It’s standard fare for some teams, but when the Detroit Lions sit down for the NFL draft later this month, they will not have a depth chart — the table that lists players by position in their projected order of importance — in their draft room.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes explained at the NFL’s annual meeting last week that he does not want a depth chart in his draft room because he does not want the Lions’ current roster needs to influence his decisions on draft day, when taking the best available prospect is his No. 1 priority.
“I just think you can make a lot of mistakes with that,” Holmes said. “I’ve been in regimes in the past that have had a depth chart in the draft room, and I’ve just never been a fan of that.”
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The former college scouting director of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, Holmes pointed to his old team’s success building a dominant defensive line as one example of why talent will always trump need for him in the draft.
The Rams took defensive end Robert Quinn with their first pick of the 2011 draft, No. 14 overall, then followed with defensive tackle Michael Brockers with their first pick in 2012, again at No. 14.
Two years later, despite returning three first-round picks on one of the NFL’s best defensive lines — Quinn, Brockers and Chris Long, the No. 2 pick of the 2008 draft — the Rams spent another high first-round pick (No. 13) on defensive lineman Aaron Donald.
Donald won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014, is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and helped the Rams win the Super Bowl last February. Had the Rams drafted for need that season — they were second in the NFL in sack rate in 2013 — they might have passed on Donald, a future first ballot Hall of Famer.
“Everybody has question marks on their team,” Holmes said. “When you’re approaching the draft and you’re just looking to fill those question marks, fill those holes, I do think that, that can equate to some mistakes cause I say back in St. Louis even, it got to a point where we had a pretty strong defensive line and we had some concerns elsewhere but we just kept adding to our defensive line. And it just turned into this beast that was just a strength of the football team.”
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The Lions, coming off a 9-8 season when they finished last in the NFL in total defense, filled their most pressing needs in free agency, signing three new starters for their secondary, re-signing starters Alex Anzalone and Isaiah Buggs and key backup John Cominsky for their front seven, and upgrading at running back with David Montgomery.
Holmes acknowledged those moves give the Lions the appearance of flexibility. They have capable starters at all 22 positions and solid depth at most spots.
But he insisted he will draft independent of those additions.
The Lions have two first-round picks, Nos. 6 and 18 overall, and five of the draft’s first 81 picks. Linebacker, defensive tackle and tight end are considered the weakest spots on their roster, though they have long-term concerns at several other positions.
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“Going back to the drafting for need, just a lot of mock drafts probably had us taking two DBs in the first round, at six and 18,” before free agency, Holmes said. “Not going to say I never look at it, but obviously what we’ve done in free agency put us in a good position. But again, that doesn’t rule out that we won’t still take a DB. Again, it’s like I was (saying) about the defensive line back in St. Louis, just trying to just create a beast and just create a position of strength on our football team. But I do think that it’s given us flexibility to really go any direction that we want and it’s a good spot to be in.”
There is one way Holmes uses depth charts in the draft — as a way to understand other teams’ needs at various positions. But drafting to fill holes, Holmes said, “I just think that’s not the way that we do it.”
“We just try to take the best player for us,” he said.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Feeling a draft
What: 2023 NFL draft.
When: April 27-29.
TV: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network.
Lions’ picks (with overall picks in parentheses): Round 1 — No. 6 (6), No. 18 (18); Round 2 — No. 17 (48), No. 24 (55); Round 3 — No. 18 (81); Round 5 — No. 16 (152); Round 6 — No. 6 (183), No. 17 (194).