Unconventional worked for Lions in 2023 NFL draft, but don't expect copycats this spring
Brad Holmes nailed the draft last spring, finding starters with his first four picks while paying little regard to positional value.
But as successful as those picks were in helping the Detroit Lions reach the NFC championship game, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Thursday he does not think Holmes' unconventional approach to drafting will start a new trend with teams this year.
"I don’t think there’s going to be any copycat here because I think we’ve focused so much on them taking those quote-unquote non-value positions, but we’ve ignored the fact that, yeah, when you’ve already built the foundation then you can go do that," Jeremiah said in a conference call to preview next week's NFL combine. "I mean, that draft was successful because of what they did, what Brad and those guys did previously to build up the line of scrimmage on both sides. They had the quarterback in place. They hit a home run on the wide receiver. So the expensive, premium positions, they’d already built the foundation so that freed them up."
The Lions traded down from the No. 6 pick in last year's draft and took running Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 overall.
They followed with off-ball linebacker Jack Campbell at No. 18, used the extra pick they gained from their trade down to grab tight end Sam LaPorta at No. 34, and added slot cornerback Brian Branch at Pick No. 45.
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Gibbs finished second on the Lions with 1,261 yards from scrimmage, LaPorta set an NFL rookie record with 86 catches and Campbell (95 tackles) and Branch (3 INTs) were key players on defense.
In recent years, NFL teams have avoided taking running backs and off-ball linebackers high in the draft because of positional value. Few running backs and off-ball linebackers earn lucrative second contracts with the teams that drafted them, and the cap savings teams get for hitting on players at those positions in Round 1 falls short of the premium that comes with a quarterback, offensive tackle, pass rusher or receiver.
Gibbs and Bijan Robinson, the No. 8 pick of last year's draft, were the first running backs picked in the top half of the first round since Saquon Barkley in 2018, and Campbell was the only off-ball linebacker taken in last year's first two rounds.
The Lions loaded up on premium-position players early in Holmes' first two drafts as Lions general manager, taking offensive tackle Penei Sewell with the seventh pick of the 2021 draft and defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and receiver Jameson Williams in Round 1 in 2022.
Sewell and Hutchinson made the Pro Bowl this season and are considered among the best players at their position in the game. The Lions also drafted All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the fourth round in 2021, and acquired starting quarterback Jared Goff in a trade.
"It’s a huge advantage over the rest of the league where you can take the running back," Jeremiah said. "Obviously the tight end hit is a home run. You can take off-the-ball linebacker. You can do those things once the foundation is built."
Similar to last year, when 12 of the first 15 picks were quarterbacks, pass rushers and offensive tackles, the top half of this year's first round projects to be filled by quarterbacks, receivers and offensive linemen.
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Georgia tight end Brock Bowers could tempt a team early to eschew positional value and take the best prospect on its board, but Jeremiah said he doesn't see much swaying teams at the top of the draft from following the regular roster building process.
"I still think personally the right thing to do is to build the foundation and then you can go do what the Lions did last year," Jeremiah said. "But I’m not so certain that as great as those players were and was awesome, that you would have seen them flourish and shine as much a they did if they didn’t have the quarterback in place and the offense and defensive line in place."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: NFL teams unlikely to copy Detroit Lions unconventional draft approach
