Summary: Lions received a C- grade and ranked 28th out of 32 teams.
Article: Like Philadelphia, Detroit drafted cornerbacks in the first two rounds. Unlike Philadelphia, Detroit didn’t enjoy immediate Super Bowl-winning returns. Ennis Rakestraw Jr.’s season was [waylaid by injuries, so it’s hard to judge his actual performance. Terrion Arnold, on the other hand, basically started the entire season – and he experienced significant growing pains, particularly in a flag-filled opening month. In his defense, cornerbacks face one of the most difficult transitions from college to pro, largely because NFL rules are much stricter when it comes to policing and punishing contact in coverage. On top of that, Aaron Glenn runs one of the most man-heavy defenses in the NFL. Per PFF, Arnold comfortably led the league in man-coverage snaps. Essentially, Detroit threw this rookie right into the fire and then doused him with gasoline. He didn’t thrive, but he survived, showing progress as the season transpired. So long as Arnold maintains the self confidence that we all saw back on draft night in Detroit – when he memorably hit the stage and told a raucous crowd of Lions fans [“Y’all got yourself a star”] - could see a major step forward in Year 2.
Beyond those first two picks, Detroit’s most notable returns came via Christian Mahogany (who excelled in a pair of spot starts at guard, one of which came in the postseason) and Sione Vaki (the RB/DB who got the special teamer nod on the [PFWA All-Rookie Team]
So far, it is easily Holmes’ worst draft class. We will have to see how it pans out over the next couple of years but the potential is there for it to be a bust of a class.
Corner back’s typically struggle year one. Corner backs on a defense that can’t rush the passer struggle that much more. Improved pass rush and I’m betting the corners look much better.
Impossible to tell what we have from this class. Arnold- struggled mightily early on but started to turn corner, just as the defense as a whol crumbled.
Rakestraw- early returns very poor but didn’t play much at all due to injury. Will need to see quick strides this season to feel hopeful
Davis (trade)- vital piece to SB roster as constructed in September but overall failed move as he once again got hurt and is now a FA.
Vaki- looks like a core ST
Manu- an absolute prayer gamble pick that may end up paying off HUGE or may be a complete waste of time.
Kinda hope Holmes got these out of his system now. I wouldn’t mind a more consensus ranked draft this year.
Mahogany- looks like an absolute steal. Could have a 20 million dollar OG on a $1.3M contract (sorry Christian)
Wingo- looked actually very solid for a 7rp
So overall-very incomplete. If Arnold is a dude then the draft was a success. F he’s not then it’ll probably go down as one of BHs worst drafts. Which is saying a lot about how good he’s been on draft weekend. The hope is that they got 4 contributors, and that appears to be the case. I will say if Manu turns into Jordan Ma’Alaita the draft gets an immediate A. Wait and C(minus) I guess.
Arnold is going to be a good player IMO. He’s got be more disciplined in the run game and make more plays on the ball. That happens and he’s a dude.
Ennis … who the fuq knows
Manu … same
Vaki … same
Wingo - I was intrigued. Juice for sure. Definitely a rotational type but legitimate “WAR” on that first contract in all likelihood
Mahogany - looks like a big win
A lot of uncertainty but some reasons to be hopeful.
how can you grade us honestly? , nobody predicted that we would have that many injuries on our defensive and just because we happened to-doesn’t mean we deserve an almost D grade for our draft in 2024. I think this OP bases this on the fact we didn’t win a bowl…
Meh, I don’t buy this.
Terrion showed progression by later in the season, Mahogany showed some real good flashes, same with Wingo, and Vaki has some real running skills and was very good on Special Teams.
Manu is a project but we knew that already and in a small sample size he showed progression from Game 1 to Game 2 in preseason.
I think some people are so used to Holmes cranking out Hall of Fame class after Hall of Fame class that they have unrealistic expectations. I think this draft has the potential to be a really good one. Those late round picks in particular have a lot of upside IMO. It’s more of a boom/bust draft than the past 3 but Holmes also has less and later picks this year so he kind of shot for potential this year instead of taking the safer picks. I like it for a team that’s going to lose players and needs guys down the line with impact potential.
this thread hits me as click bait , the OP knows it will ruffle feathers-yet has no proof of what they claim. first you think of Aaron Glenn drafting in addition with our war-room, WE HAVE SEEN a number of times, you know these people do a lot of film study, scouting , debating each and every player they may draft until the group has a player they all agree on-when they get to draft player X, they all celebrate together. our staff is a no bull$#it honest and authentic group , and they make their selections with in an informed and knowledgeable way. they don’t draft by guessing/estimating some player may be good-they have studied each player with a fine tooth comb , many times over, then eliminate certain players with their experience, knowledge and awareness. so I don’t buy the "C- draft grade chit, as I recall -this place was quite happy with the draft selections for weeks, post draft 2024. Our staff interviews draft prospects, invites them to FF, goes to their combine and Senior days, and follow each prospect closely up to draft day, they edit their “big board” and form an informed opinion on the draft class players. it’s not like they throw darts at names, draw names from a hat, or flip coins -to choose. so in my opinion this thread doesn’t sit well with me.
Is it too early to tell how this class shakes out? Yes, agree. Is it too early to put out an article on how the draft class did in their first year? Na, you just have to be mindful of the many caveats.
I think the grader was a little hard on us. Terrion showed alot of improvement. Mahogs and Wingo could be steals. C- is not an unreasonable grade- I would have bumped it to a C or C+. And I like our draft better than the Jets and Falcons, two teams above us. Other than that its a pretty balanced first year summary.
It hurt to give up that third and watch Cooper Beebe (that third) really excel with the Cowboys.
A post-hoc analysis is not really fair, but if we held onto that Beebe pick, and instead drafted DeJean as a nickel (with a possible move down), and then an outside guy like McKinstry, Lassiter or Sainristil (with a possible move up), we would have/could have been in better shape.
Also, if Mahogs shakes out to be every good as Beebe (very possible), then Brad is just laughing at the rest of us.
The key in year 2 is Rake, who could stop this “woulda coulda” with very solid play.
Its pretty simple. Rakestraw and Manu will determine if this draft was good or just okay. No matter what, we got three contributors in Wingo, Mahogany, and Arnold. Vaki is a special teamer probably too. I don’t really care what draft grade they give us now.
This was my least favorite Holmes draft class by far.
I don’t like drafting CB’s and Holmes drafted 2 at the top of the draft
I don’t like trading future (better) picks for (worse) picks in the current draft and Holmes did that multiple times
I don’t like the 3rd round hardcore projects like Martin and Manu (edit - Manu is a 4th)
Having said all of the things i didn’t/don’t like about this class, all of the things you said are true. They did get some promising CB’s, a great ST’s player who might eventually take the Reynolds role at RB, an OG & DT who flashed, and a developmental LT with plenty of time to learn behind Decker.
There’s a lot to be positive and optimistic about with this class. We just need to give it more time to see how it truly pans out.
FWIW I do think last year was the first year BH drafted like the Stafford years, trying to take the best player at a certain position because of roster make up and not so much BPA.
I look at it this way - Arnold had some growing pains but is a good starting outside corner. Mahogany, after getting over Mono improved enough to become the 6th guard. I have no doubt he is a starter next year. So even if none of the other draftees become starters it looks like we got two good starters from the draft. If, and I expect they will, the others develop into solid contributors then this is a solid draft. But as others have said - it is a fools errand to try and grade a draft this early.
