The 2026 NFL Draft is an important one for the Detroit Lions. In the here and now, and for the long-term, this feels like a critical 72 hours for Brad Holmes. He gets this right and his Lions can easily contend in an extremely competitive NFC North. If it’s another group like 2024, the team will need the likes of Tyleik Williams, Tate Ratledge, and Terrion Arnold to take massive leaps. It’s understandable to expect a learning curve for any rookie’s transition to the NFL, but some, like Holmes’ haul in 2023—one of the biggest feathers in his cap—make for an instant impact.
Here are a few ways the Lions could ace the 2026 NFL Draft with flying colors come Saturday evening.
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Invest in the future—in any way they can
Holmes’ seat isn’t heating up, and it definitely won’t be if the Lions bounce back in 2026 with a third NFC North title in four seasons. Even if the Lions make the playoffs, it’s hard to see how that wouldn’t be enough to earn some job assurance. And for that reason, acquiring future draft capital is a worthwhile venture to consider with the No. 17 pick. If Holmes can net a future second or third-round pick in a deal, while sweetening either 118 or 128 into a third-round pick, that’s valuable ammo for a GM who likes to be aggressive.
If a future pick turns into another prospect, great. If that pick is used as a means to outbid a competing team at next year’s trade deadline for a piece the 2026 team could use to be title contenders, great. In one way or another, having more draft picks offers Holmes more opportunities to be the wheeling and dealing son of a gun he loves to be. Bottom line, he should have a good enough football team to be competitive and return to postseason play in 2026, so he shouldn’t treat this draft like he needs to walk out with a certain number of future starters, but he should try and get a certain number of contributors—even if they’re players to be named later.
If you’re staying put at 17…
It should really be an offensive lineman, right? This football team is loaded to the gills with offensive dynamos, but if they don’t have the means to protect Jared Goff or control the line of scrimmage in the run game, it feels premature to expect this Lions defense to suddenly become the driving force on a playoff team.
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Based on everything watched and read over the last three months, going into Thursday night, one of these following offensive linemen should be available where the Lions are currently selecting in the first round: Spencer Fano, Olaivavega Ioane, Monroe Freeling, or Blake Miller. If any one of those players is there at 17, they should be the pick. All of them either immediately fill a need at either offensive tackle, or they cost-effectively solidify the interior of Detroit’s offensive front. In the case of the latter, while Larry Borom may not be a long-term solution at right tackle, upgrading the center spot in free agency with Cade Mays and putting Penei Sewell and Ioane on his left lets Jared Goff play more confidently. He could trust to take an extra beat before uncorking a ball to Jameson Williams as he clears across the field on a drag, or Amon-Ra St. Brown find the soft spot on a dig route. And again, Drew Petzing getting this offense back to being a more consistent unit is the quickest way for Detroit to become a contender again.
But if none of those offensive linemen are available at 17, and the phone isn’t ringing…
Take a defensive playmaker. It doesn’t matter if they play opposite of Aidan Hutchinson on the defensive line. It doesn’t matter if it’s a player in the secondary. Positional value is not a condition Holmes concerns himself with anyway, so if it’s a linebacker, so be it! You’re kidding yourself if you think Detroit should be above taking a player like Caleb Downs or Sonny Styles just because the need might not be immediate, or because they play safety or linebacker. Holmes is on a seemingly never-ending quest to fix Detroit’s secondary, and the cornerback position has players, but who feels like they can be counted on to be a fixture beyond 2026?
Last year, if those impactful plays from the defensive backfield that seemed far and fewer in between, your hunch is right. Detroit’s secondary accounted for just 10 TFLs and 10 INTs in 2025 compared to 17 TFLs and 15 INTs in 2024. Dillon Thieneman, Chris Johnson, Colton Hood, any of those players who racked up the pass breakups, TFLs, forced fumbles, or interceptions would be a welcome addition to a defense that took a step back in that regard last season.
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If the player Detroit wants is available at 14 or 15…
Alright, go ahead and deal 118 or 128 in the fourth round, but try not to dip into that future draft capital—yeah, that goes against the mock draft from the other day, but people change their minds. We’re hearing the rumors about the Lions poking around to see who might be interested in moving back and what it could cost to move up, but we’re also hearing that teams are looking to leap Detroit and get their first pick ahead of the Lions’ needs. Figuring that Holmes’ job is a lot safer than some would think it is because the Lions missed the playoffs a year ago with a 9-8 season, there shouldn’t be an urgency to be reckless and throw caution to the wind, but if there’s a player Detroit’s identified as a difference maker for their team as early at this upcoming season, Holmes should make it happen—within reason.
Moving up just a few spots in this draft’s first round shouldn’t cost more than one of those fourth-round picks (118 or 128), but if it does, Holmes should alternatively consider dealing 17 and moving back to add some opportunity for him to be aggressive later in the weekend, or bridge that gap between pick No. 50 and 118 on Day 3.
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