Brad Holmes Interview Breakdown Part Two: Lions Draft Philosophy Explained
Draft philosophy, edge rusher plans, injury updates and defensive expectations — Brad Holmes covered a lot in part two of the Lions Collective interview. Here's the full breakdown.
Video Transcript
What is up, Lions Nation?
This is part two of the Lions Collective interview write-up recap with General Manager Brad Holmes.
Great interview.
Check it out, Lions Collective on YouTube.
big shout out to them.
That's a cool get to get Brad Holmes on the show.
but overall, they asked some good questions.
No softballs, all hard-hitting questions, all important questions.
a few of them to bring up are, Kirby Joseph and Brian Branch.
They touched in on those injuries, asking about, you know, the Kirby Joseph knee situation.
Obviously, there's been rumors, speculation of a degenerative knee, all that mumbo jumbo.
Maybe it's true, maybe not.
W-we don't really know.
But Brad Holmes has been consistent with what he's been saying, where he said Kirby Joseph looks good.
He's been working with his trainers, he's been rehabbing.
He is on pace, and that he will have more info in the next few weeks about Kirby.
So it'll be interesting to see if there's a bigger development, bigger update in a month or so, especially post-draft on what the Lions do for the safety position.
Brian Branch, on the other hand, torn Achilles in week fourteen.
He's not expected back for week one.
But overall, they asked, "Have you seen, or have, have you seen any players or know of any players that have had similar injuries and have returned to pre-injury form?"
And Brad Holmes immediately said yes.
Now, he didn't disclose who the player was, but he did say there was a player that had the same type of injury as Brian Branch, and you would have not known it by just seeing him move, seeing him, you know, just be himself.
So, encouraging news on those two players.
Next was a question asked by Jeff Ifrate.
the confidence level in the Lions defense, obviously the Seahawks, Super Bowl caliber, the Eagles, Super Bowl, winning, I guess, for both of them, but defenses win championships, so to speak.
And they asked Brad Holmes, "Do you feel this defense can be Super Bowl caliber?"
And Holmes immediately said yes.
He went on to talk about high praise of Calvin Shepherd, saying that Shepherd has been growing, has been improving, and that last year was essentially his first year at, you know, defensive coordinator position.
So, I think there's some good, good reason to be hopeful about the defense bouncing back, especially if we can stay healthy.
next, they also talked about player over position.
They asked Brad Holmes, a lot of the times you will draft best player.
Big name was Isaac Tesla, and we didn't really need a wide receiver last year, but Brad Holmes went out and got traded for Tesla even, and it was kind of scrutinized by the media.
A lot of people hate it.
A lot of people still do hate it.
But he said that there's a lot of turnover in the NFL, that you're not always gonna be needing the same position.
So sometimes you will draft a player over position and that player will be more beneficial than if you draft a position over player, i.e.
Jack Campbell.
When the Lions took Campbell, we did not need a inside linebacker.
We did not need Jack Campbell.
And now we have a first team all pro linebacker.
So Camp-- Holmes emphasized player over position.
He's always been that way.
A big type, you know, I want this dude, I'm getting this dude.
I don't care if we need this position a little more, I'm getting this guy.
And then finally, they talked about if, have you done enough in free agency?
And Brad Holmes simply said, "Yeah, I think, you know, we've filled some holes, we've filled some pieces.
There still is more to address."
And he also alluded to the fact that they're probably not done yet.
I expect the Lions, after hearing this interview, to sign some more players.
Now, they might not be splashy players or big names, but they will be signing a couple more guys, I can guarantee that, by just how Brad Holmes was talking in this interview, especially based off of how the draft will go, who they draft, what positions they get, et cetera, et cetera.
So go check out the full interview, Lions Collective Podcast on YouTube.
Here's just a part two recap of what I heard.
