Lions GM Brad Holmes has a keen eye for talent. He’s proven that over the years as the man in charge of picking the players for the Detroit Lions, as well as his prior role as the director of college scouting for the Los Angeles Rams.
For Holmes, seeing the talent is the easy part. He wants players with more than just the physical gifts in potential draftees and free agent signings for his Lions. He made that abundantly clear in his year-ending press conference on Monday.
“We have to get past just looking for the most talented player,” Holmes stated.” In my opinion, that’s the prerequisite of evaluation. That’s the – who’s the fastest? Who’s the strongest? Who’s got the most height? That’s a very coherent thing to do. No, it’s how do you find the right intangibles in a football player? And that’s what’s made us who we are.”
Holmes cited 2021 fourth-round pick Amon-Ra St. Brown as an example of a player who “had the intangibles that we were looking for to set our foundation.”
If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s in lockstep with what head coach Dan Campbell said last week,
“We’ve got to add more talent, more competition that thinks the same way that group of guys in that locker room does. And it’s non-negotiable if it’s not. There’s no level of talent that is worth bringing something that doesn’t fit what we’re about in there.”
That might lead to some external criticism. Holmes called out some individual reporters who had slammed some of the picks the team has made. It’s clear Holmes, Campbell and company are looking for more than just talent. They want specific types of individuals who happen to have great talents.
Or, as Holmes summarized,
“It just goes back to what we build and being very intentional about our intangibles and what we’re looking for in Detroit Lions.”
