Heading into the 2022 NFL Draft, the belief of many was that the Detroit Lions would select a linebacker and safety within the first couple of rounds but GM Brad Holmes had a different plan.
Personally, I mocked S Lewis Cine (No. 32 overall) and LB Nakobe Dean (No. 34 overall) to the Lions but Holmes decided to wait until the third round to select S Kerby Joseph and the sixth round to select LB Malcolm Rodriguez.
At the time, some were wondering what Holmes was waiting for to address safety and linebacker, but on Thursday, he shed a bit of light on his draft strategy when it comes to certain positions.
Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes reveals a bit of his NFL Draft strategy
When Brad Holmes was asked if Malcolm Rodriguez’s early success could impact how he approaches future drafts, he had the following to say.
“You can always look at past success at certain positions that you may be able to hit on in the later rounds,” Holmes said.
He then brought up Los Angeles Rams safety Jordan Fuller, who was selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
“Had a pretty good idea that he’s a high floor player that’s going to end up being a starter,” Holmes recalled.
Holmes then added that there are certain positions that are plentiful in the later rounds of the draft.
“There’s certain positions that you can kind of look at and assess that you may be able to find gold in the later rounds, and inside linebackers, it’s a good volume of them throughout the draft,” Holmes said.
