For most of their history, the Detroit Lions were bottom-feeders.
A lot of that had to do with swings and misses and poor performances in the NFL Draft.
Notably, that has changed under the current administration.
The Lions have made the most out of almost every single pick they’ve gotten, stacking their roster with young talent.
That’s why they can afford to tackle this event with a ‘best player available approach,’ and it seems that’s what they intend to do.
When asked about their mindset for the NFL Draft, GM Brad Holmes claimed that they didn’t want to be caught chasing needs:
“I think you can get in trouble chasing needs sometimes, and then you’re depending on a rookie. You do the best you can, but nobody has a crystal ball. So, it can be a tough world to live in.” Holmes said. “When you start chasing need, it’s like that need might make sense for right now at this time. We make these picks for future investments.”
From a roster perspective, the Lions have no actual needs.
They didn’t lose in the playoffs because of personnel.
Former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn couldn’t figure out how to stop Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders’ offense, and Dan Campbell’s reckless decision-making may have also hurt the team.
Also, Jared Goff had one of his occasionally bad games, and it was just a perfect storm.
Some people still aren’t fully sold on Goff as a winning quarterback, not even despite him posting career bests since joining the team.
Then again, even if the Lions had any doubts about him, which they don’t seem to have, their chances of getting a franchise quarterback in this year’s draft seem slim at best.
They’re the kind of team that can afford to take chances and just go with the best player on the board and figure out how to use him later.
