today’s sports media. The reporters all fall under 2 distinct trees. 1) The team glazers, who ask completely nothing questions that only serve the purpose for the team rep to promote themselves.
2) The baiters. Everyone knows and understands, professional sports guys literally practice how to answer interviews without saying anything of substance. You are not going to get any real answer to a question. However, what you CAN do on occasion, is ask someone a question that gets an emotional response. You can get someone flustered, or word trap them, and then at that point, you can say this guy came unglued.
This is what Birkett was doing. The reason Birkett’s actual question sucked, is he knew if he asks direct, Brad will deflect. Birkett tried to be cute and basically bury Brad with a bunch of leading words to see if Brad would slip up and answer something. Brad just let Birkett flub around sounding like an idiot, and force Birkett to ask the real question.

Honestly, both guys handled it poorly. If you are Holmes, all you have to answer is “We made the moves we could to stay within the cap, and we chose the players we felt gave us the best chance to win within that structure.” Simple.

As for the Terrion Arnold questions, the reason you didn’t get any answer there, is simple. The Lions ultimate plan was to let the TA situation play out, that took them past the draft and free agency, and then the word came out that TA was getting arrested and they knew they had to release him.

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There are 5 teams in the NFL (if I’m counting right) that have had a winning season the last 4 years. Detroit is one of them.

Using wins as a measuring stick = Brad is pretty good at his job.

Detroit has 45 wins over those 4 years (4th most behind Philly, Bills and Chiefs, which is pretty good company).

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What does Birkett have against Rock and Reed?

“The Legion of Whom”, did a pretty good job last year, and, we added a couple veteran players, and, a rookie.

I guess we have to go spend $15 million a year that we don’t have, or, we need a blockbuster trade so he has actual news to write about?

■■■■ Birkett!

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Nothing.

But he has a big old boner for clicks and engagement.

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Difference is those other teams have multiple Conf champ game appearances or rings.

Brad has 1 conf appearance.

Good GMs can make a team be good, winning records multiple playoffs

Great GMs win the division and get close to a Superbowl,

Elite Gms have rings or multiple attempts

Brad is great. No doubt, but can he be the guy to make that next step? He was a team building master when there was a blank canvas. Multiple holes on the roster.

But now the team only has a few deficits and you have to identify those needs. Find the right players in FA/Trade and draft to take the team from good.great to superbowl.

Idk if brad is the guy for that job, i think he could be, but i think he could also be stuck.

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Look at where the bulk of those elite GMs were 5 years into their careers.

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I’d also add, how many of them were taking over a team with the reputation, the dearth of talent and the salary cap hell like the Lions had in 2020.

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