A look back at Brad Holmes’ best draft picks as Detroit Lions GM.
The final day of the 2025 NFL Draft is exactly four weeks away. Over the next month, we’ll be writing, analyzing, and talking about that weekend, dissecting possibilities and players that may intrigue the Detroit Lions. Heck, that process really started weeks—if not months—ago.
But before we get to that exciting weekend, let’s take a moment and look back at the job Lions general manager Brad Holmes has done in the four previous drafts. His first draft produced one of the best classes in Lions history: two All-Pros in Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown, and three others who received recent extensions in Detroit including Levi Onwuzurike, Alim McNeill, and Derrick Barnes. He’s also drafted a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Aidan Hutchinson, and his controversial 2023 NFL Draft class may turn out somehow even better than the 2021 class.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
What is Brad Holmes’ best draft pick as Lions GM?
My answer: As it stands, I think you still have to go with Amon-Ra St. Brown. All draft, we expected the Lions to add to their woefully thin wide receiver group. There’s even a video of Lions owner Sheila Hamp asking Holmes when they were going to address the position. Holmes assured her that there was a player who could be available early on Day 3 of the draft that could be a pillar of the team.
Holmes’ patience and understanding of how other teams’ draft boards may play out allowed him to snag St. Brown with the 112th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, and he quickly became one of the most important players on the team. You could argue Sewell or Hutchinson are better players at their respective positions, but when taking into where they were drafted, I’m not sure anyone comes close to the value Holmes got out of the St. Brown pick.
What do you think was Holmes’ best draft pick? Scroll to the comment section at the bottom of the page and sound off!
