I was wrong about Detroit Lions 2023 draft. The peanut butter & jelly kids are proving it.
Late Saturday night, a table was set up in the Detroit Lions' victorious locker room in Ford Field, and it looked so familiar.
Like the postgame meal at a youth game.
Because in the middle of the table, in the middle of this NFL locker room, after this game broadcast on national TV, there was a simple plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“PB&Js?” I asked, looking at the spread after the Lions’ stunning beatdown, 42-17, over the Denver Broncos.
Seriously, I’m not making this up.
“Whose turn was it to bring the orange slices?” a Lions PR person joked.
“What about the popsicles?” I asked.
“Those are at halftime,” the PR person joked.
Somehow, it seemed fitting after this game because it was a game dominated by youngsters.
Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs, a pair of rookies, combined to score five touchdowns. It is the second time since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger that a team totaled five touchdowns from rookies in a game.
“I mean both those guys, I was thinking about it halfway through, how those two guys were such an impact as rookies,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “They’re two of the best rookies I’ve ever been around.”
The credit should start with general manager Brad Holmes.
The guy who put this travel team together.
Whoops. I mean, this NFL team.
This is what he envisioned when he drafted Gibbs with the 12th pick in the 2023 draft, even if it was unconventional in this age to take a running back that high.
And this is what Holmes envisioned when he drafted LaPorta in the second round, even though rookie tight ends rarely make an impact because it’s such a complicated position to master quickly.
“I’m just going to bring it back to Brad Holmes, it’s a hell of a job by him, once again,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Took a lot of criticism for those two picks, but they look like they’re OK, so I’m glad we got them.”
Yes, Holmes took heat for how he assembled this roster. For how he used his draft picks. From me included.
But I was wrong and Holmes was right. Oh goodness, was he right.
I’ll be the first to admit that.
“What they handle mentally and what they do every Sunday for us, the way they practice, the way they’re pros, everything," Goff said. "They’re as good as it gets and you see the results out here on the game day, but the work they put in, and how professional they both are, it’s really impressive. It really is and obviously Sam’s numbers have been pretty big this year and he deserves it. He’s playing really well."
MORE FROM SEIDEL: Dan Campbell outcoached his mentor Sean Payton in massive Lions win
An unconventional construction
This team is different because it was put together in a different way.
Many GMs go into the draft and fill positions of need first, selecting the best available player while keeping positional value in mind.
But Holmes took a different approach.
He built the team like he was assembling a complicated brick wall. All that he cared about was finding pieces that fit together perfectly. He didn’t care about positional value. He didn’t care about where other “experts” had these players slotted. All he wanted was football players who fit specifically together (even though there were other gaping holes, like on defense).
Knowing the Lions had a strong offensive line, Holmes added Gibbs, an electric running back with ridiculous speed.
Knowing he had an accurate quarterback who flourishes in a play-action passing game, Holmes added a smart, talented tight end with sure hands.
Knowing he had the makings of a strong offense and a weaker defense, Holmes leaned into a simple mantra: Let’s outscore everybody.
And it all fits perfectly.
Not just the talent but, perhaps more importantly, the makeup of these players, how they fit into the culture of this team.
And now, LaPorta is a superstar in the making.
“When you watch him in meetings, watch him out at practice, the walkthrough, the way he works he reminds me of (Lions receiver Amon-Ra) St. Brown in that manner,” Goff said. “Very much the same way just how he goes about it, and he is highly competitive, he gets in games like this and he shows up now, and it’s — he’s got this competitive edge about him. And so I’m not surprised by that, he just keeps getting better and better and so does Gibbs.”
LaPorta isn’t just good. He’s putting together a historic season:
He is the first rookie tight end in NFL history (and the sixth rookie ever) to produce at least 70 receptions, 750 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in a season.
His 71 receptions rank third among rookie tight ends in NFL history.
His 758 receiving yards rank sixth among rookie tight ends in NFL history.
“Yeah, it was really cool,” LaPorta said after his three touchdowns. “I always say I can’t do it without my teammates. I certainly can’t, there’s 10 other guys out there with me. So yeah, it was just a really good day, really good day for the team.”
Then, there’s Gibbs. He’s a special kind of electric. A special kind of game changer. He ran for 100 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries Saturday night, becoming the fourth Lions rookie running back to finish a game with at least 100 yards from scrimmage, one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown.
“We want to come out and make a statement,” Gibbs said.
Yes, the Lions made a statement all right: This is the real Lions, not that mistake-prone team we saw in Chicago.
“We just wanted to score a lot of points,” Gibbs said.
Um, yes, they did that. Just as Holmes envisioned.
Best of all, these youngsters just keep getting better.
Gibbs said he started feeling comfortable after five games. “It's always gonna take take a couple of games, you know, for your brain to process everything,” he said.
But the game is slowing down for him and he seems to be getting faster. He is the third Lions rookie to produce at least 700 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards in a season, joining Billy Sims (1980) and Mel Farr (1967).
Whole lotta youngsters
But it’s not just LaPorta and Gibbs.
This whole roster is loaded with young talent.
St. Brown seems like he has been around forever, but he’s just 24 years old — he caught seven passes for 112 yards and a TD.
Ifeatu Melifonwu, a 24-year-old third-year safety, had eight tackles, two quarterback hits, a sack, caused a fumble and broke up two passes — a truly rare performance. In just the second start of his career, he became the first Lions defensive back since at least 1999 to produce a game with at least two pass defenses, a sack and forced fumble. He did get beat on a touchdown, but it's a heck of a second start.
Jack Campbell, a 23-year-old rookie first-round linebacker, had five tackles — the eighth time he has had five or more.
LIONS GRADES: Jared Goff leads long list of A-caliber performances vs. Broncos
And Jameson Williams, who still seems like a rookie to me because he has missed so much time, seems to get better every game. He had a tremendous impact on this game, making four catches, the most in his career.
“I think it’s only going to keep going up for him,” Goff said of Williams. “The sky’s the limit. He’s a hell of a player, he’s a hell of a kid and he’s working hard right now.”
They all are.
All these PB&J-eating kids.
But there is one other important element into how this all fits together: the chemistry.
Williams seems just as happy making an incredible catch as he does making a great block.
Gibbs says he is rooting hard for David Montgomery, and I believe it. “When he's out there, I want him to score — I'm pretty sure he wants me to score too,” Gibbs said.
And LaPorta?
He’s almost too good to be true. Humble. Hard working. Smart. Ridiculously talented.
It’s like all these kids come from the same mold.
One that Holmes saw before anyone else, and it all fits together perfectly.
Now, whose turn is it to bring the orange slices to Minnesota?
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: I was wrong about Detroit Lions 2023 NFL draft. Brad Holmes was right.
