PALM BEACH, Fla. — Brad Holmes has one criteria in mind for the No. 2 pick in next month’s NFL draft, and it has nothing to do with positional value.
“We want a game-changer at that pick,” the Detroit Lions general manager said Tuesday. “So whatever position that is, again, we’re comfortable at multiple positions. If the draft was today, we could turn in that card and sleep good at night. But at the end of the day, we’re looking for that game-changer.”
Historically, NFL teams with top-two picks have favored players at one of three positions: quarterback, offensive tackle and edge rusher.
In the past 10 drafts, running back Saquon Barkley is the only player from a non-premium position to go in the top two.
The Lions have immediate or long-term needs at quarterback, receiver, edge rusher and throughout their defense, but the strength of their team is on the offensive line — tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell are under contract through 2024 — and this year’s draft is unique in that it is light on blue-chip prospects.
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ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. does not have a quarterback ranked among his top-17 players, and none of the draft’s top pass rushers are considered on the level of Myles Garrett coming out of college.
Defensive linemen Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan, Travon Walker of Georgia, Jermaine Johnson of Florida State and Kayvon Thibodeaux of Oregon are potential top-10 picks, as are offensive tackles Evan Neal of Alabama and Ikem Ekwonu of North Carolina State.
Holmes did not rule out taking a quarterback at No. 2, and he told beat reporters at the NFL’s annual meeting Tuesday there remains room for improvement on the offensive line.
“We have a pretty good offensive line, but we can’t just say that we know that it’s the best offensive line in the league,” he said. “You want it to be the best, so we can add everywhere.”
That includes at non-premium positions, where two defensive backs rank among the draft’s handful of consensus best prospects.
Cincinnati’s Ahmad Gardner, a Detroit King product, is the top cornerback in the draft and a potential top-10 pick, and Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton has been a popular mock draft choice to the Lions in recent weeks (with Hutchinson routinely slotted No. 1 to the Jacksonville Jaguars).
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No safety has been drafted in the top two since the Cleveland Browns took Eric Turner second overall in 1991, but Hamilton is a unique prospect because of his size (6 feet 4) and ball skills (eight interceptions in 31 career games) and the Lions have an urgent need at the position.
Holmes said there is good reason why teams have tended towards quarterbacks, tackles and edge rushers at the top of the draft, but he insisted the Lions won’t be boxed into that thinking.
“Those are premium positions. They can really lay the foundation of your team’s success. I truly believe that,” he said. “There’s other game-changers at other positions that you can find outside of those positions, but obviously when you want to have a quarterback that can lead your football team, you really (want) that guy that can protect your quarterback and then at the end of they day, you want that guy that can get after your quarterback, too. That’s why I think they’re all what you call premium positions, but I do think there are other positions that you can find some game-changers on.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.