Pride of Detroit
Taking a closer look at the Lions 2025 draft class and how they fit into the Grit Index.
The Detroit Lions acquired seven new players in the 2025 NFL Draft, bringing in another batch of youth to help strengthen the roster. Some players will immediately challenge for starting roles, while others will compete for situational/reserve roles or roster spots in general, but each of them fits the Lions organization in their own way.
This offseason, we introduced the third evolution of the Grit Index with the hope of being able to contextualize what “Grit” is by aggregating data from NFL Draft analysts, while also acknowledging that the system is based on imperfect and incomplete information.
So, let’s take a look at how the Lions’ seven draft picks scored in the 2025 Grit Index, discuss their tier, and explore if there was anything the current system missed.
Reflecting back on Williams’ pre-draft information, we identified tallies for his intelligence and toughness, but most reports didn’t delve deep into his character. In his post-round one press conference, Lions general manager Brad Holmes echoed those two traits while also adding in specific phrases like instincts and versatility.
“I remember his interview at the Combine – he really knocked it out the park with his intelligence and how much he knew about the game,” Holmes said.
One of the things we discussed in our lead-up to the draft was that with all the data collected, we saw some potential flaws in our system regarding a few specific position groups—most notably at nose tackle, which is where Williams is expected to play for most of his NFL career. For example, the average Grit score for a nose tackle was 53.83, and only three nose tackles in the entire draft class reached Tier 3 in this year’s Grit Index.
It’s also possible we were too harsh on Williams in a few areas. When we went back to reexamine his score, we identified a few phrases that used softer language. For example: “always in pursuit mode” is softer than the more common “relentless motor.” But even if we had identified those phrases and included them, Williams would have only moved from Tier 5 up to Tier 4.
At the same time, it’s also possible Williams doesn’t score highly in some of the areas that we’ve targeted. And based on his overall demeanor, a Tier 5 (or 4) is likely an entirely accurate score.
“He’s a good kid, he’s mild-mannered,” Holmes...
