I think we all agree that a 3 year look back is a pretty good time frame to look back and get a good handle on the grade for a draft class.
I will say that next years grade will depend heavily on Jamo standing tall this coming season.
And I realize the Hutch pick has been good. And the rest of that draft class looks like it has a good haul of contributors. But the Jamo pick will need to bear a bit more fruit this season to real give that class an A. With that said, right now 2022 class looks like it was better in that everyone seems to be in the mix. Well Houston is a question mark but he is a 6th rounder so you can not expect a 6th rounder to be a star. And Chase Lucas is being sticky but may not ever be a major contributor.
It is very impressive at what Holmes has been able to accomplish in 3 short years.
If McNeil and Iffy continue on that steep upward trajectory they were on in the second half of last season, this could turn out to be one of the best drafts in NFL history when all is said and done. I don’t think this is a hyperbolic statement. The Levi miss is almost irrelevant considering how good all the other picks are.
Two potential HOFers (one taken in the 4th round), top 10 DT, top 10 safety and also a solid NFL LB in Barnes. I might be jumping the gun on categorizing Iffy as a potential top 10 safety but I don’t see why not if he continues to play at the level he closed the season with. Truly a transformative draft for the Lions in any case.
What’s crazy is that the 2023 draft has the potential to be just as good although with players at positions of “less” importance if you’re into that sort of thing in terms of draft evaluation.
They drafted 4 HOF players (Swan, Webster, Lambert, Stallworth)…plus 3 others that were starters and an UDFA signed by the name of Art Shell…LOL. Yeah the Lions had a nice 2021 draft class but that 74 Steelers class was insane.
…all true…but also…
How many teams were there back then? Gently improve chances of acquiring better talent, not to mention, those cats were playing with & against ppl with our measurables (slightly exaggerated)
Huh? We did not trade up to take alim. Philly did trade down thinking we wouldn’t take another dt. But we didnt trade up. We traded for Barnes later but not for Alim.
Ah, there goes me trying to rely on my memory again. That makes it more relevant that the Eagles thought they could trade behind us and still get Alim. They showed the video of war room after the trade and the coaches/scouts were not pleased after the Lions took Alim and the Eagles took the next DT.
They just assumed Brad wouldn’t double-dip after going with Levi in the 2nd. I doubt another team will make that mistake again, especially since he double-dipped again the next year at edge with Hutch and Paschal.
Well it is reported that no team had ever drafted more than 2 HOF players in a single draft ever in the history of the NFL (including and up to this year). So whilst I agree with your theory. It is still insane.
Which is to double down on the fact that Sewel and ARSB both smell like potential future HOF with the starts to their careers. So the idea that Holmes is drafting at an insanely high level truly checks out when you look at the historical results of all the other drafts classes for all the other teams through the years.
In that 1974 draft their were 5 HOF players. And 4 were on the Steelers.
Even drafting 1 HOF every 5 years is pretty impressive. The Lions clearly are elite…LOL