If you look at any Detroit Lions mock draft these days, you’ll almost certainly see an offensive tackle or defensive end mocked to them with a first or second-round pick (or both). It’s almost universally viewed as the team’s biggest needs going into next week 2026 NFL Draft.
But during his pre-draft press conference on Monday, Lions general manager Brad Holmes insisted that he believes the roster is in a position where they don’t have to draft either of those positions.
In free agency, the Lions signed
former Dolphins offensive tackle Larry Borom to a one-year, $5 million deal, and defensive end DJ Wonnum to a one-year, $3 million deal. Holmes believes those players—who have started 38 and 54 games respectively—have put the Lions in a good position in the draft.
“I’ve said in the past, I thought Borom put out good tape this year. I don’t foresee that—I don’t have a crystal ball—but from what (the) last thing I saw on tape (was) I do think that he’s got starter-level ability and same as Wonnum,” Holmes said. “You’re talking about guys that have been starters in the NFL, but you just kinda look at where the trend is going, where the arrow is going. The last time, they’re still young, but we feel good about both of them. So we don’t feel like we have to supplement them.”
That said, Holmes admitted that offensive tackle is one of those positions where you cannot get enough help, and even went as far as saying there are some good prospects in this year’s draft at that position.
“If you look at it like an offensive tackle or you call that ‘premium position’ category,’ I don’t think you can ever really have enough of them Those guys are hard to find, but you’ve got to make sure that you get the right one. I think there are some good ones (in this draft). We’ll just kinda see how it falls.”
As he’s done in the past, Holmes warned against the dangers of chasing needs. He insisted the team will not draft a player just because of the position he plays.
“You never want to feel that way when you select a player. You pass up a really good player that you liked even more but there is a question mark on your roster so you just go ahead and you get that player that you weren’t as excited about. I know for me, it’s hard to sleep at night when you do that,” Holmes said.
Is this just Holmes defending the guys he added in free agency, or will the Lions really approach the draft not believing they’ll need to add a starting-capable offensive tackle and/or defensive end? We’ll find out in less than two weeks.
