A quarterback through high school, Isaac TeSlaa doesn't really know when it clicked for him that he was good enough to be a receiver in the NFL: "When I was old enough to think, I was always thinking I was gonna be an NFL player."
The Michigander who showed up for his pre-draft visit in Allen Park wearing the customized Lions jersey that he's had since eighth grade with his name and No. 10 on the back hit the field last Friday in a jersey that will soon be for sale inside Ford Field: "Number 18!" he said. "It's a surreal thing."
By now, you know TeSlaa's story. The reaction at his watch party when the Lions drafted him tells the tale. As TeSlaa noted with a laugh, "I'm sure you saw the video my mom posted. She’s all excited, she got a million-some views on it, and she got some followers, so she thinks she’s an influencer now or something. But I mean, it was amazing."
The Lions were slated to make the last pick of the third round, No. 102 overall. Watching the draft on a TV delay, TeSlaa wasn't aware they had traded up 32 spots, "and all of a sudden I’m getting a call from a 313 number," he said. "I just about passed out."
"I stood up and everyone was still talking, I was like, ‘Everybody shut up!’ I picked up the call, and he said, ‘This is Brad Holmes, GM with the Detroit Lions,’ and I almost fell to the ground," said TeSlaa. "I don’t know if I remember a single world that anyone said to me after that point. I was just kind of in a daze. If I could have chosen any team, it would be here."
(The record backs him up. In the 2020 yearbook at Unity Christian High School in Hudsonsville, each senior named the one professional team they'd want to play for. TeSlaa's choice goes without saying.)
TeSlaa was "born to be a Lion," if you ask assistant GM Ray Agnew. Brad Holmes echoes that. The sentiment stems from his background, yes, but also from his performance at the Senior Bowl when Holmes and Agnew watched TeSlaa block like a maniac and snare passes like a seasoned receiver.
"He was just wearing those DB's out," Agnew said. "And then the guy catches the ball. Everything is with his hands, he barely ever uses his body. Tough kid, good run after the catch. We’re excited about him. I think he’s got a ways to go, but the upside this kid has, he’s got a chance to be a really good player for us. He’s got to grow some as a route runner, play more on the outside."
As he gets going in Detroit, TeSlaa said he wants to show his coaches that he's "dependable and smart, that you "can throw me out there and I’m gonna make plays." The Lions aren't wasting any time. In the first seven-on-seven period of rookie minicamp, the first four passes went to No. 18. He reeled in three of them, winning both outside and in the slot. TeSlaa said afterward that he was "grateful" for the early looks.
"I'm a playmaker at the end of the day, so if I'm on the field I want the ball, and a lot of times it was coming my way today," he said. "I know it's not going to be like that every day, so it's just about your mentality and making sure I'm going back and watching the tape to figure out what I did well and what I can work on."
Watching TeSlaa, it's not hard to see why Holmes called him his "favorite receiver in the draft." He has springy legs and soft hands. There's a glide to his stride. These traits are packaged in a 6'4 frame. His athleticism jumped off the page at the combine, and was evident in his debut in Allen Park -- albeit in reps without pads against fellow rookies or try-out players.
Bigger challenges await for a receiver with just two seasons of D-I football under his belt. The biggest will be learning to win against press coverage on the outside, especially in training camp when he comes across corners like DJ Reed, Amik Robertson and Terrion Arnold. But TeSlaa proved he could level up at Arkansas, ranking among the SEC leaders last season in yards per catch. And in Detroit, wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery "will teach him well," said Agnew.
"The kid learns fast, so he’ll be fine. That’s just the biggest thing: in this league, guys can get their hands on you, and they’re pretty good at press coverage. That will be the one thing he has to get over," Agnew said.
Part of him still can't get over being drafted by the Lions. The rest of him knows "this is where I was born to be."