Brad Holmes Finds 'More Excitement' Picking Later in NFL Draft

The Detroit Lions possess the 29th selection in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. 

In general manager Brad Holmes' first couple seasons at the helm, the team had higher selections on the first day of the draft. 

For Detroit's talented personnel evaluator, selecting early is not that intriguing, compared to having to sift through many more players selecting later on. 

Appearing on 97.1 The Ticket, Holmes indicated having early picks is a little easier and even expressed it is a little less exciting, as there is a smaller pool to evaluate. 

With the Rams organization, Holmes became used to working in an environment when the team did not even have a pick at all on the first day. 

"I will say, I feel comfort in that and I found a lot of comfort in not only picking later, maybe not even having a first round pick back in my tenure with the Rams," Holmes expressed. "I find more excitement in it. I feel when you're looking at the top-10, it's kind of hard to mess up in my opinion. You've got really good players and you're trying to decide between Turks and Caicos and Grand Cayman."

Detroit's front office and coaching staff has been known to let out excitement when the card is handed in and the official announcement is made regarding who the team has selected. 

"You're probably not gonna be mad at either one, but I think it's a lot more excitement when you're back there on the back end because you've got to deep-dive it a lot more. You've got to really heavily scrutinize it and it's a lot of fun," Holmes commented. "Back in my time with the Rams, we found a lot of good players in those rounds, not even in the first round but in Day Two. I think we've proved that we can do that here as well. I don't have any angst about not having that high pick, I'm actually excited."