The Detroit Lions produced a banner season in 2023, winning their first division championship in three decades and advancing all the way to the NFC Championship Game for the first time in 32 years.
And, a significant chunk of the Lions’ success this past season can be attributed to the strong ’23 draft class produced by general manager Brad Holmes.
Most notably, Holmes struck gold on his first-and-second-round selections. He traded back from the No. 6 overall pick to get running back Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 overall, and then drafted off-ball linebacker Jack Campbell at No. 18. He then followed that up by selecting tight end Sam LaPorta at No. 34 overall – with the additional pick the organization had gained from trading out of the No. 6 spot – and defensive back Brian Branch with the 45th pick.
While those picks were much maligned at the time because of their lack of so-called “positional value,” they ended up paying huge dividends for Holmes & Co.
Gibbs and LaPorta each became Pro Bowlers in their first seasons, while Branch emerged as a difference-making player in the Lions’ secondary. Additionally, Campbell, while not as impactful, still flashed glimpses of being a productive member of the team’s linebacking corps.
At this present juncture, it appears as if the organization is on the trajectory to becoming perennial Super Bowl contenders. Pro Football Focus’ Steve Palazzolo believes the Lions will be able to succeed in doing just that by continuing to build through the draft.
“I think they’re smart enough to know, keep your foot on the gas, keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Palazzolo said on PFF’s “Fixing Every AFC & NFC North Team in 5 Minutes!” show. “They hit on four of those top 50 or whatever draft picks. I think Jack Campbell is going to be a hit at the end of the day, but the other three for sure. They hit on those draft picks. They’re not living in this world with the extra draft capital anymore. So, I think they have to continue to hit on their picks, because they’ll have fewer picks.”
He and fellow PFF writer Sam Monson suggested that EDGE Danielle Hunter would be a wise free-agent target for Detroit this offseason. They opined that he would provide a much-needed boost to the team’s pass-rushing efforts, without taking away from the team’s ability to retain its own crop of star players.
“But then same thing, if you’re really looking two and three years down the road here, you keep hitting on draft picks, just like the Saints had that 2017 draft class where they all came due, in Ryan Ramczyk, (Alvin) Kamara and Trey Hendrickson, you have to anticipate being able to pay all those guys in a few years,” Palazzolo continued. “And as I mentioned, (Aidan) Hutchinson and (Penei) Sewell, the Lions now have this world where they’ve drafted so well, three and four years from now, those dudes have to get paid. So, you can’t be just throwing money around like crazy. A Danielle Hunter move, though, I don’t think is one of those.”
