Lions GM Brad Holmes Stuffing Mock Draft Nerds Into A Locker Isn't The Flex He Thinks It Is
Let's operate on Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes' premise. NFL teams have so much more knowledge than the general public and the media on draft prospects. Therefore decision-makers on personnel such as himself are more or less beyond reproach when it comes to their picks. Actually, Brad Holmes, it only makes executives look more pathetic for how often they fuck up the draft.
That's the TLDR version. If what Holmes claims is true, then beat reporters shouldn't even bother questioning why, say, the Lions drafted a running back and off-ball linebacker at 12th and 18th overall respectively. Interesting when you frame that around whether or not teams pick up the fifth-year option on players at these non-premium positions:
Brad Holmes can admit he's zigging when many other executives are zagging without getting all petty and insecure at the podium. Dude. We understand that you had to grind your ass off to get to one of the NFL's 32 GM posts. Jahmyr Gibbs may be the next great pass-catching running back. Jack Campbell is a freaky athlete with the hard-nosed demeanor Detroit covets. HOWEVER, there's a reason so many outsiders had the reaction they did to the Lions' draft.
And heyyyyyyyy, Braddy Holmesy? How do you think you got your GM gig in the first place? It was because somebody — well, several somebodies — in the exact same position as you had "ALL THE INFORMATION" and still fucked everything up to a catastrophic degree.
Look at how much good having "ALL THE INFORMATION" did for Holmes' predecessor Bob Quinn. I don't know if all of Quinn's picks were a disaster, but have you even heard of most of of these guys? Frank Ragnow is about the only certain "hit" you can pick out of that entire lot.
Most GMs are obsessed with having "their" in place. They will overhaul the roster as they see fit. Fair play. If you have the luxury of a multi-year rebuild and enough patience from ownership, you can tear it down to the studs and reconstruct the team as you see fit.
But damn. Talk about a stone-cold killer. Holmes waived Kerryon Johnson in May 2021, released Jahlani Tavai as part of final roster cuts prior to that season, shipped away T.J. Hockenson during the 2022 campaign and just traded Jeff Okudah and D'Andre Swift this offseason. Basically looked at five of the top six draft selections made by the previous regime, said "Fuck you!" and sent them packing. I'm not saying any of the decisions were wrong. This is more about the egos at play.
You have to give credit to Holmes for what he's done so far during his Detroit tenure. There's a ton of excitement around the Lions to the point where they're prohibitive favorites to win the NFC North. I can't imagine how that could possibly go wrong for such a paragon of organizational excellence.
I'm still young enough to remember when Holmes — again, armed with "ALL THE INFORMATION" — made the ballsy move to trade up for dynamic wide receiver Jameson Williams in last year's draft. The electrifying playmaker was coming off a torn ACL. That didn't stop Holmes. Nor did months upon months upon months upon months and hundreds or thousands of hours of research diving into Williams' character and personality makeup dissuade him.
About a week before this year's draft, this happened:
FFS, Brad Holmes. All that superior information gathering that you're lording over everyone and you apparently wasted a premium asset on a MORON.
I'm being facetious with this, by the way. I still believe in Jameson Williams' potential and there are far worse mistakes he could've made. Chalk this up to immature stupidity than any sort of moral red flag. Nevertheless, this is a classic "didn't read the instructions before doing the assignment" elementary school type of move from the Lions' premier receiver of the future.
PS, how did my ignorant ass hit on all these NFL Draft props without "ALL THE INFORMATION"?? I guess it was just blind, pure dumb luck.
Interesting how I posted a mock draft scenario for the Houston Texans wherein they trade up from 12th to third overall to take Will Anderson and their QB of the future. Oh, and as you can see in the TikTok above, my idiot brain also had Nathaniel Dell going to the Texans in Round 3.
Again, my stupid self is operating without anything close to the full picture. Maybe Brad Holmes should work smarter, not harder. Does he still write out scouting reports by hand? You have to wonder.
The NFL Draft is one of the most impossible things to predict in all of sports. Not only who's going to be picked where, but the unforeseen twists and turns when teams move around. This year's event had a record 43 freaking trades. So when Holmes is out here shitting on everyone for their lack of insight and/or foresight, I'm sorry, but I'm not here for it.
How out of touch, insulated and surrounded by yes men is this guy? More information about the draft and prospects is out there than ever. Some folks literally make covering the NFL Draft their full-time job. Certain media members have privileged access to officially sanctioned film. Many who post their mock drafts do better than real-life, "fully-informed" GMs in spite of a rudimentary understanding of ball and such an incomplete portrait of each individual prospect they want their team to choose.
Hey Holmes, you know why the draft is such a big deal these days? Because a media guy without all the information, Mel Kiper Jr., took a keen interest in it, sparked way more conversation around it than was typical at the time, and now it's exploded into a full-blown phenomenon that dominates NFL discourse even when games aren't being played.
Bad take all around, Brad Holmes. Miss me with this bullshit. You couldn't possibly come off worse.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok