Now that the 2025 NFL draft has come and gone, every NFL analyst and expert wants to give their two cents on each team’s draft picks. Now, it’s worth noting that just because an insider thinks a team drafted a horrible class, that doesn’t mean it’s the case. The Detroit Lions, for example, got ripped apart for drafting running back Jahmyr Gibbs 12th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, but that turned out to be a super smart pick.
Now, the Lions are getting criticized again for their 2025 draft selections, but hopefully Detroit proves them wrong.
Detroit Lions Hopefully Prove the Doubters Wrong
One of the more questionable moves for the Detroit Lions happened during the third round when Detroit traded up to snag No. 70 from No. 102 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Doing so, they picked Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa. In turn, the Lions gave the Jaguars the 102 picks, as well as two 2026 third-round picks.
In a May 1 feature on winners and losers in the 2025 NFL draft, Austin Mock of The Athletic questions Detroit’s draft picks and overall strategy, although he admits that Detroit has been spot-on even in years when critics thought otherwise.
“It’s fair to question whether I should doubt the Lions’ draft strategy after the run they’ve been on the past few years, but out of their seven picks, four were considered reaches by our consensus board, including all three in the top 70,” he states in the feature.
Unfortunately, he still thinks he has enough proof to give the Lions a low grade, stating that the team lost “value” in the trade market.
“They also lost quite a bit of value in the trade market, highlighted by their big move up for board for wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa,” he noted. “They lost the fourth-most value in trades during the draft, and the three teams below them either gained a first-rounder or had the chance to draft Travis Hunter.”
Brad Holmes ‘Ate His Vegetables’ in the Draft
In a May 2 roundup for the NFL, Gennaro Filice also is harsh on the Lions and gives them a B- grade. Would you be happy with a B- in school? Probably not.
“Brad Holmes mostly ate his vegetables over draft weekend, fortifying both lines with the kind of blue-collar bullies Dan Campbell adores,” Filice stated in the piece. “But midway through Day 2, Holmes got a hankering for something more exotic, flying up the draft board 32 slots to grab size/speed receiver Isaac TeSlaa.”
He added, “A Michigan native who spent his first three college campaigns at Division II Hillsdale College before logging two seasons at Arkansas, TeSlaa received a lot of late buzz in this draft cycle as an athletic freak with untapped potential. But the price Detroit paid to make the aggressive move (two 2026 third-round picks) led many Lions fans to ask a question that seems to pop up in the middle rounds of every draft: Is Brad Holmes feeling himself too much?”
Filice adds that Lions fans, though, should trust Holmes, because he has earned that trust. However, “it will be interesting to see what comes of the bold decision in an otherwise-prosaic prospect haul.”
