Have the Detroit Lions left clues about their 2025 NFL Draft plans?

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If you pay close enough attention, you can typically read the tea leaves and identify what the Detroit Lions are thinking ahead of the NFL Draft.

Two years ago, when experts linked the Lions to a quarterback in the first round, Holmes said it’s easier to get worse at the position than better. They stuck with Jared Goff, and have watched him throw 67 touchdowns since then (second-most in the NFL), en route to a contract extension.

Holmes said he views the running back position the same as others — if they’re good football players, they will be considered. He said the Rams never regretted selecting Todd Gurley 10th overall in 2015, then took Jahmyr Gibbs 12th overall in 2023.

Last offseason, he said you can never have enough cornerbacks, after trading for one and signing another in free agency. He drafted corners in the first- and second-round a month after that.

As the 2025 NFL Draft quickly approaches, let’s check the transcripts to lay out what Detroit’s brass said about certain positions. It could offer clues and insight into their thought process.

Edge rusher: “We’d like to have three or four high-end rushers.”

We’ll begin with edge rusher, which is the obvious starting point. Holmes hasn’t been shy about discussing the position this year. In January, he talked about the process of trading for veteran Za’Darius Smith and how difficult it was. It opened his eyes a bit.

“This is the first time we’ve had to trade for a pass rusher this year, and I would say that was the most difficult player acquisition journey that I’ve ever dealt with,” Holmes said in January. “You can look at all these names of all these starting defensive ends in the NFL, but when you start doing the work, when you start making the calls, that thing shrinks down. …You start calling these other teams and these other GMs and they may have four rushers. So, forget the starters. Those guys aren’t even available. We’re talking about third and fourths (stringers). You ask and I can’t really disagree with them where they say, ‘Look, we’ve got two-plus months of football left and (if) I trade you one and we get another one hurt, then we’ve only got two.’ And I was like, ‘I didn’t really expect you to be rational and think about it that way.’ But it’s true. …I think going through that experience, I could say. sharpened me up a little bit.”

A month later at the NFL Combine, Holmes again was asked about the edge position — this time discussing how he’d like to add multiple players.

“Look, we’re not just looking for one high-end rusher,” Holmes said. “Well, we have a high-end rusher now. Would we want to have another one? Yes, but we’d like to have three or four high-end rushers. But that’s just not always the reality of what you’re able to do. It’s definitely not being ignored.”

And again at the NFL’s annual meetings.

“Like I told you guys at the combine, it’s not being ignored,” Holmes said. “Everybody’s asking for one defensive end. No, we’d love to get three or four, so, it’s something that’s not being ignored.”

The Lions re-signed Marcus Davenport, but he’s played six of a possible 34 regular-season games the past two years. The team released Smith and left the door open for a return, but Holmes told reporters he was simply too expensive at his previous price tag, and will now have competition for his services. Right now, it feels like they need more juice.

With all that in mind, it seems likely Holmes will address the position in the draft. But after hearing him mention how hesitant teams are to trade their No. 3 and No. 4 edge rushers, is it possible the Lions double dip at the position in the draft? We know Holmes has a best-player-available approach, but what if the best player available at multiple selections happens to be an edge rusher? We saw it last year with the cornerback position when the Lions drafted Terrion Arnold in the first and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in the second.

No matter what happens, Holmes insists it’s not being ignored. Don’t think the Lions are done here.

Offensive line: “It’s always going to be at the forefront.”

Holmes has made it clear that the Lions’ offensive line is always going to be a priority. He said it last year. He said it this year. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

He recognizes the value of it. Those guys create running lanes for two backs the Lions have invested in heavily. They keep their $212 million quarterback upright. But several members of the offensive line are getting older. So when Holmes says he wants to maintain that strength, he means it.

“I just think you have to get the whole garden watered, at all points,” Holmes said of the offensive line. “It’s going to be the whole unit. …That’s the engine for us. I don’t care how good we ever get on the offensive line, that one right there is too important for not only our team, our quarterback, everything. It’s our identity, man. I think just that alone, it’s always going to be at the forefront.”

Whenever folks debate which team has the best offensive line, the Lions are usually in the conversation. Last year’s group saw three of its five starters named to the Pro Bowl (Taylor Decker, Penei Sewell and Frank Ragnow) with two earning All-Pro honors. However, the Lions lost veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler to the Titans in free agency, and are set to replace him with 2024 sixth-round pick Christian Mahogany — who has two career starts under his belt.

On the other side, left guard Graham Glasgow is coming off a season in which he tied for the seventh-most pressures allowed by a guard with 36, per PFF, and allowed nine more in Detroit’s playoff loss to the Commanders. Earlier this month, head coach Dan Campbell was asked for his confidence level in Glasgow, who will turn 33 in August.

“We know where Graham is at,” Campbell said. “You know, every year, certainly, you play that position and it’s a year later, you know? But Graham’s somebody that we still value because he’s got versatility. …He can also play center. I think people forget that some. Man, he can do an excellent job at center as a matter of fact, you know? So, I think there’s things that he brings to us that are not always easy to find. So, yeah, we have confidence in him.”

Is that true confidence in Glasgow’s ability to start at guard? Or is it a sign that the Lions view him more as depth at this stage of his career? When Campbell was asked a follow-up — whether Glasgow could slide back to right guard after playing left last year, now that Zeitler is gone — he took the question in another direction.

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Campbell said. “That’s a thought, man. We’ve talked about that. Do you go back to right (with Glasgow) and is it Mahogany left? Is it somebody we drafted? You know, you’re gonna do your best to let these guys compete and see where they’re at. I mean, does (2024 fourth-round pick Giovanni) Manu — do we try Manu guard? That’s a thought. So, we’re gonna try to let these guys compete a little bit and move them around and see what’s right, see where we’re at. But, you know, it’s not gonna be set in stone.”

Campbell mentioned the possibility of drafting a guard and letting him compete to start, which has always seemed like a real possibility. The Lions had projected first-round guard/center Grey Zabel in for a 30 visit recently. The Lions haven’t drafted an offensive lineman on Day 1 or 2 since Sewell in 2021. However, a prospect like Zabel would be an excellent addition to the room if he’s there at No. 28.

Mahogany flashed real potential this year and is on a sixth-round rookie contract for the next three seasons, so you have to think the Lions will give him every chance to start in 2025 and beyond. It would be nice to have Glasgow mentoring him, in what could be his first full year as an NFL starter. Campbell mentioned Manu playing some guard, but he has the look of a Decker replacement down the road if he continues to develop. All that said, Glasgow still has a place on the roster in 2025. But a high-end option out of the draft makes a lot of sense.

Defensive tackle: “We’re getting kind of heavy on the defensive line.”

This is viewed as a strong defensive line class in terms of depth. We talked about the edge rushers already, but the same applies to defensive tackle. They come in all shapes and sizes, so teams in need of help at the position are in luck. Holmes discussed it in February.

“I’ve always been kind of close to the vest about talking about strengths and weaknesses in a draft because it’s very subjective,” Holmes said. “Some people might think it’s strong. Some people might think, ‘No, it’s not as strong.’ But this one here, me and Ray Agnew were just kind of looking at the totality of, ‘Yeah, it’s a lot deeper than what we can remember,’ at least in the past couple of years. That’s both inside and out for sure.”

The Lions could be one of those teams looking for help at DT. Alim McNeill isn’t expected to be healthy when the season begins, after tearing his ACL in December. When you look at the position beyond this season, DJ Reader and Levi Onwuzurike are both in the final year of their contracts. Those are two starting-caliber defensive tackles. If the Lions want to add now and get younger at the position for the future, it would make sense.

However, Holmes could view it differently. He said recently that he believes the Lions are getting “heavy” on the defensive line. Not in terms of size, but bodies. Re-signing Onwuzurike and adding Roy Lopez gives them some quality depth for 2025, and once McNeill is back, they should be good to go. It also sounds like the Lions like Josh Paschal at defensive tackle more than edge on passing downs. They don’t have to force things here.

“To be able to get Levi back, he was rolling with his pressures and hopefully he can get home even more so. That’s going to help out a lot more,” Holmes said. “Hopefully, with bringing Davenport back, hopefully his injury luck is on the right side of things. That frees up Josh Paschal to be able to do more from a pass rush standpoint, really more interior-wise than outside. We just had to use Paschal as an edge rusher because of circumstances with injuries and all that. So, we feel good where we’re at. To be able to get Lopez to fill — he’s more of a first and second down guy, run defender — but to be able to have him back and (we’ve) still got Reader. So, we feel pretty good. Actually, we’re getting kinda heavy on the defensive line. Not saying that any position will be ignored, but so far I feel like we’ve had success, and we’re going to continue to fill depth.”

Wide receiver: “We would love to bring in some competition, particularly some youth.”

The wide receiver position was an issue for the Lions in training camp. At the time, Jameson Williams — while looking ready to step up as a full-time starter — was entering his first year as WR2. Other training camp receivers featured the likes of Antoine Green, Daurice Fountain, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Kaden Davis battling it out for the WR3 spot. None rose to the occasion.

However, Detroit salvaged the position by adding veteran Tim Patrick right before the season. He proved to be a stabilizing presence, a great culture fit and an excellent blocker. Patrick re-signed this offseason for one year, but he’ll be 32 in November and has an extensive injury history. The Lions haven’t drafted a receiver on Day 1 or 2 since Williams three years ago, and the last receiver drafted in general was Green, a seventh-round pick, two years ago. Are the Lions gearing up to draft one?

“Love that group,” Campbell said of his receivers earlier this month. “Love that group, but we were fortunate that we got out last year, during the season, for the most part, unscathed, as far as injuries and things of that nature. That group, TP, Leaf, obviously Saint and Jamo, those guys that we’ve got have been big for us. We would love to bring in more competition, particularly some youth. That would help, and let them all mix it up. Get in there and see where it all falls.”

Campbell wants more competition, and he could find it in this draft. Even though this class lacks the top-end talent that last year’s did, there are still plenty of intriguing options throughout the draft. The Lions reportedly met with Texas WR Matthew Golden, a speedy wideout who should be selected in the first. Emeka Egbuka is a WR in the mold of Amon-Ra St. Brown, so if the team wants another sure-handed target for Goff, he could be an option. Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins or Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor could make sense on Day 2, and guys like Tory Holton and Pat Bryant could be options on Day 3.

The other part of this conversation, of course, is what the future holds for Williams.

Holmes made it clear the Lions are saving money for future extensions to members of their talented young core. He told reporters earlier this month that safety Kerby Joseph is a player they’d like to keep, and let him know that. Holmes said at the combine that the Lions have begun preparing for an Aidan Hutchinson extension. Both were 2022 draft picks. Williams was too. However, Holmes sounded less certain about Williams than Hutchinson or Joseph when asked about an extension for the fourth-year wideout.

“Yeah, I mean, look — we’re still taking it as it goes,” Holmes said. “Look, you know, his fifth-year option is coming. It’s looking likely that we’ll go ahead and just pick that up. But in terms of (an) extension, again, there’s a lot of extensions that are hopefully coming, but, you know, it’s just one that you just don’t know what’s going to happen from a financial standpoint because a wide receiver is expensive. Very expensive. So look, these are good problems. Those are good problems to have.”

Wide receivers are expensive, and if Williams turns in another 1,000-yard season while staying out of the spotlight for off-the-field issues, an extension would be costly — perhaps north of $20-25 million. Do the Lions believe he’s worth it? Do they have room in the budget? Are they OK with picking up his fifth-year option and letting his contract expire in two years? Or would they look to get ahead, address the position now and maybe trade Williams next offseason? They’re questions worth asking because, as Holmes said this month, the bill is coming.

(Top photo of Brad Holmes: Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA Today)

This news was originally published on this post .

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