Brad Holmes will never say who, but he did reveal last week that he and Dan Campbell "were the lone wolf on a player we (drafted) last year and it worked out." While the Lions general manager and head coach "loved the player," said Holmes, the rest of the player personnel and scouting staff "was like, 'No, get this guy at the same position.'"
Holmes and Campbell trusted their instincts and were rewarded. The Lions drafted four key contributors on a team that reached the NFC title game last season with their first four picks in running back Jahmyr Gibbs, linebacker Jack Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta and defensive back Brian Branch.
To Holmes, "groupthink and influence" is one of the biggest threats to the Lions' drafting process. He says it's human nature: "People naturally want to be part of the tribe and want to get along. They want to agree and be likable. It takes work to go against the grain." One of the ways Holmes and Campbell counteract groupthink is by letting everyone around them speak first during player evaluations and always listening to "the lone wolf."
"If I'm the lone wolf and everybody else is completely different than me -- no one really knows what I think -- and I'm listening to everybody, I'm like, 'Man, I need to go back and look. I missed something,'" said Holmes. "I have the confidence and humility to do that because I have so much respect for the process. It's an art form ... But if I saw something with what the rest of the group says and the lone wolf says something different, damn, I better go back and look and see because that person is in the room for a reason and I have a lot of respect for that person's evaluations."
For Holmes and Campbell, the process has clearly worked. They've added two All-Pros plus three other Pro Bowlers among a pile of cornerstone players in their three drafts in Detroit. As they prepare for their fourth, Campbell said Wednesday that "one of the most important things we’ve done is, Brad and I try to stay out of it and as much as we can while everybody else gives their opinion and does their evaluations."
Campbell said that before he and Holmes even weigh in, they'll give the floor to trusted voices like assistant GM Ray Agnew, senior personnel exec John Dorsey, director of college scouting Brian Hudspeth, director of scouting advancement Mike Martin and "then the area scouts and the coaches."
"Brad and I take all of that in. As much as we can, we listen and absorb that information," said Campbell. "We’ve got our own thoughts on those players, so once we’ve gathered that information, we’ll give our opinion. And certainly Brad and I meet together, by ourselves, and we go over those evaluations. You know, ‘Man, I didn’t see it that way. Did you see this?’"
"At the end of the day, it comes down to what Brad and I really believe and what we see eye to eye on, and then we come to the best conclusion for what we think is going to fit us and what we need. And here we go, we're going on four years and there’s really not anything that Brad and I haven’t agreed on. I mean, there’s these little things or maybe there’s a player here or there, but I’m telling you, we see pretty eye to eye on things. It’s been another good year and another good process."
They have every reason to be trusted Thursday night.