Recap the game in 2 sentences

[HiFidelity]

@Davicus

I remember lots (okay, maybe not lots, but a few) of people around here doing the same thing to Brad regarding Jamo well into year two as well.

Raises hand

That was an overpay too. It worked out.

[Jman]

@Weaselpuppy

We need a Shaun Hill

We had one last year

[CuriousHusker]

Have people forgotten that you have to wait while Teslaas charge?

[Jman]

@Davicus

Brad’s approach to the draft hasn’t changed the entire time he’s been here.

Seems like he completely switched it up after those epic Bama Iowa 2 rounds in 2023

Started swinging for fences with dudes for measurables

Seems to have stopped that in 2025

He does love pissing away mid round picks to go get his guy though

[CuriousHusker]

My favorite part of the game was when Endries caught a pass in the flat and made a nice run and the Bengals play by play guy referred to him as Kitselman bc he was reading off of the Lions roster. Dude, he’s your Tight End. He’s on your team. You should probably learn his name.

[Spartansd]

@Davicus

Brad’s approach to the draft hasn’t changed the entire time he’s been here. The only difference is that he hasn’t hit nearly as well the last couple years.

He’s always identified his guys. He’s always been aggressive in acquiring them. He’s never cared about perceived value, whether it’s position or acquistion cost. He is convicted on his guys and it has mostly served him well since he’s been a GM.

I would suggest that when “his guy” is also considered by most of the “draft experts” to be good they tend to be good.

The last great draft was:
Gibbs - number #2 back (we had as 1)
Campbell - #1 LB by many
LaPorta - top 3 TE?
Branch - #1 safety

Now if you line up the misses the only one that had any “ranking” was obviously Arnold. But who has he missed on that had a top 10 ranking?

I think one of the things BH has done is actually draft pretty conservative. And when he has deviated he has not done very well. And I am not talking draft weight or where he took them. I am saying when he has taken guys that were not highly ranked they have not been great regardless when he grabbed them.

I do think he has either deviated some or initially it was just luck that “his guys” were also highly ranked.

Additionally, his first few years he had high draft picks and also lots of capital. So he absolutely deserves credit for not screwing it up which most do.

[socko]

@CuriousHusker

Have people forgotten that you have to wait while Teslaas charge?

He has range issues but instant torque

[CuriousHusker]

The metaphor does really fit his 2025 stat line quite well.

[Spartansd]

@CuriousHusker

Have people forgotten that you have to wait while Teslaas charge?

He looked like a guy from Hillsdale trying to make the team.

His stat line:
2 drops
1 was on 4th down and the other he popped up in the air to gift an INT

I mean not only was he bad but he was bad at the worse time. Brutal.

I would expect a legit NFL WR to make at least 1 of those catches. Both hit his hands clean. Not a great look IMO and for the first time has me wondering if he is the real deal. I was more disturbed on how he looked on the bench. Not even a shaking of the head or anything. Get pissed my dude show so emotion.

[CuriousHusker]

My main observations:

SGH and AH may provide material pass rush depth juice
Abbey probably can be replacement level pretty early
Miller likely won’t hold the OL back
Lovett is getting cut
Meeks is still really just a “TE”
We’ve criminally underinvested in depth RB juice
Erick Hunter looks different as an athlete but is built like Overshown

[Davicus]

@Spartansd

I would suggest that when “his guy” is also considered by most of the “draft experts” to be good they tend to be good.

I think his drafting in the first 2 rounds has been very good, which is a big of why the Lions have been successful. Outside of 2024 (yikes), Paschal and Levi are really the only two where you’d have hoped to get more out of. He’s had some success with some 3rd round guys and for me, that’s the round where it’s like…okay, you really hope you’re getting a guy at the point, but also, I don’t expect a ton of success 80 guys in in some drafts.

Anything any GM hits on past round 3 to me is just icing on the cake. That’s just kind of how I view the draft. It doesn’t stop me from falling in love with some guys and hating when they’re there on the board in the 4th or 5th and Brad takes a Manu. But the rational part of my brain tells me most of these guys aren’t going to be anything other than meaningful depth at best if they pan out at all.

[Phunnypharm]

@HiFidelity

@bdub13

Revisionist history

Not for me. It was huge gamble at the time and many of us said as much

Holmes’ drafting since the Branch pick has been bad. Too many gambles. Too much falling in love with a guy because [reasons]. Too much too clever by half. Too many tradeups for guys who weren’t worth the trade up.

Hopefully they’ve corrected course in ‘26 but losing the drafts in ‘24 and ‘25 will keep the Lions from being an inner circle team for another 3-4 years

.

I am curious which OG or OC from the past drafts was available at those late 3rd selections that would actually be a starting caliber player???

It is one thing to want a good OG in the 3rd round, but there wasn’t many good options available at those selections.

.

.

[NYLion59]

@HiFidelity

@bdub13

Revisionist history

Not for me. It was huge gamble at the time and many of us said as much

Holmes’ drafting since the Branch pick has been bad. Too many gambles. Too much falling in love with a guy because [reasons]. Too much too clever by half. Too many tradeups for guys who weren’t worth the trade up.

Hopefully they’ve corrected course in ‘26 but losing the drafts in ‘24 and ‘25 will keep the Lions from being an inner circle team for another 3-4 years

How did the Lions lose the ‘25 draft? All of Ratledge, Tyliek and Teslaa look like they could be players. ‘24 was a disaster, no arguing there, but I think the ‘25 draft will look good eventually.

[Spartansd]

@Davicus

I think his drafting in the first 2 rounds has been very good, which is a big of why the Lions have been successful. Outside of 2024 (yikes), Paschal and Levi are really the only two where you’d have hoped to get more out of. He’s had some success with some 3rd round guys and for me, that’s the round where it’s like…okay, you really hope you’re getting a guy at the point, but also, I don’t expect a ton of success 80 guys in in some drafts.

Anything any GM hits on past round 3 to me is just icing on the cake. That’s just kind of how I view the draft. It doesn’t stop me from falling in love with some guys and hating when they’re there on the board in the 4th or 5th and Brad takes a Manu. But the rational part of my brain tells me most of these guys aren’t going to be anything other than meaningful depth at best if they pan out at all.

Yep I agree with you 100%

And I do not want to belittle getting right with the top picks. I have watched the Lions be really bad the last 40+ years that I was aware they existed in the first few rounds in general.

[Davicus]

@NYLion59

How did the Lions lose the ‘25 draft? All of Ratledge, Tyliek and Teslaa look like they could be players. ‘24 was a disaster, no arguing there, but I think the ‘25 draft will look good eventually.

I’m convinced that most people don’t know how to evaluate Tyliek’s position based on the fact that I feel like most people say he was underwhelming as a rookie. I look at Tylieks first season as a major success and think he was an absolute stud when he was in. I think people really underrate how good he was last season because he isn’t a distruptor in the passing game (yet)

[Sofatso]

Taylor who?

Alt “Delete” Myer has already been eliminated as a viable nickname at this juncture.

[bryanlesah]

I feel the same way. Reader didn’t exactly load the stat sheet but he did his job. I think Tyliek will be better than Reader was for the Lions in his second year

[Jman]

@CuriousHusker

My main observations:

SGH and AH may provide material pass rush depth juice
Abbey probably can be replacement level pretty early
Miller likely won’t hold the OL back
Lovett is getting cut
Meeks is still really just a “TE”
We’ve criminally underinvested in depth RB juice
Erick Hunter looks different as an athlete but is built like Overshown

Thanks for the analysis I didn’t watch the game nice to read takes like these

[NYLion59]

@Davicus

I’m convinced that most people don’t know how to evaluate Tyliek’s position based on the fact that I feel like most people say he was underwhelming as a rookie. I look at Tylieks first season as a major success and think he was an absolute stud when he was in. I think people really underrate how good he was last season because he isn’t a distruptor in the passing game (yet)

Agreed, I think Tyliek flashed some really good stuff especially towards the end of the season and now he’s slimmed down alongside a fully operational Alim so….look out league. Ratledge was a bit up and down but you can see that he has all the makings of a solid if not very good guard and I’m a self confessed fanboy of his but I see a big future for Teslaa, I’m not sure what his role will be here with ARSB, Jamo and LaPorta gobbling up receptions but he has a bundle of talent that’s just waiting to be harnessed. I think this could be a really good draft but as is always the case only a year after a draft, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Oh and how did I forget The H Train in the 6th round and I think Frazier can turn into something. This could be a really good draft IMO.

[HiFidelity]

@NYLion59

How did the Lions lose the ‘25 draft? All of Ratledge, Tyliek and Teslaa look like they could be players. ‘24 was a disaster, no arguing there, but I think the ‘25 draft will look good eventually.

Despite what Davicus implied, I do think Williams is a good pick. But the lack of depth from those two years will cripple the team

You can draw a line at the Branch pick in ‘23 until the end of ‘25 and count on one hand the number of useful players the team got. This is a really bad outcome. Those are guys who should be contributing all over the depth chart by now.

It seems that Holmes completely changed strategies after the Branch pick and took flier after flier - and compounded that with bad evals. I am not writing off TeSlaa but he isn’t looking like the 2nd round value that was invested into that pick. If he was the only questionable pick then I would just chalk it up to one of those things, but this is a pretty concerning pattern now