On Sunday night, the Detroit Lions dropped Episode 1 of their 2026 documentary series “Inside the Den.” Often lauded as the best work the Lions production team does all year, the “Inside the Den” docuseries gives fans an inside look as to how the team operates, with insightful interviews and behind-the-scenes moments.
This year, their approach to covering free agency was novel. While this episode still has some talking heads interviews and footage of the new free agent signings arriving in Allen Park,
the most valuable moments come from general manager Brad Holmes, who breaks down the film of each new addition from the desk in his office. Throughout the 36-minute episode, Holmes provides great insight into why they signed each player and what they’ll be bringing to the team.
You can watch the entire thing below, but here are some interesting quotes about each player he went over:
C Cade Mays
Holmes: “His past couple years at center, he’s really kept getting better and better at the position. Talk about the ability to pass protect, we have an excellent quarterback. If he’s protected, he’s deadly. So you take a look at (Mays) here, to be able to anchor, pick up the stunt in the game with ease. The instinctual part of the offensive line play, these are the things that don’t really show up in the highlights.”
“Being able to move laterally, stay in front. There’s an element of angles, and then you see the finish right there.
OT Larry Borom
Holmes: “He had probably his most consistent season of football playing at right tackle. Here, straining, creating a lane, staying on his feet. You see right here, again, staying engaged, running his feet. This guy can do a lot of different t hings. […] He just played good, consistent football. He’s got good feet. He can sit himself down. those are the little nuances you look for when it comes to offensive line play.
G Ben Bartch
Holmes: “Another guy that’s athletic. You see him here turning out, staying on his feet, enough bend on his body to finish here. I think he’s going to add legit competition. To be able to move at his size, we talk about space play: being able to identify and locate your target and make contact. And, again, you see the finish here. That’s the type of stuff that we’re talking about.”
G/C Juice Scruggs
“You’ve got a guy that we did a lot of work on in the draft process. So seeing him at guard and seeing how he can just r un off the football, kinda playing our style—the wide-zone, gap scheme. He can pull. You see him finishing right here. That’s the type of identity that we want offensively. You see the guy starting at center too. The ability to snap and pull, make contact, finish. You see him here coming off just playing with the kind of intense style that we like.”
EDGE DJ Wonnum
“His ability to set edges, to set physical edges, and still be able to do some things as a rusher, I think that just made a lot of sense for us. Always liked how hard he plays, his intangible qualities as a football player. But you watch the tape, him being able to maintain the edge, have relentless effort to go and finish on the ball versus an athletic quarterback, you just really appreciate his motor. He has size, he has length.“
EDGE Payton Turner
“We like his length. He’s tall, he’s big, he’s got really long arms. You see him here coming off the edge, using those long arms, using his hands, and then being able to be relentless, not stopping and finishing on the football. So we were really happy to add him to the room.”
WR Greg Dortch
“We always thought—the unfortunate case—if we lose [Kalif Raymond] then we’re going to take a good, hard, long look at Greg Dortch. Just his ability to return punts and be able to play that role. You see him here, good fielding skills, the ability to make (players) miss, and then just kinda make some magic happen in the open field. You see him here working the slot, man-to-man, good release, good transition out of his break, hands catcher, and then being able to finish in the end zone. I don’t think he’s going to be limited in anything he can do.”
LB Damone Clark
“You know that he can play inside linebacker. You see him here from (the) backside trying to scrape over the top, getting engaged, squaring up, and finishing on the football. A long guy, he’s a good athlete. Again, you look at it from the sideline view, you have to know what you’re doing. His movement skills, and all that, and then he sees the ball out, and he can trigger the finish. I think he’s going to be another good addition to our room, but also his ability to help out on special teams, as well.”
CB Roger McCreary
“Been more of a nickel, but he can also play outside. You see him here transition, pedalling, maintaining depth, and then making a play on the football. I think he’s going to be a versatile guy. You see him here blitzing from the nickel spot and just coming with urgency, ability to finish on the quarterback. Roger is definitely one that’s been able to it all.”
DB Christian Izien
“He can do a lot of things at the nickel position. You can see him here, first to the flats, driving on the football, a good job being able to finish. And then you kinda see him here at safety, being able to line up back in the post and trigger and finish on the football. I think the toughness, the grit, the ability to finish and put his face in there. […] He’s going to fit right in here. Kind of best of both worlds when you can find a guy that has versatility on defense but also he’s been a really good special teams player, as well.”
TE Tyler Conklin
“Just kinda getting a balanced player that has been in the division. He can contribute in both phases, but you see him here lined up at fullback. To be able to line up, go ahead, release, hit the corner and then being able to catch the football and stay in bounds—really like that part of his game. For him to be able to block back side on the edge, get his hands inside, have the feet, the bend, the lateral agility to stay in front of the defender. Just a balanced component of his game is really going to complement the rest of the room very, very well.”
RB Isiah Pacheco
“He’s an angry runner. He’s got vision. He can cut. He can catch out of the backfield. His ability to break tackles, keep his balance and then still finish. You can just see the relentlessness of him as a football player. Regardless of how fast you are, how much burst you have, you have to know where you’re going first. […] You can see him right here being able to cut off this, press it, go, and then you see him just finish behind his pads.”
