Can we please start at least talk about this? Brad hasnt drafted well since Brian Branch. Yes no GM isnt gonna hit every pick. But his draft picks have added virtually nothing to this team. And it shows, why are there so many holes? Maybe because hes blown 22 draft picks in the first 6 rounds. (Not counting the 7th round)
Since taking Brian Branch in 2023. 27 total draft picks. Williams, Tate, Miller and Moore. All are good picks. But an average GM can make a good pick in the top 40.
The other 22 draft picks were traded up, moved around. And total Offense and Defense snaps so far in 2026 from those 22 picks? 241. 101 coming from TeSlaa. 71 from SGH. 33 from Vaki, 25 from Abney. 11 from Mahogany.
5 players. 1 starter, 3 rotational players. And 1 might have just lost his job.
Meaning 1 starter and 3 rotation players and a couple of warm bodies, with 22 draft picks. 11 of which were in the first 3 rounds.
Every other player, not on the team, scratched from the game day roster, or is virtually dead.
I hate to say it.. but ty was a bad pick. He’s a NT that could have been had in the 2nd - 3rd. Moore was ok.. although I liked like 3 of the other edge players more.. but they were close. Miller was a solid pick.
I agree. Since the first couple where he hit on Kerby and st brown late his late picks have not been good. And also - branch fell pretty far. I give him credit for the pick but also, that’s kinda one of those obvious lucky ones too right?
Everyone here would have drafted hutch and Sewell. Gibbs, sure. He gets credit for the trade and all the 1st rd picks. You’re right though, since then it’s been not too great.
I don’t know how one can possibly judge the 2025 and 2026 drafts yet. I think it’s safe to say that his first 3 drafts were great, 2024 terrible and the last two TBD.
I think where he’s failed is taking these swings, while giving up draft capital, for his mid round pet projects. Martin, Hooker, Manu, Vaki, Teslaa. Lots of wasted resources on those guys although I still have some hope for Teslaa even if it’s getting more faint every game. You need to at least get 1 or 2 starters from that group that move the needle and they have none outside of I guess Vaki on Special Teams but you can get that guy in the 6th/7th round.
…. Like Gibbs, Campbell, Branch and LaPorta alone isnt game changing talent? sure the latter half of that draft was not great, but those 4 alone more then makes up for it.
we can all agree though that 2024 was a massive dud that set this team back badly (Some outside of Brad’s control, but a good chunk of it from his own choices)
2025 is looking… okay, and 2026 we cant even begin to judge yet until the season is well underway, and even then will take a couple years.
Tyleik was fine. He was just safe. Brad has IMO deviated from star hunting recently. Not sure I love that approach but it does make some sense given salary cap limitations.
In my opinion, Brad Holmes is a bad GM. He consistently lacks the foresight to anticipate problems and make moves before they become urgent. Instead, he waits until the last possible moment, and that reactive approach has a ripple effect across multiple parts of the team. A GM should be anticipating needs, planning ahead, and putting the roster in position to succeed, not constantly scrambling to fix problems after they’ve already become obvious.
How so? The Frank retirement blindsided them late in the process, something that Frank even acknowledged he would have done differently, so how is that Brad’s fault for not addressing it after free agency and the draft? When we had the opportunity to bring in a starting center he did in Cade Mays.
Replacing Arnold I agree with, we knew for a while that he had potential legal issues so there was time to find an adequate replacement outside of the bare minimum with Rock and a late round pick although Abney has potential.
I keep saying this but there’s also lots of bad luck involved with the Ragnow late retirement as I mentioned and the serious injuries to their star safeties as well as the Alim injury right after getting the big contract. The problem with the Lions being so good so quickly is that you have to pay a lot of guys big money because you have so much high end talent coming off their rookie deals so there’s not enough money left to plug the holes. This is where good drafting is so vital and that 2024 draft is killing them right now plus all the wasted mid round picks since 2022.
Based on the draft value. Studies show on average how many games each pick plays.
2023 after branch till now. 613 total games played based on draft pick is league average (games available, ie 2 games available for the 2026 class even tho 1st round picks typically play 70-80 games on average)
Lions draft picks have only played 193.
Based on how many games have been played. That averages to 11 players NFL average. Lions average 3.5 Meaning we are missing 7.5 players from this roster!
You dont think this roster would look a hell of a lot better with 7.5 more players? Not all starters, but that means were even missing roll players.
Ok here’s my thing with ragnow - for like 2-3 years there were reports of his big toe being inoperable, and he had to take cortisone injections before and after every game, the pain was unbearable, etc. They should not have been blindsided by Ragnow. Fans speculated about Ragnow retiring sooner than later because of all the injuries he sustained but mostly because of his toe issue.
To have only Graham Glasgow and not even one other serviceable guy or have drafted a backup G/C at some point I feel was an oversight. To what others have said, they then reacted to a “surprise” retirement.
This is my recollection of the last few years with ragnow and OL as a whole. Just my opinion and memory, so I could be wrong. But bottom line, ragnow was on the brink for at least 3 years prior to his retirement
Since 2023, Holmes had developed a tendency to overpay (with draft picks) for players he “loves” rather than wait for the board to come to him. That lack of patience has cost the team potential talent.
I get talent evaluations are hard and every GM misses picks. My frustration with Brad comes down to 3 things:
1.) His deep passion for finding his ‘guy’ and then trading away draft capital to move up. That’s all well and good if say there is a huge drop off between pick 21 and 22 in terms of talent, but in most cases, that’s not reality. It’s because this particular guy ‘fits what we’re about’, not that there is lack of talent available.
2.) The length of time it seems to take him to realize we have a problem (see EDGE opposite of Hutch in prior years, secondary this year, etc.) And when there’s a clear need, bargain shopping isn’t the answer nor are finding players with lengthy injury histories (i.e., Davenport)
3.) He appears to lack the self-awareness to adjust when his ‘plan’ isn’t working. I believe what I believe and we’re going to move forward because I know this works.
Sure maybe a better contingency plan in place than Glasgow but, again, they expected Ragnow to play that season until he all.of a sudden retired so how do you get a starting center in that timeframe after the draft and free agency? Maybe they could have drafted one in the 2nd round instead of Rakestraw so ok there but they had fully expected Ragnow to be there the next season until after free agency and the draft were over.
Brad has had some missteps but people are now calling him a bad GM (not you) now? That’s just reactionary madness if you ask me. I will continue to say that it’s been mostly bad luck that has put the Lions in this position as I mentioned above mixed, yes, with some missteps on his part which I’ve also mentioned above.
I hear ya and you get what I’m saying, just thought there should’ve been a more proactive backup plan/depth.
I agree he’s not a bad GM and I don’t think a lot of people want Holmes fired (yes I’ve seen the locked threads lol) but, I do think he needs to be on the hot seat. @DBend144 laid out the issues with the drafts well, and free agency has been average at best.
For that matter, Dan Campbell needs to not keep getting a free pass either. I like him as much as anyone and he’s the best HC I’ve ever known the lions to have, but he’s had some pretty bad coordinator hires.
