Highlights of Lions GM Brad Holmes' pre-draft news conference: Trades, lone wolves and CBs

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes held his annual pre-draft news conference Thursday for the 2024 NFL draft that begins next Thursday in Detroit. The Lions, coming off their best season in three decades, own seven picks in the three-day draft, with two in the sixth round and none in the fourth round.

Here are some highlights from the conversation with Holmes as he prepares for his fourth draft for the Lions:

No shame

The Lions hold the 29th pick in the first round, which could be prime trade-up territory for a team looking to draft a quarterback and get the fifth-year option on their rookie contract.

If the Lions deal out of Round 1, that would leave a whole lot of fans attending the draft in Detroit unhappy — something Holmes said he's willing to live with.

"We have to do the right thing for the organization," he said. "And if it makes sense and it lines up and it’s the right thing to do, then we have to do the right thing and so say that happens where the fans have been waiting there all night for this pick and we get an offer that we really can’t turn down, it makes sense. We’ve got to do the right thing and hopefully our fans will forgive us and hopefully they’ll forgive us. Now, we won’t expect immediate forgiveness right then and there, but hopefully when the season starts and that player that we selected they’re like, 'OK, all right, we can kind of get past the –' But I totally understand that."

It has been more than three decades since the Lions did not have a first-round pick, in 1993, when they traded their choice to the New Orleans Saints as part of the Pat Swilling deal.

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Same approach, different pool

The Lions are in a different spot in this draft than they were in Holmes' first three drafts as Lions GM, when they entered the draft with top-10 picks and felt assured on getting one of the top players on their board.

In 2021, they took offensive tackle Penei Sewell at No. 7 overall. In 2022, they grabbed defensive end Aidan Hutchinson at No. 2 and traded up for receiver Jameson Williams at No. 12. And last year, they traded down six spots to 12th but drafted two players with first-round grades in Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 12) and Jack Campbell (No. 18).

Holmes said the pressure of nailing the pick is the same, and the Lions' approach to drafting will be the same, but he acknowledged the pool of talent will be different.

"I don’t see it as any more or less pressure," he said. "I just think it’s probably, I don’t know, maybe less heralded. I don’t know if people even are still hanging around or even remembering who picked 31, it seems like everybody’s kind of already celebrating one through 15 or something."

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On trade alert

NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah mentioned the Lions as a first-round trade-up candidate Wednesday.

Holmes has made four trade-up deals while on the clock the past three seasons, and he explained Thursday what goes into those moves.

“First of all, it’s got to be the right guy," he said. "You guys seen us how we’ve operated in the past. If it’s the player that we want, we’re going to go and get him. But there is a lot of boxes that need to be checked. I think we kind of said a little bit at the end of the season, everybody can’t play here so it’s got to be identified. That player has to be identified. 'OK, he’s checked all those boxes. He’s the right pick and he’s the right fit.' And also it’s just, how high are you talking? Is it way high? Is it just a few spots?"

'Solid group'

Cornerback is considered one of the Lions' biggest needs and Holmes called this year's class "a solid group."

Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell and Alabama's Terrion Arnold are considered the top tier of cornerbacks in this draft, and likely players the Lions would have to move up to get. For some, Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean might also fall in that category.

"I think I made a comment the other week, just kind of looking at the whole class, I think it’s very normal of previous drafts in terms of the guys that I think probably are true legit Day 1 guys or Day 2 guys," Holmes said. "So I think it’s pretty normal. Again, it’s always different, but in terms of numbers of guys that are in those top rounds, I think it’s very similar."

The Lions have never drafted a true outside corner under Holmes, though they did take combo cornerback/safety Ifeatu Melifonwu in Round 3 in 2021. Last year, the team hoped to take cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 6, then trade up from No. 18 for Gibbs.

Paging ... receivers

Holmes offered a similar assessment of the receiver class, which is considered one of the deepest in the draft — and is a position the Lions are light on after not re-signing Josh Reynolds in free agency.

"I think it’s a solid receiver group," he said. "There’s some guys that’s going to, should be able to contribute immediately. But in terms of my opinion of strength, that’s always subjective. That’s what makes the draft so fascinating is what our draft board is, there’s 31 other draft boards. They may think that it’s not as good, so we’ll just keep those to ourself. But I do think there’s some receivers that’s going to be able to contribute pretty early, I would think, in this class."

What depth chart?

Holmes has always trumped talent over need, even saying last year he does not keep a depth chart in his draft room so he does not fall victim to drafting for need.

Asked Thursday if he's more willing to attack a need now that the Lions have one of the best rosters in the NFL, Holmes insisted it's actually the opposite.

“Really, with where the roster’s now, I actually think you even have more flexibility to not be anchored into a need," he said. "Again, we try to do the best we can in free agency in terms of plugging holes and pulling out the depth chart and do all those things, and we feel that we did a great job in free agency and we’re in a position to go whichever direction that we want to go. So I actually get more comfort of how the roster’s now. It’s less of, 'Oh we really need this, we need depth here.' No, it’s more. It’s even — we’ve always said best player, but it’s even more emphasized now."

Teed up

As usual, Holmes was effusive in his praise of the Lions' scouting department, saying Brian Hudspeth "did a great job" leading the process in his first full year as the team's director of college scouting and complimenting the job the team's area scouts do in terms of identifying prospects who have the football character the Lions are looking for.

"They do so much work on the front end and the back end where they tee it up for us very, very well," Holmes said. "And they kind of already have the kid nailed, really, and you just say like, 'Look, this is who this player is. And you might meet them and it lines up exactly.'"

Respect for 'lone wolves'

Holmes closed his news conference by saying how much respect he has for "lone wolves" in the scouting process, the evaluators who aren't afraid to offer a different view on prospects.

"It’s probably more of the group think and influence that’s probably a greater threat to our process," he said. "That’s just human nature. People naturally just want to be a part of the tribe and they want to get along. And people naturally, they want to agree and be likable. It takes work to go against the grain. It takes a lot of work. And that’s why I always have a lot of respect for the lone wolf. When we’re in there and everybody’s saying, 'Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.' And it’s some obvious prospect, it’s that one person in that room that’s like, 'I don’t, um-um.'

"I want to listen to him. Or I want to listen to her. I want to listen to that person because that was the lone wolf and it takes a lot to be a lone wolf. I just have a lot of respect for that person."

Holmes said hearing from lone wolves — or in the instances when he is the lone wolf; he generally does not share his opinion on players until hearing from everyone else — cause him to go back and do more work on prospects, and he said he and Lions coach Dan Campbell were the lone wolves on one player the Lions drafted last year who had a successful rookie season.

He declined to name the player.

"The best thing about scouting is you get 20 people, 10 people, however many, looking at the same film in a dark room and you have 10 different opinions," Holmes said. "That’s what’s awesome about it. So, when I am the lone wolf, and everybody is the opposite, I am like, ‘Man, I need to look back and see if I missed something.’ If hear the lone wolf that matched up with what I thought, I am like, ‘Well, at least that person saw it, but everybody else still was the same.’ It just depends. But if I saw something that the rest of the group said, and the lone wolf said something different, oh, damn right I am going to go back and look and see because that person is in the room for a reason and I have got a lot of respect for that person’s evaluations."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Highlights of Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes' pre-draft news conference