Give Brad Holmes time as he continues to build the Detroit Lions defense

USA Today

13-02-2025

One year ago, every Lions fan seemed to be calling for Brad Holmes to have a statue built outside of Ford Field. Much of that was due to the Lions finally winning meaningful games but also, Holmes was drafting impact players such as Brian Branch, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta. The famous phrase was 'Let Brad Cook!'
The Lions let Brad cook but because he didn't win a Super Bowl this season, there's been plenty of fans calling for Holmes to improve the recipe. Specifically with developing a dominant defense. Much of this is the reaction is due to what the Philadelphia Eagles did with their defense this season.
Before we go any further, can everyone take a breath for a second?
Comparing what the Lions are building on defense is different from what the Eagles have been building on defense. The same goes for any other team you want to compare and contrast to the Lions.
We should all know that.
But using the Super Bowl Champions as the example. Let's go ahead and compare both defenses. Specifically, their defensive lines. In the process, let's remember we're using two different timelines between the Eagles and the Lions.
Howie Roseman became the General Manager (GM) of the Eagles in 2010. As we all know, Brad Holmes became the GM of the Lions in the winter of 2021. Here's how Holmes constructed the Lions defensive line:
2021: DE Levi Onwuzurike — 2nd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft, DT Alim McNeill — 3rd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft
2022: DE Aidan Hutchinson — 1st Round of the 2022 NFL Draft, DE Josh Paschal — 2nd Round of the 2022 NFL Draft, DE/LB James Houston — 6th Round of the 2022 NFL Draft
2023: DT Brodric Martin — 3rd Round of the 2023 NFL Draft
2024: DT Mekhi Wingo — 6th Round of the 2024 NFL Draft
In total, Holmes has drafted 7 defensive lineman in his four seasons with the Lions. Additionally, he's spent draft capital by trading for player such as Za'Darius Smith at this year's trade deadline. When he's not using draft capital, he's spent cap space on other players. That list includes, John Cominsky, D.J. Reader, Marcus Davenport and quite a few others.
As for Roseman, here's the draft capital he's used on the defensive lineman that played in Super Bowl LIX against the Chiefs:
2010: DE Brandon Graham — 1st Round of the 2010 NFL Draft
2018: DE Josh Sweat — 4th Round of the 2018 NFL Draft
2021: DT Milton Williams — 3rd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft
2022: DT Jordan Davis — 1st Round of the 2022 NFL Draft
2023: DT Jalen Carter and DE/LB Nolan Smith — 1st Round of the 2023 NFL Draft, DE Moro Ojomo — 7th Round of the 2023 NFL Draft
2024: DE Jalyx Hunt — 3rd Round of the 2024 NFL Draft
From that list above, they saw contributions from 8 total defensive lineman in the Super Bowl. None of those players were acquired through trading multiple draft picks or giving them $100 million dollar contracts. It was all through the draft. Throughout Roseman's tenure in Philadelphia, there has been plenty of trial and error with drafting defensive lineman.
In total, Roseman has drafted 29 defensive lineman since 2010. That list also includes players such as Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Shareef Miller, Derek Barnett, Kyron Johnson, Marlon Tuipulotu and plenty of others.
Outside of having more attempts at finding the right fit for their defense, it's worth noting that the Eagles defensive line stayed healthy for a good portion of 2024. Yes, I know defensive end Brandon Graham tore his tricep in week 12 and needed surgery but he was able to return for the Super Bowl. Plenty of fans have wondered if Aidan Hutchinson would have been able to return if the Lions made the Super Bowl.
Overall, that's the biggest difference between both teams from this season. One team was able to stay healthy (for the most part) and the other had injuries catch up with them at the worst time of the season.
The Lions did their best to piece it all together with practice squad players and aging veterans but injuries to Hutchinson, McNeill, Cominsky, Davenport, Wingo and Peko made things incredibly difficult. That's not including what happened to their linebackers and defensive backs.
While it would have been nice if the Lions would have traded for a player such as Danielle Hunter at the 2023 trade deadline, that wasn't exactly feasible. Detroit would have needed to give him a costly contract extension and they would have needed to convince their division rival, Minnesota Vikings, to trade their best pass rusher.
The odds were slim to probably none. That's why the Lions made a move at this years trade deadline for Za'Darius Smith. The Browns wanted to move him and getting him was feasible but still difficult.
Does that mean the Lions could trade for Myles Garrett this off-season? Yes, anything is possible. But the Browns do want to keep Garrett because it's costly for them to move him. Over the next two seasons, the Browns would have to pay $36.2 million dollars for Garrett to NOT be in Cleveland.
Additionally, the Lions would need to ensure they can take on the Garrett contract while still being able to give extensions to players such as Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams and others.
Lastly, the Lions could have moved previous draft capital to acquire players such as Danielle Hunter, Chase Young or even Maxx Crosby. However, we need to remember that those moves would have prevented them from drafting impact players such as Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch and others.
Oh, and one last thing. The Lions won 15 games this season. They have the most regular seasons wins over the last two seasons combined for any NFL team. And have they not won the NFC North in back-to-back seasons?
Despite a disappointing end to a historic season, let's remember that this Detroit Lions team is well on their way to years of success. We're already seeing that success starting to mount. They're well built, they're well coached and eventually, it will all come together with them standing tall at the top of the mountain.
Remain patient and most importantly, trust the process as we continue to give Brad Holmes time to build a winning franchise.