Holmes Switches Up the Draft Playbook After Lions’ Season From Hell
When your season ends the way ours did, you take a long look in the mirror and start changing things. And yes, I know what you’re thinking: here we go again, tweaking around the edges while the core issues remain. But Brad Holmes isn’t messing around with window dressing this time.
The Lions GM announced two notable changes to how Allen Park will handle its pre-draft process for 2026, and honestly, both make a hell of a lot of sense when you think about it. Sometimes the best moves are the ones that free up time to focus on what actually matters.
Skipping the Owners Meetings Was Actually Smart
First change: Holmes decided to skip the NFL owners meetings in March entirely. Before you roll your eyes about another front office guy avoiding responsibility, hear him out.
For our process, it’s a lot of time that you miss,” Holmes explained. “So, by the time that you get back, I’m kind of in a make-up mode because of all the time that you missed for our process. So, that’s why I kind of just said, look, in order for me to try to kind of avoid being in that make-up mode—because now you hop into draft meetings with the scouts, and it keeps rolling, but you’ve missed a good chunk of time for us. So, that’s what went into it this year.”
Look, we’ve watched this franchise waste decades on the wrong priorities. If Holmes thinks he can better serve the Lions by grinding tape instead of glad-handing other executives at some resort, more power to him. March is crunch time for draft evaluation, not cocktail hour.
Goodbye Local Pro Day, Hello Focused Efficiency
The second change cuts deeper into Lions tradition. The team scrapped their annual local pro day, the event where they’d bring in players from nearby colleges and Detroit natives for workouts and testing at their facility.
Now before Lions fans start panicking about missing out on hidden gems from Eastern Michigan or Wayne State, Holmes has this covered. The team still has unlimited local pre-draft visits for any prospects they want to examine more closely. They’re just not doing the big group showcase anymore.
“Just internally we kind of made a decision to utilize that time for some other things, but still utilize the local visits as well,” Holmes said. “We still utilize the local visits, but we just made the decision really last summer to do away with the pro day.”
The math here is pretty straightforward. Why spend a full day running 30 guys through generic drills when you can bring in the five guys you actually care about for individual workouts? It’s not like the Lions have been discovering diamond-in-the-rough talent at these local pro days anyway.
Dan Campbell’s Promise to Change Everything
These adjustments stem from Dan Campbell’s January promise to examine every aspect of the organization after last season’s disappointment. You remember that press conference, right? The one where Campbell looked like he’d been punched in the gut for three straight hours?
“When it doesn’t work the way that we want it to work, it’s a number of things,” Campbell said back then. “There are a lot of things that go into it. And do I have a couple of ideas. Maybe, right now, but I need some time here. I need time to really sit down and think about all this. But what we do know is one way or another probably change is inevitable. Now, it may not be much, but there will be something that’ll change.”
At least Campbell kept his word. These aren’t earth-shattering changes, but they’re the kind of operational adjustments that championship organizations make. Small improvements that add up over time.
Room for Course Correction
What I appreciate most about Holmes’ approach here is the built-in flexibility. He’s not married to these changes just because he made them.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Holmes said about eliminating the local pro day. “If we feel like we missed something by not doing it, we’ll look at it and adjust again.”
That’s the kind of pragmatic thinking we haven’t always seen from Lions leadership over the years. No ego, no doubling down on mistakes. Just honest evaluation and willingness to pivot when necessary.
The Bigger Picture
Look, these process tweaks won’t determine whether the 2026 Lions make the playoffs or fall flat on their faces again. But they do show an organization that’s serious about maximizing every advantage, every hour, every opportunity to get better.
After watching this franchise waste time on elaborate draft day war rooms that produced Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, it’s refreshing to see Holmes focusing on substance over style. Skip the dog and pony show. Grind the tape. Find the players who can help this team take the next step.
The Lions have learned the hard way that there are no style points in the NFL. You either build a winner or you don’t. Every hour Holmes spends evaluating prospects instead of networking at owners meetings is an hour better spent. Every focused individual workout beats a generic group showcase.
These changes won’t grab headlines or generate buzz among draft analysts. But championship organizations are built on exactly this kind of attention to detail. Time will tell if Holmes and Campbell are building something special in Allen Park, but at least they’re asking the right questions and making adjustments based on honest self-evaluation.
Think Holmes is overthinking the draft process or finally getting his priorities straight? Drop your take below and let’s see if these tweaks actually matter come April.
