2026 Live Draft Thread As It Happens

[MichiganCardinal]

 

[Motown Bombers]

Am I bad person for wanting this kid announcing the pick to get cancer again? 

[MichiganCardinal]

If Jermod McCoy makes it to 40, Holmes will be on the phone.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

wait, wait, WAIT A MINUTE!  

are you telling me that its just a coincidence that the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE is also the lions' biggest position of need??????

no way.  brad only drafts pure bpa.  lol.

No one said he drafts purely BPA. But he certainly values talent over need and leans in the BPA direction. Most every media pundit and Lions insider will tell you how Brad leans heavily towards drafting the best player on his board. Blake Miller fit a need, yes. But I'm betting he was also high up on their board and they had a first round grade on him. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Love the way this offensive line was rebuilt the last two offseasons. It should have started a year sooner, but Brad and Dan have done a good job in paper rebuilding the line. It should become a strength of this team once again assuming Miller pans out, Mahogany/Fraizer continue to improve, and Mays gels well with those around him and his QB. 

[buddha]

6 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

No one said he drafts purely BPA. But he certainly values talent over need and leans in the BPA direction. Most every media pundit and Lions insider will tell you how Brad leans heavily towards drafting the best player on his board. Blake Miller fit a need, yes. But I'm betting he was also high up on their board and they had a first round grade on him. 

there were plenty of people saying brad only drafts bpa.

"bpa" is just a silly concept.  teams likely have a bunch of players with "grades" and then take one who fits an organizational need who falls within a certain tier.  

late rounds you can take a guy who is just all athlete or something, but the draft is their to fill future needs.

[buddha]

6 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Love the way this offensive line was rebuilt the last two offseasons. It should have started a year sooner, but Brad and Dan have done a good job in paper rebuilding the line. It should become a strength of this team once again assuming Miller pans out, Mahogany/Fraizer continue to improve, and Mays gels well with those around him and his QB. 

i know you cant have all stars at every position, but they still have question marks at left guard and potentially swing tackle in the future.

manu and sorsdal will be lucky to make the team.  the borom signing is a good backup signing but it would be nice to have something there in the future.

but its the nfl and the lions have to sign their talented players to good deals.  crowds out a lot of depth.  

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Pretty good stuff here. I really like what we're getting in Miller. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I feel much more comfortable knowing that a dysfunctional organization like Miami got Proctor and we ended up with Blake Miller. I think long-term, Brad got the better player. Another note about about Blake Miller, he is one of the top 30 visits the Lions had. So once again, Brad drafts a player with an elite RAS score and a player he had previously met with in a top 30 visit.

Edited 3 hours ago by Mr.TaterSalad

[Motown Bombers]

 

[MichiganCardinal]

Wonder if Thibedeoux will be on the move today. Would have to be a creative package money wise to make sense for Detroit

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RedRamage]

11 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I don't get it. Holmes said Borom is a starter, does this mean Miller is replacing Sewell?

Lions are gonna roll out with a 3-tackle base set this year.

[RedRamage]

11 hours ago, buddha said:

wait, wait, WAIT A MINUTE!  

are you telling me that its just a coincidence that the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE is also the lions' biggest position of need??????

no way.  brad only drafts pure bpa.  lol.

Because I feel personally attacked by this post, I'm gonna defend myself (even though I know this was mostly just meant as humor).

The reality is that ALL GMs have ALWAYS mixed need and BPA. It's never a question of all NEED or all BPA, but rather how much does one vs. the other impact the decision. And even that's way to simple of a question. How big is the need? Like does a team literally have no one on the staff who could be expected to be an adequate starter or do they have someone who would be okay, but they'd really prefer to upgrade?

Saying Holmes is a BPA guy isn't saying that he only drafts the BPA and never the need, just that the slider between NEED and BPA is well past half-way towards the BPA side. I consider BPA to be more important in Holmes determination than it likely is for most NFL GMs.

 

 

[RedRamage]

11 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I was told Holmes only likes injured players?

It was a hard decision for them because they really like Miller and his upside outweighed his lack of injuries. However the Lions believe that they can rectify the situation. My insiders tell me that the Lions have hired someone to take a crowbar to Miller's knee when he gets off the plane in Detroit.

[RatkoVarda]

really like the Miller pick

maybe TJ Parker, edge, Clemson, or Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech will be there at 50

but Brad will probably be moving up (or down) anyway

[RedRamage]

I am a bit disappointed that Rutledge went to the Texans... I mean, I know G isn't high on the list of needs, but how cool would it have been to have a Rutledge and a Ratledge as our starting guards??

[RedRamage]

9 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

maybe TJ Parker, edge, Clemson

You gotta figure the Lions will be pulling as much data out of Miller that can about him. I mean obviously they've already done their homework, but now that they've got an additional information source they better be using it.

[buddha]

28 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

Because I feel personally attacked by this post, I'm gonna defend myself (even though I know this was mostly just meant as humor).

The reality is that ALL GMs have ALWAYS mixed need and BPA. It's never a question of all NEED or all BPA, but rather how much does one vs. the other impact the decision. And even that's way to simple of a question. How big is the need? Like does a team literally have no one on the staff who could be expected to be an adequate starter or do they have someone who would be okay, but they'd really prefer to upgrade?

Saying Holmes is a BPA guy isn't saying that he only drafts the BPA and never the need, just that the slider between NEED and BPA is well past half-way towards the BPA side. I consider BPA to be more important in Holmes determination than it likely is for most NFL GMs.

 

 

i would never personally attack you, red.  even when youre wrong.  😉

[RedRamage]

6 minutes ago, buddha said:

i would never personally attack you, red.  even when youre wrong.  😉

Oh, so you don't consider me important enough to personally attack, huh? Wow... just dismiss me as frivolous... I see how it is.

[Jason_R]

Hat tip to Al Karsten. He has been on Blake Miller to the Lions for weeks. Maybe he is more dialed in to Allen Park than Charlie Campbell. 

[Stanley70]

I think, in the first round, when you are 4-13 you go BPA, with a possible 1-2 postion group exception. When you are 13-4 you go need, narrowed down to 1-2 postion groups.

Brad has been in both of those situations and for the most part drafted that way. 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, RedRamage said:

Because I feel personally attacked by this post, I'm gonna defend myself (even though I know this was mostly just meant as humor).

The reality is that ALL GMs have ALWAYS mixed need and BPA. It's never a question of all NEED or all BPA, but rather how much does one vs. the other impact the decision. And even that's way to simple of a question. How big is the need? Like does a team literally have no one on the staff who could be expected to be an adequate starter or do they have someone who would be okay, but they'd really prefer to upgrade?

Saying Holmes is a BPA guy isn't saying that he only drafts the BPA and never the need, just that the slider between NEED and BPA is well past half-way towards the BPA side. I consider BPA to be more important in Holmes determination than it likely is for most NFL GMs.

 

 

If you look at what Holmes does in FA, he tries to patch at least enough so his needs don't totally dictate his draft. He tries to keep open the option for taking a player that is really high on his board if he falls to them even if it's not his *number one* need, because he tries not to have a desperate *number one* need by the time FA signings are done. That doesn't mean he's not going to draft for need, just that if there is a BPA head and shoulders above a higher need position, he wants to give himself the option of taking a great talent. That's what signing Borom was - it gave him the option of not taking an OT if it meant passing a player way higher on his board than the best remaining OT. In this case, he didn't need/want to use the option.

Edited 52 minutes ago by gehringer_2