Pride of Detroit
Lions GM Brad Holmes has taken some risks with small-school prospects as of late. Is it too early to say that has been a mistake?
What Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes has done with the team’s roster over the past four years has been nothing short of remarkable. In short order, Holmes has managed to take a roster that was in full-on rebuild mode into arguably the most talented roster in football. There’s a reason Holmes has been named Pro Football Writers of America’s Executive of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
But no NFL general manager is above some criticism. There is no such thing as a flawless decision-maker, and it’s fair to wonder if Holmes’ recent draft choices have been a bit questionable when it comes to one specific strategy: selecting highly-developmental players. In the past two drafts, Holmes has used the NFL Draft’s middle rounds to take chances on small-school players, with the hopes that their physical traits can eventually be developed into big-time play. That includes Western Kentucky’s Brodric Martin (third round), William & Mary’s Colby Sorsdal (fifth round), and University of British Columbia’s Giovanni Manu (fourth round).
As of now, none of those three players have contributed anything meaningful through two years (one for Manu).
Of course, passing judgement on these players after one or two seasons is extremely premature. Development takes time. Development for players who had poor college competition takes even longer.
But there is a philosophical question to be asked here: can a team with immediate Super Bowl aspirations afford to keep developmental players on their 53-man roster when they’re trying to win now? Detroit had to play all sorts of roster gymnastics last year with all the injuries they endured—all the while they had Sorsdal, Manu, and Martin taking up roster spots.
And there are questions as to whether any of these mid-round picks are the best use of those draft resources. In Holmes’ first two drafts, this was his sweet spot on draft weekend. He found Kerby Joseph, Alim McNeill, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Derrick Barnes all in the third and fourth rounds. Why take a risk on small-school players who may never reach their full potential, when you’ve been nailing this part of the draft with more traditional picks?
So is this a big issue with Holmes’ recent draft strategy or are we all being too impatient? Or are there other factors at play we’re not considering? Myself and Erik Schlitt debate the topic at the end of this week’s Midweek Mailbag. You can hear that discussion at the 46:47 mark of the podcast or the 1:54:00 mark of the live stream.
Other topics on this week’s Midweek Mailbag (in order):
