After every road win this season, Lions GM Brad Holmes made a point to celebrate with his own. He'd head down to the field and slap hands with the Honolulu-blue-clad fans hanging over the front-row railing. He'd flex his arms and scream at the top of his lungs.
"Going crazy. I would be, too!" Alim McNeill said Wednesday. "He built this thing here and look where we are now."
The Lions are one win from the Super Bowl three seasons after Brad Holmes took over a moribund team, buoyed by terrific draft classes, a batch of smart free-agent signings and one critical trade. And on Thursday, Holmes was named the NFL's Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association of America.
McNeill was one of Holmes' first draft picks, a third-rounder in 2021. That class produced five starters on this year's team that won the NFC North for the first time in franchise history, including two first-team All-Pros in seventh overall offensive tackle Penei Sewell and fourth-round receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. They are two of the best players in the NFL, period. Along with McNeill, a rising star in his own right at defensive tackle, third-round defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu and fourth-round linebacker Derrick Barnes have played big roles as well.
"As soon as he got here, he just went to work," said McNeill. "And he hasn’t stopped going to work. I’m trying to see what’s gonna happen next year, because I’m like, 'Man, who else we gonna get!?' He’s got a crazy eye for talent, crazy."
That same offseason, Holmes pulled off the biggest move of the Lions' rebuild. He traded franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford, who had asked out of Detroit after 12 lost seasons and who Holmes would have happily kept, to the Rams for a haul of draft picks and Jared Goff. Stafford and the Rams got their Super Bowl in LA. The Lions got a future.
Goff has resurrected his career in Detroit and has an extension coming his way this offseason. He just joined Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to win 14 games in a season with two different teams. And Holmes turned a premium package of picks, including two first-rounders, into Melifonwu in 2021, receiver Jameson Williams and defensive lineman Josh Paschal in 2022 and running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta in 2023.
Gibbs and LaPorta were both nominated Thursday for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Holmes also used the 2023 draft to add linebacker Jack Campbell in the first round and defensive back Brian Branch in the second round, both of whom have played major roles on this year's team. Branch, in particular, is viewed as one of the early steals of the draft. With the way that class is starting to pop, there's a friendly debate going down in the Lions locker room.
"I’m trying to be the best at anything, so if we can be the best class in Detroit’s organization possible, I would like that," Sewell said Wednesday. "There’s a little talk here and there with some players, too, of which class is better, but this one we just had recently with everyone is kind of making it hard."
That's not to discount Holmes' 2022 draft, which produced a franchise cornerstone second overall in defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, a ballhawk in third-round safety Kerby Joseph, a pass-rushing force in sixth-rounder James Houston and key special-teams players in sixth-rounder Malcolm Rodriguez and seventh-rounder Chase Lucas. And that's on top of Williams and Paschal, respective starters on offense and defense.
So, which of Holmes' draft classes is best?
"Obviously ours," McNeill said with a smile.
After the Lions went 8-2 down the stretch last season for their first winning season in five years but narrowly missed the playoffs, Holmes solidified the roster in free agency. He re-signed key defensive players in co-captain and linebacker Alex Anzalone, whose game has reached new levels in Detroit, and defensive end John Cominsky, who does all sorts of dirty work up front. He also added safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson after he led the NFL in picks last season. He's made his presence felt in the playoffs after missing most of the season with a torn pec.
Holmes upgraded the offense by signing former Bears running back David Montgomery, swapping out a good backfield tandem in D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams for a great one in Montgomery and Gibbs. He also signed guard Graham Glasgow, who's emerged as a sturdy starter. The Lions' rushing attack went from 11th in the NFL in yards and 15th in yards per carry last year to fifth in both categories this year.
The Lions have won 14 games for the first time in franchise history. Holmes would be the first to direct the credit to the coaching staff and the players, not to mention his team of scouts. But as McNeill said, Holmes built this. He's the architect of one of the best rosters in the NFL, and maybe the single best roster the Lions have ever put on the field. And as his team prepares to play the loaded 49ers in Sunday's NFC title game, you get the feeling that Holmes is just getting started.
"His eye for talent, it's different," said McNeill. "He was born with something different."