Is Brad Holmes' perceived struggle with backup quarterbacks a major red flag for when it comes time to replace Jared Goff?

Last Thursday was really bad for the Detroit Lions and their backup quarterbacks. Both Hendon Hooker and Kyle Allen struggled mightily in that game. This, of course, has Lions fans up in arms about the possibility of how bad things could be for this team if Jared Goff were to go down. For some, it's a part of what looks like a much bigger trend.

You could say there's something to that thought. Nate Sudfeld, Tim Boyle, Jake Fromm, and Kyle Allen have all struggled. Those are the guys who Brad Holmes and the team have signed. What about the guy they've drafted? The Lions took Hendon Hooker in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and we've yet to see him mold into the player that some expected him to be. He's in year three now.

So does this show that Holmes is bad at evaluating backup quarterbacks? Worse yet, does this show a much bigger thing? Could this be proof that Holmes is just bad at evaluating quarterbacks altogether, and should everyone be worried about him drafting Goff's eventual replacement?

For me, it's a no to all of that. On the signing front, it's not easy to find a backup quarterback. If it were, every team would have a solid one, and there wouldn't be a ton of turnover every single offseason. At times, you can get lucky and find yourself a Teddy Bridgewater, which the Lions have done twice, but most of the time, you get guys like Kyle Allen and Nate Sudfeld. Guys who won't light the league on fire, but can keep a steady enough hand on the wheel to at least keep you on the road. But yeah, pretty much every team in the league is going to have a major problem if their starting quarterback goes down.

In terms of making a ruling when it comes to drafting a quarterback of the future, based on the Hooker pick in 2023, I don't think you can really do that either. The reason is that I think the selection of Hooker has always been misunderstood. He was never meant to be the successor to Jared Goff, and his age was always proof of that.

Goff was coming off a strong 2022 season, and it was more than clear that he was the Lions' long-term quarterback at that point. Plus, he hadn't even hit 30 yet. Then the Lions draft a 25-year-old quarterback who's going to be 30 when his rookie deal is up. It just never made sense to think of him as the guy who would take over. It, however, made a lot of sense that the Lions were trying to manufacture a premium backup quarterback, and that's how they looked at him from day one.

He hasn't become that. At least not yet. There have been some improvements, but he still needs to put it all together. If Hooker was 22 years old when the Lions took him, then I could see where the issues might be. Because it would be clear that they see that guy as the successor. But that's not the case with Hooker.

Ulitmatley, we still need to see what Holmes looks like as an evaluator of starting quarterbacks, and we might not see that for some time. But we do have some proof that he knows what he's doing there because he was the head of college scouting when the Rams drafted Goff, and he's also the GM who traded for him. That's pretty good proof right there.