Another Late Round Gem? Holmes Adds Tennessee’s Tyre West
Brad Holmes closed out the 2026 NFL Draft by doing what he does best. Taking a guy nobody else was paying attention to and betting on what he sees beneath the surface. This time it’s Tennessee defensive lineman Tyre West, picked in the seventh round at 222nd overall.
Here’s what makes this pick interesting: West was a four-year contributor at Tennessee but only started five games in 48 appearances. Most players would have hit the transfer portal years ago. West didn’t.
“Loyalty. It runs very deep in me, and just what we had at Tennessee with our D-line and everything – everything I started with, I just want to finish,” West told Detroit media after getting drafted.
That loyalty probably hurt his draft stock. But it tells you something about who this kid is. And if you’ve been watching Holmes operate, you know character matters as much as tape in Allen Park.
The Senior Bowl Changed Everything
West wasn’t even invited to the Senior Bowl initially. When he got a late call to join, he made the most of it. Performed well enough to earn the start in the actual game.
The Combine invite never came. But when the top-30 visit window opened, guess who called first? The Lions brought West in for a visit, and he immediately felt the Dan Campbell energy.
“I talked to (Lions Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard) Coach Sheppard, I had talked to the D-line coach. I talked to everyone in the facility, and everybody just had great energy,” West said. “I loved all the energy and the emotion that they came to me with when I first got there. I just knew for a fact it was going to be a good fit.”
Translation: they saw something. They always do.
What West Brings to Ford Field
At 6-foot-1 and 280 pounds, West is built like a fire hydrant with an attitude problem. He’s a tweener who spent most of his college career bouncing between defensive end and 5-technique roles. Most NFL teams would ask him to bulk up and kick inside, but the Lions’ system is different.
The 4i position gives West a cleaner path to meaningful snaps. His frame might cause problems against NFL linemen, but he’s got that low pad level that wins battles and the kind of hands that finish tackles through the ball carrier.
West believes his versatility will be his greatest asset in Detroit. Holmes agreed, noting that West would “take advantage of the opportunities that he got in terms of being able to apply pressure and get to the quarterback.”
And yes, I know what you’re thinking. Another seventh round defensive lineman who’s going to change everything? But this isn’t the same old Lions. Holmes has earned the benefit of the doubt here.
The 4i Battle Nobody’s Talking About
Here’s why this pick matters more than the round suggests. The Lions struggled to fill their 4i role in 2025 after Levi Onwuzurike went down with a knee injury. They tried Pat O’Connor, then Tyler Lacy, occasionally Alim McNeill when he got healthy. Nothing stuck.
Now they’ve got options. Onwuzurike returning from injury, Lacy back for year two, and West coming in hungry. All three have question marks. All three have upside.
This is exactly the kind of depth battle that separates good teams from great ones. The Lions learned that lesson the hard way when injuries started piling up. Now they’re doing something about it.
West might be a seventh round pick, but in Holmes we trust. This kid stuck it out at Tennessee when he could have transferred for playing time. He made the most of a late Senior Bowl invite. He impressed the Lions enough to be their first call during top-30 visits.
Is this another Holmes hidden gem or just a camp body with a good story? Let me know what you think in the comments.
