Grading the Detroit Lions 2023 Draft

[Motor City Sonics]

Because I think grading any draft before 3 years is absolutely pointless, let's look back

 

Round 1 - Jahmyr Gibbs -  A+.    Raised a lot of eyebrows at the time, didn't it?  

Round 1 - Jack Campbell - A+   Yeah, it took a little longer to come together, but he's their Chris Spielman.

Round 2 - Sam LaPorta -  A+   Dude's a game-changer.   Could  not have predicted the injury

Round 2 - Brian Branch - A+  A game-changer from his very first game.   Again, can't count injuries against them

Round 3-  Hendon Hooker - F.   It was a very puzzling pick.  I understand wanting to take the next QB, but he was never going to be the next QB and they couldn't use him. 

Round 3 - Brodric Martin - F.   He played in only 6 games and did not make an imipact

Round 5 - Colby Sorsdal  - OL    D    At least they got a little use out of him.  He was a 5th rounder, after all

Round 7 - Antoine Green - F.    Even for a 7th rounder - a 1-catch for 2 yard career isn't much

 

I give this an A-.     The Top Half was absolutely an A+.   Four players that could be major pieces for a Super Bowl run.    Those four picks were so strong that the failure of round 3 still keeps it in the A range for me.  But that 3rd round, yikes.  Get average 3rd round performances out of those two picks and maybe they actully would have won a Super Bowl.  Depth players that could have come in handy in these last two injury-littered seasons.     Injuries have derailed a couple of those A+ guys, hopefully only temporarily.   

 

 

 

[Motown Bombers]

Draft four All-Pro caliber players in one draft and it's only an A-. 

[RatkoVarda]

Hooker made sense; he was one of the best players in the SEC before hurting his knee; totally worth a roll of the dice to see if you can get a back-up QB or more

Martin pick is inexplicable

Sorsdal gave them something; possible but unlikely he makes team in 2026; ok for 5th rounder

Green was a flyer; whatever

A/A+ overall

[Hongbit]

Top 4 picks all have made pro bowl.  This is an A, if not an A+.     Perfection is not the goal.  
 

 

[MichiganCardinal]

Martin was more disappointing than Hooker. They traded three picks to go get him and most analysts had him as a late day three prospect. He was just supposed to be a Snacks Harrison type, plugging holes and absorbing blockers. But he was never even strong enough to win a one-on-one.

Hooker was in the Heisman conversation before his ACL injury, and wouldn’t have whiffed the 3rd round without the injury. Holmes also traded down twice before making the pick. And, we hadn’t yet extended Goff and needed something of leverage in those negotiations, because there was nothing behind Goff at the position.

I’ll take Hooker and Martin all day if it brings me those first four picks though. Easy A draft. Maybe A+.

[Motown Bombers]

A 27 year old who was going to miss his first season never made sense. The discussion here was Goff was going to cost too much and they needed a developmental QB. Hooker made more sense for a team like Minnesota who had an aging QB that had about a year or two of prime left. 

[Stanley70]

Hooker came out of that Josh Heupel offense which doesn't translate well to the NFL. It emphasizes quick reads and taking off if they aren't there. If he could process complex defenses was unknown pretty much. And ultimately why he failed is he was lost post snap. It was a gamble i think they thought they could make because they had a bunch of picks.

It kind of began a trend of making some bad decisions with 3rd and 4th round picks, or at least decisions that look bad in retrospect.

[buddha]

A+ draft.  maybe the second best draft in lions history after the one that brough sewell and amon ra.

[RedRamage]

On 4/26/2026 at 11:38 AM, Motor City Sonics said:

Because I think grading any draft before 3 years is absolutely pointless, let's look back

 

Round 1 - Jahmyr Gibbs -  A+.    Raised a lot of eyebrows at the time, didn't it?  

Round 1 - Jack Campbell - A+   Yeah, it took a little longer to come together, but he's their Chris Spielman.

Round 2 - Sam LaPorta -  A+   Dude's a game-changer.   Could  not have predicted the injury

Round 2 - Brian Branch - A+  A game-changer from his very first game.   Again, can't count injuries against them

Round 3-  Hendon Hooker - F.   It was a very puzzling pick.  I understand wanting to take the next QB, but he was never going to be the next QB and they couldn't use him. 

Round 3 - Brodric Martin - F.   He played in only 6 games and did not make an imipact

Round 5 - Colby Sorsdal  - OL    D    At least they got a little use out of him.  He was a 5th rounder, after all

Round 7 - Antoine Green - F.    Even for a 7th rounder - a 1-catch for 2 yard career isn't much

 

I give this an A-.     The Top Half was absolutely an A+.   Four players that could be major pieces for a Super Bowl run.    Those four picks were so strong that the failure of round 3 still keeps it in the A range for me.  But that 3rd round, yikes.  Get average 3rd round performances out of those two picks and maybe they actully would have won a Super Bowl.  Depth players that could have come in handy in these last two injury-littered seasons.     Injuries have derailed a couple of those A+ guys, hopefully only temporarily.   

Haven't read the whole thread so maybe others have already said this, but I think you're being too hard to on the 5th & 7th round picks. By the time you're hitting the late rounds of the draft you're getting backup level players. Sorsdal has been a backup player. How do you rate players taken in the 5th, 6th, or 7th rounds? Do you rate them based on the product of the player himself? Or do you rate it based on the the expected value at that pick?

If you rate it based on the player himself, then sure... a D, maybe D+. But then you need to weight that grade when looking at the draft. A bad grade in the 5th round should count a LOT less than a bad grade in the 2nd round.

Personally I think when you're grading a draft you're grading the Front Office, not the players. So I think it's far more fair to grade based on expected value. In this sense I expect a solid backup player in the 5th round... Sorsdal has maybe been a bit under "solid backup," so maybe a B+ grade for the value we got from that position.

In the same way 7th rounders are people I'm generally happy to see actually make the team and play in a handful of games. I'd give a C+ grade on the Green pick.

 

[RedRamage]

On 4/26/2026 at 11:44 AM, Motown Bombers said:

Draft four All-Pro caliber players in one draft and it's only an A-. 

If either or both of the 3rd rounders were more than complete duds I'd agree that it's an A or even A+ draft. I get where both of you are coming from:

MB: You got FOUR A+ players... how can this be anything other than a spectacular, A+ draft?
MCS: You got ZERO production out of TWO 3rd round picks. Can't give a perfect score for a draft with that.

On one hand this has to be one of the best drafts by any team in terms of star players acquired. All four of those players could end up being HOF players. And yet... it could have been more.