It’s nice to dream about that, we agree. It does raise the question though, would Puka have emerged? Given the same opportunity as the Rams gave him? Or maybe he’d have been stuck going the Antoine Green route with Brown, Josh, Jamo and - at the time - MJJ all here.
It does make one ponder; as well as dream of the possibilities because holy shit that would indeed be unstoppable.
I think so. Dude is a monster breaking tackles and is a YAK machine. He has more YAKs than a Roman vomitorium. I think that would have popped in practice and preseason
If Jamo, Bromart, and Davenport, have above average seasons this year the Lions will win the Super Bowl. Barring catastrophic injuries.
How about Eman, and Campbell?
That’s the flip side of Brad’s gambles.
Well…we are going to win the Super Bowl this year… and its very possible we win multiple Super Bowls.
Already unstoppable my bro
So I view the Sewell pick as lucky in that he was still there. Crazy. But I was all in for the Lions building the lines with those top picks. A top 10 Oline or Dline players seem to almost always pan out. While the Qbs are still a bit of a gamble to me.
And I think we all agree that if you have a top 5 Oline you will have a top 10 QB. All of these guys are assassins if they have time and are comfortable back there. Yes the truly elite dudes can do it while dodging bullets. And before anyone starts in on Goff he was like the most blitzed QB last season and carved up defenses. He just does it with passes and does not run around.
I think some forget that Sewell had some question marks around him because he sat out the because of covid which in the macho world of football made him seem a but flaky. And yes he is not soft or flaky I am just pointing out that at the time of the draft he had some clouds around him.
What Brad has done is exceptional. That said this is real…
165, 2024 4th and 201- Vaki and 210
2025 3rd- G Manu
122, 139, 168- Bro Mart (that’s 4th and two 5th)
32, 34, 66- Jamo and 46
Jamo
Bro Mart
Manu G
Vaki
2nd- Paschal
6th- Mahogany
1st- Jamo trade
2nd- Jamo
3rd- Jamo
3rd- Manu
4th- Bro Mart
4th- Vaki
5th- bro mart
5th- bro Mart
6th- Vaki trade
Over 3 years we traded 9 pieces for 6… and so far we don’t have a single player that has PROVEN to be a reliable plus starter. We all believe Jamo will this year, and hope we get something from Paschal and expect some ST pop from Vaki and rotational DT work from bro mart.
We are talking 9 picks and 6 of them rounds 1-4 to come away with that?
Brad was rightfully praised early on for hitting mid to late rounders at a crazy rate-
Alim
Iffy
St Brown
Barnes
Jefferson
Kerby
J Mitchell
Rodrigo
Houston
Lucas
Hooker
Bro Mart
Sorsdal
A Green
Manu
Vaki
Wingo
Mahogany
Let’s look a bit closer-
McNeill, Iffy, St Brown and Barnes were power 5 conference players with proven production and solid to great RAS…. St Brown being an all pro and McNeill being a stud really… really help the narrative- we’ve seen flashes from Barnes and for 8 games Iffy looked amazing- so maybe we end up with a long term S and LB too which would make THIS one draft class beyond special.
Kerby has been up and down but overall a pleasant surprise and decent starter… but after some early hype, it’s possibly Mitchell doesn’t make the team. Lucas is already gone…. Houston blew our minds with 8 sacks in the second half of 22’, but we did send him down to the squad prior to that, and he wasn’t in the best of graces to start last year before the injury. I’m not sure many expect 8-10 sacks from him, and it’s now feeling a bit more like a Willie Young or K Hyder than a Cliff Avril- we shall see…. Rodrigo was a fan favorite as a rookie, but size limited his every down player ability. He’s a great team guy and late round value for ST and depth.
Now it gets dicey- we took an injured 25 year old project QB when there were solid OL and DL players there. AKA- B Young, O Torrence, and K Turner- guys that were darlings in here. Then we went all in on what I felt was a 6th rounder in Bro Mart and spent 3 picks-
Byron Young- rams 8 sacks
K Turner- Rams 9 sacks
Ya Ya- Bucs- 7.5 sacks
D Stills- 3.5 sacks
K Brooks- 4 sacks
Michael Wilson- 550 yards
Puka- no comment
Trey Palmer- 400 yards
AT Perry- 4 tds
2024- if we insisted on trading away 25’ picks I’d have preferred SVP as a long term OG/C as well as B Allen as a monster 20 year old power back with a year to rest up. Or Brennan Jackson as I am big fan of his as a DE3
Les Snead- got a ring, rebuilt quickly, and gave us a game in Ford Field-
21’- after round 2
E Young- starting LB
B Brown- starting DT
22’ - after round 2
K Williams- 1400 yd 15 TD rb
D Kendrick- starting CB
Q Lake- starting DB
23’- after round 2
B Young- 8 sacks
K Turner- 9 sacks
Puka- 1500 yard rookie
E Evans- starting punter
24’- after round 2
Corum
C Kinchens
B Jackson
J Karty- starting kicker
T Davis- their M Wingo pick
B Limmer- their Mahogany pick
The Rams got 8 impactful picks from 21-23’ rounds 3 and beyond.
Lions got Alim, Saint, Iffy, Barnes, Kerby and then……
It’s not that Brad has swung and missed, it’s that he’s consolidated picks from 9 to 6, and then taken high risk fliers on unproven and inured guys.
I love what Brad has done in the draft, coaching department, Free agency too…. I just don’t feel like he’s taking as many SERIOUS shots as he could…
Analogy-
Brad is playing corn hole and after draining the first 2, he closes his eyes and switches up hands for the last 2.
Brad is shooting 2 under through 9 holes and decides to go driver off the deck on approach shots and change his grip to the claw when putting the back 9…
BEST ONE- Brad is winning on the card by a mile and decides to start throwing Superman punches in the final round of the fight.
How many raw projects have hit? How many small school unheard of?
If we didn’t desperately need a WR X with Michael Wilson sitting there in late 3 in 23’ or a DT who could rush the QB with K Turner or edge help with guys like B Jackson or B Young- it would be different.
Guys like YaYa, Jackson and B Young ATE in their final years of power 5 ball
Do you want him to hit at a 100% rate? Because I hate to disappoint you, but that’s impossible. I’m just not sure what you want from this? To say he falls in love with guys and uses too many resources to get them? Noted (and you’re not the first to say it), but I’ll take that 1000 times out of 1000. Are you saying you wouldn’t?
Ummm……did they not go 12-5, division winner and NFC Championship game??
Brad Holmes has done a fantastic job finding talent and working money-saving deals , I’m sure if he had ANY suspect issues -the media and league would be all over his butt like flies on poo man. so it’s nothing to be worried about right now-anyway.
I guess i think taking chances is what good organizations that draft well do. Mayhew took chances and didnt draft particularly well in general so when he had holes throughout the roster. Brad grabs bluechips early and high ceiling guys later. If he hits on any of the 3 of mahogany, sorsdal and manu…then safe to say the OL is locked for several years. Etc.
No Guts No Glory.
The entire organization operates this way and it’s brought the Lions from the outhouse to the penthouse in 2 years, almost literally, so I’m ok with their gambling and by “ok” I mean that I fully and completely trust in this regime. Sone gambles might not work out but that’s ok because the results are overwhelmingly positive.
Yuuuup.
Goff is better than many give him credit for, AND (not “but”), our OL & run game are fantastic.
SO excited about every single one of those moves. On a team where it is increasingly more difficult to even make the roster, it’s important to prioritize quality over quantity, as we will be cutting some very solid players from this day forward.
I see a lot of Hoch/Swift-type deals in the future, where we unload a guy and his salary, in the name of cap& future improvement.
Acquire picks for players, package picks to move up, get “project guys” to keep the second contract reasonable.
I think Vaki will have a ton to learn, but can contribute some immediately….but next year starts to become a more serious weapon
Manu, aside from being the second to most handsome player on the team, will be a MONSTER.
Jamo is like a nuclear warhead waiting to go off, and his presence will dictate how teams need to defend our entire offense. Single cover him…I DARE YA!
BroMart may be my favorite, in terms of bang for buck. I think his upside is ridiculous too.
These sorts of moves allow for guys to learn without getting their confidence ruined.
Seeing Brad’s “on base and home run” rate gives me even more reason to be excited.
After watching Brad’s first draft I was predicting this would happen —> packaging pics and players together, to move up and get more quality… Because we already have so many good players on the roster, and it’s so hard to make this team even as a special teams player.
That seems to be aging well and exactly what we are seeing.
Chark is another he moved on from.
Dude, you couldn’t find a gif with a Canadien Beer…I mean seriously WTF. Busch Light, ughh
