The Detroit Lions made just an insanely good hire when they brought on Brad Holmes to be their new general manager in January of 2021. I haven’t agreed with everything that he’s done, but in my eyes, he’s killed it 98% of the time. I think he should be Executive of the Year again this season.
What’s driving that thought in me is not the solid draft picks or free agent signings. It’s not even the get of Tim Patrick at cut down time when it seemed like the Lions had totally failed at receiver this offseason. The thing that has me feeling this way is watching this man go out and hit a home run on undrafted rookies for the fourth year in a row.
I can’t keep track of every other team in the NFL, so I don’t know what the rate is on something like this, but it feels like the Lions consistently hit with their undrafted guys. And I don’t mean they just get them on the roster, I mean they find guys that can play this game at what feels like much higher levels than your average UDFA’s.
This year we’re seeing it a lot. Let me just list it out for you:
- Issac Ukwu is coming on super fast and it showing that he might be a big part of this defense in the future.
- Trevor Nowaske, a UDFA from last year, might be the guy that’s finally solved the Lions SAM linebacker problem
- Hogan Hatten took over the starting long snapper job
- Brandon Joseph is holding down a spot on the roster
- Loren Strickland looks like someone that could be a future All-Pro on special teams once he’s active
- Kingsley Eguakun could be Frank Ragnow’s replacement some day.
- Isaiah Williams could get plugged into the offense at some point or could be a trade chip. Either way he looked great in the preseason.
- You haven’t seen a lot of him yet, but Morice Norris is a guy to keep an eye on for the future. Lots of versatility there.
Thar’s just this year. I mean I know this whole thing goes along with the draft scouting process, but when the draft ends, there are hundreds of players still available and the Lions keep finding the ones that teams seemingly forgot to draft.
This is why Holmes has been so good at his job. He finds players in the draft, free agency and then he searches every nook and cranny to find the best UDFA’s. You have to hand the man his flowers.