NFL Draft finally lined up for Brad Holmes and Lions, who didn't miss

The reporters were smirking. And when Brad Holmes stepped to the podium, he couldn't help but smile: "I didn't say anything," Holmes said knowingly. His picks said it all.

"I guess I followed your mock drafts," he grinned.

An offensive tackle in the first round. An edge rusher in the second. Two needs at two premium positions, a pair of perfectly-timed selections for a roster that was starting to turn stale and for a fanbase beginning to grow restless. It gets harder each year for Holmes to add starters in the draft, thanks to all the talent he's already collected. The Lions didn't let that stand in their way this time.

They got the next lynchpin of their offensive line in Blake Miller, exploring a trade up from No. 17 before letting the board fall in their favor. They got the complement they've been missing to Aidan Hutchinson, moving up six spots in the second round to grab Michigan's Derrick Moore.

Neither Miller nor Moore project as All-Pros, but both should be sturdy contributors from the jump, with plenty of room to grow. And with stars opposite both those players, the Lions didn't need to shoot for the moon. They are built to win now. Miller and Moore should help them do that in 2026, and beyond.

"It really did line up," said Holmes. "We’ve always said we’re going to just take the best player. Look, I’m sure there were other tackles that were available, and other edge rushers that were available, but these were the guys that we liked. When it blends together like that, it’s really nice. Couldn’t be happier, actually, from today and yesterday."

Miller, 22, could be Detroit's next Taylor Decker, a stable offensive tackle for the foreseeable future. He might not have the ceiling of, say, Spencer Fano or Francis Mauigoa, the first two tackles off the board, but across from Penei Sewell, he should be a starter from Day 1. He's a soft-spoken, well-mannered Midwesterner with a mean streak, a bit like the fast-rising right guard next to him, Tate Ratledge. The Lions are intent on reclaiming their physical, downhill demeanor on the ground.

"There's no greater compliment as an offensive lineman than quarter 1, first play, that (defensive end) is super juiced-up to come rush the passer, and then you see him at the end of the game, he's looking for the sideline," Miller said Friday during his introduction in Allen Park.

Holmes has been peppered with so many questions about edge rusher over the last few years that it's turned into a schtick. His answers in press conferences have ranged from playful to defensive. On the field, they just haven't been sufficient. Even as bargain-bin signing Al-Quadin Muhammad piled up a bunch of sacks last year, the Lions ranked toward the bottom of the NFL in time to quarterback pressure. They rarely put passers under siege.

And the questions were fair: Entering Friday, the Lions hadn't drafted an edge rusher on the first two days of the draft since Hutchinson and Josh Paschal in 2022. Holmes will you that it wasn't for lack of effort, citing failed attempts to move up in drafts past. This year, they went into round two targeting a "cluster of guys," said Holmes, Moore their No. 1 edge rusher "for what was available." They weren't going to miss.

"He was already at top of mind (for) going up," said Holmes. "Just kind of paying attention to who was in front of us, who was behind us, it felt like, right in that area, there were multiple edge rushers that were flying off. ... You’ve just got to get the guy that you want.”

Like with Miller, the Lions had kept a close eye on Moore for several years. They were enamored with his steady progression over four years at Michigan, particularly his "length and physicality and power," said Holmes, "but didn’t really feel like his (pass) rush was quite there yet." Then Moore racked up 10 sacks last season -- while finishing with one of the highest pass-rushing grades in the country, per PFF -- before going down to Mobile and tearing up the Senior Bowl.

"Not only did he really show that he was an improved pass-rusher on the edge, he can sub-rush too, which is very intriguing about him as well. I think that was a very underrated component of his game," said Holmes. "But I thought he did a nice job proving at the Senior Bowl versus the top competition that he’s a real pass-rusher.”

Whether he's a real run-defender is another question, one that Moore says he's eager to answer in the NFL. Holmes and the Lions believe he has the right instincts for the job. Even if he's mostly a pass-rusher as a rookie, Moore should be a natural complement to free agent acquisition D.J. Wonnum, who's more rugged against the run. That stands to be a solid duo.

Most importantly, Moore can lighten some of the load on Hutchinson, the only edge rusher in the NFL last season to log 1,000 snaps. A few extra blows per game could go a long way. Indeed, when Holmes was asked what Moore will bring to Detroit's defense, he pointed right to the fact that "Hutch takes a lot of snaps, man," hence the value in "having another body that can spell Hutch in that rush rotation."

The risk is low in both Miller and Moore, the reward potentially high. Their respective floors will lift the Lions' ceiling, both now and into the future. That's significant for a team whose Super Bowl window is open, even if Holmes doesn't believe in such things. After a 9-8 season and some roster attrition, a new offensive tackle and a new edge rusher will ensure that it doesn't creek shut any further.

"I still feel like we have enough ammo to make a little bit of hay tomorrow as well," said Holmes. "But I didn’t feel like it was any kind of reaching for positions or anything like that. I know those were the popular positions and all that stuff that they talked about for us, but they just happened to be players that we really liked.”

With six more picks in his pocket, Holmes can take some bolder swings on Saturday and perhaps run into one. But a couple doubles in the first two rounds could be really clutch huts, when the stars in place are like runners on base.