For the second year in a row the Lions have elected to not address the pass rush with an early draft pick, despite being highly scrutinized as a major need amongst the fanbase. The Detroit Lions Executive Vice President Brad Holmes passed up on numerous candidates in David Green, Landon Jackson, and Josiah Stewart as instant upgrades to a edge room that is in need of more youth and instant production.

Holmes would ultimately look to address the interior of the line on both sides of the ball, grabbing two guards from the SEC, and using their first round pick on a 3-tech defensive tackle. It wasn’t until the 6th round that Holmes would select Ahmed Hassanein out of Boise State.

Rationale

The Lions would conclude the year at 23rd in League in sacks. This ranking is far from good, but isn’t horrible considering they lost 3 starters off that frontline, as well as several depth players throughout the year. The Lions will be bringing back nearly the entire edge room with a clean slate, fully recovered from injuries. Holmes has made it abundantly clear that he will not reach on players he is not thrilled with for the sake of fulfilling a “need” at a position, and that stance holds true in his selections this week.

Brad Holmes on what he will NOT do during the NFL Draft:

“We’re not going to reach on players just to fill a position, that’s what we won’t do” pic.twitter.com/GJtANP6TU9

— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 📰 (@the_det_times) April 17, 2025

Best Case Scenario

The best case scenario given the Lions current construction at edge rusher is that Aiden Hutchinson returns to form, and picks up where he left off as an All-Pro player at his position. Hutchinson was well on his way to having a career year before that was derailed by a devastating leg injury Week 6 vs, the Dallas Cowboys. In addition, Detroit hopes that Marcus Davenport will recover from yet another sesaon-ending injury, and regain his role opposite Hutch, as a highly impactful disrupter who can set the edge, and be a factor in the pass and rush game. This will be a tall task in that that availability has always been a struggle for him. He has yet to duplicate his 2021 season, where he finished with 9 sacks, including the 4th-highest win percentage and 10th-most pressures. Perhaps the biggest variable of them all, will be whether or not Za’darius Smith is able to return. Brad Holmes has not completely shut the door on him resigning with the team. Leaving it at “retaining Smith on his previous contract was too expensive”, but that they would remain in touch with his agent about possibly negotiating a new deal. The Lions acquired Smith from the Cleveland Browns last year, and was their must efficient pass rusher down the stretch. Collecting 4 sacks in 8 games for Detroit, totaling 9 for the entire year. Stay tuned to FFSN for any new developments.