The draft is done, the boards are cleared, and now we get to the fun part. Figuring out which Brad Holmes pick is going to make the rest of the league look foolish for passing on him. This year, that’s easy.
Keith Abney II fell to Detroit like a gift wrapped in Honolulu Blue. The Lions drafted a starting cornerback. All he has to do is go win the job, and honestly, we believe he will.
This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen
Let’s start with the obvious: teams fell asleep at the wheel. Multiple draft analysts had second round grades on Abney. He was ranked 61st on one big board, 77th by Mel Kiper, 62nd by Matt Miller, and 50th by Trevor Sikkema.
He fell 100 picks to the Lions. One hundred. That doesn’t happen to legitimate starting talent unless something is very wrong or very right, depending on your perspective.
It’s not an injury history. It’s not questions about his game translating to the NFL. It’s probably because he’s kind of short, which is the kind of outdated thinking that helps Brad Holmes look like a genius. Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds went to the Jets in the second round, and he’s smaller than Abney.
The Slot Is Wide Open
Here’s where this gets interesting. Abney played on the outside at Arizona State, but his best fit in Detroit is inside in the slot. He has the play style and aggressiveness to get it done, and there isn’t much competition for that spot right now.
Roger McCreary is really the only guy slated for that job at the moment. The Lions were thinking about moving Ennis Rakestraw to the slot, but now they’re saying they want him back on the outside. So it’s McCreary or Abney.
McCreary has experience in the slot in the NFL, which gives him the upper hand. But Abney might just be the better player, even if he has to learn the shift from outside to inside. Something he hasn’t done much of, but that’s what training camp is for.
The Biggest Steal of the Draft
When the season starts, don’t be surprised if Abney has won the starting slot corner job. This feels like classic Brad Holmes draft wizardry. Find the guy everyone else missed, put him in the right spot, and watch him become exactly what you needed.
We’ve seen this movie before with Holmes. The difference is, this time we might be watching it from the very beginning instead of figuring it out two years later when the player is already established.
Think Abney becomes the Lions’ next diamond in the rough, or are we setting ourselves up for another case of camp hype that fizzles out? Drop your prediction below.
This is exactly the kind of move that makes me believe Holmes gets it. A guy with second round grades falling that far because of height bias? That’s the kind of oversight that separates good GMs from great ones. I’m genuinely excited to see what Abney can do in camp.
Look, I want to believe this is another Holmes steal, but let’s pump the brakes a little. We’ve got camp hype before that didn’t pan out. McCreary’s got the experience in the slot and that matters. I hope Abney proves me wrong, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Man, the difference between now and the old days is night and day. Back then we were reaching for guys with red flags when we should’ve been hunting steals like this. Holmes and Campbell actually know what they’re doing, and it shows in moments like grabbing a guy 100 picks later than he should’ve gone.