Detroit Lions general manager has completed his first NFL Draft since officially succeeding Bob Quinn on the job. And you can bet that he’s feeling good about what he and the team were able to do, which has earned praise from NFL analysts.
With the 7th overall selection, the Lions took Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell, whom Holmes envisions making an impact on the rebuild that he’s been tasked with overseeing.
But of course, the Lions had the opportunity to trade back in the draft to obtain additional draft capital, a decision they ultimately didn’t go through with.
During a recent appearance on The Athletic’s Football Show with Robert Mays, Holmes explained his reasoning behind deciding to stay steady at the 7th overall selection.
“We always thought that we had to be in a position that, we need to add the best football players that we possibly can. We thought all the scenarios that we went through — yes, we did have dialogue with other clubs on our pick and throughout the other rounds — we did come to the conclusion that, look, if the right guy is there, we’re just staying and taking the best player.
“Now, we didn’t rule out moving back depending on who was or (was) not going to be there. And sometimes you’ve got to think about, depending on the strength of that specific draft—and that’s for every draft—depending on the strength of that draft, do you trade back? What do you acquire or what can you possibly acquire versus if you stayed put?
“So all of those things kind of play into the equation, but we just felt good about when Penei was available then that dialogue with those other teams were pretty quick.”
Did Holmes make the right call?
– – Quotes via Jeff Risdon of LionsWire Link – –
