“We had a pretty significant line between him and the next guy,” Holmes said about Detroit’s cornerback grades.
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Holmes acknowledged Detroit’s desire to add a cornerback coming into the event, but also noted he didn’t expect to score one in the first round.
Not surprisingly, Holmes said Arnold was the No. 1 corner on Detroit’s board.
“We had a pretty significant line underneath him to the next guy, in our opinion,” Holmes said.
Alright @HSVLion our resident Alabama expert. Who does Bama have next season prospect wise we should now be putting on the Lion’s watchlist for the 2025 draft?
Full post coming in about 10 minutes.
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I gotta be honest. Drafting defensive players that learned under Saban is a great idea. I am not sure “Bama” players means crap now that Saban is gone. He was in essence an NFL coach teaching college kids the NFL techniques and concepts. Now that he is gone I am not sure where Holmes can find such well coached players.
I have a pretty good buddy who played under Saban and he can not speak highly enough about his coaching ability and character. And this is a guy who operates at very high standards. So I think it is fair to say the college game is worse for it by losing Saban. I kind of expect him to be a special assistant for some pro team. I think he will miss the teaching too much.
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So obviously, the major change down here is that Saban is retired and there’s a whole new coaching staff now. This was the last draft class where I feel like you could say for certain that we are going to love guys from Alabama just because they’re from Alabama. I think that starting next draft we as Lions fans need to look at Bama as a totally different program until proven otherwise from a prospect standpoint.
That said, the one player I’m absolutely certain the change won’t matter for is Tyler Booker. I know our staff is going to absolutely LOVE him, and I feel like they would’ve taken him last night if he was eligible. He’s a very vocal leader and got meaningful reps here as a freshman. Great player and again…and even better person. He’s absolutely the guy you want representing your team in the media and on the field.
As a player, not only is he a perfect fit at a position of long term need for us, but he’s pretty freaking good too. He of course had his moments just like everyone else does, but for him it’s pretty rare that he doesn’t just dominate the guy he’s blocking. Him and Sewell next to each other would give us the best side of an offensive line in the league for however long they play together.
He’s probably the second best offensive lineman I’ve watched on either of my teams (Ohio State 2013-2023, Alabama 2023) other than Paris Johnson, and I’d call him the best interior guy I’ve seen. Having watched Jonah Jackson’s senior year at Ohio State, I think they both have a level of refinement and technique to their game that is very good, but Booker is just bigger. Because of his size, he can physically take over a block at the point of attack like I don’t think Jonah can. Tyler still shows a bit of inexperience but that’s to be expected. I have to remind myself that the Jonah I saw at Ohio State had three more years in college under his belt than 2023 Tyler Booker did.
As far as the other guys…I’m not too sure at the moment. Milroe is the ultimate wild card but he wouldn’t go here anyway. Jihaad Campbell could go day 2 or maybe make his way into round 1.
There’s just not really a ton of pro prospects coming out next year from Bama. 2026 will have some more guys, but 2025 will be a weaker class relatively speaking.
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Now, if you want good players in 2025, as much as you guys hate it, Brad needs to go to Columbus.
Nice well written and thoughtful post, thanks!
I can do some Bama…
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With the 32nd pick in the 2025 NFL draft the Lions select Some Dude, Alabama. Position unknown.
And you know why we are picking 32nd baby. 