Until recently, not many people outside of Los Angeles had even the slightest clue as to who Brad Holmes was. But on Thursday, the Detroit Lions officially announced they have hired Holmes to be their next general manager, which has caused plenty of writers to take a deep dive into the Rams former director of college scouting.
On Friday, Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic (Nick is absolutely amazing and you really need to subscribe immediately) published an article in which he takes a look at Holmes and the Rams’ scouting staff’s top value draft pick from each season going back to 2016.
Here are the players Baumgardner ranked as the best value from each of Holmes’ last five drafts with the Rams. Make sure to click here to see what Nick had to say about each selection.
2016: TE Tyler Higbee (No. 110 overall)
2017: S John Johnson III (No. 91 overall)
2018: DT Sebastian Joseph-Day (No. 195 overall)
2019: OG David Edwards (No. 169 overall)
2020: S Jordan Fuller (No. 199 overall)
Now, do be fair, Holmes did not have the final say for the selections listed above but as director of college scouting, you can bet he and his staff played a big role.
Lions’ fans should be excited about what Holmes brings to the table in terms of identifying talent in the draft.