Brad Holmes has hit a lot of home runs in the draft as general manager of the Lions. But even the best talent evaluators miss.
Asked on ESPN's This Is Football if there's one player evaluation over the course of his career that he wants back, one player that "I wish I pounded the table for," Holmes pointed to a receiver drafted in the fifth round by his former team.
"The one that I've spoken about most recently is Puka Nacua," said Holmes. "Ask my personnel staff. That’s the one that I’ve brought up that’s like, Man."
Nacua went 177th overall to the Rams in 2023, 25 picks after the Lions took offensive tackle Colby Sorsdal in the same round. Nacua had good-not-quite-great numbers over two seasons at BYU after transferring from Washington. Over his first two seasons with the Rams, Nacua has averaged more receiving yards per game than all but three players in the NFL: Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Ja'Marr Chase.
"It is what it is, but you know what, if you don’t recognize those things, if you don’t self-assess yourself constantly, you can’t grow and you can’t get better," said Holmes, the NFL's two-time Executive of the Year. "Everybody wants to preach humility. You gotta be honest to be humble. So you just have to be honest if you miss out on something, if it's something you could have done a little bit better."
Holmes and the Lions did just fine in the 2023 draft as it was, adding franchise cornerstones with their first four picks in running back Jahmyr Gibbs, linebacker Jack Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta and safety Brian Branch.
But they rounded out the class with Hendon Hooker, Brodric Martin, Sorsdal and Antoine Green.