“Brad Holmes hopes to celebrate with Will Anderson” by Terry Foster

One of the more endearing and enduring moments of Detroit Lions draft night is when GM Brad Holmes sees his best laid plans pan out and he goes into a madcap celebration that seems fake at first, but is genuine at last.

He breaks into a broad smile, pounds a nearby table and claps his hands with the ferocity of a shark bite. Holmes is happy.

Holmes is on top of the world and more importantly Holmes knows the Lions are a better football team.

He slaps Coach Dan Campbell on the back twirls team owner Sheila Hamp in the air and morphs into his own personal space of accomplishment and joy.

This is what Lions fans want to see Thursday during the first night of the draft. They want to see the madcap celebration which often happens when the Lions get help from teams above them.

It happened last year when the Jacksonville Jaguars surprised many of us by selecting Travon Walker with the first pick which allowed rookie of the year runner up Aiden Hutchinson to slip to the Lions.

The year before Holmes held his breath as the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals selected wide receivers which allowed offensive tackle Penei Sewell to fall into his lap.

Key in the celebration.

We can see the celebration again, although Holmes needs outside help and stupidity to help him. If Holmes can escape this draft with Alabama outside linebacker and edge rusher Will Anderson and Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell in the third round we might see Holmes hanging on to a bar stool at 4 in the morning at Lafayette Coney Island.

That’s the hope. That’s the dream.

Holmes is willing to trade up from the sixth pick to the number three pick to select Anderson although he may not have to. Some mocks have Anderson dropping to six where the Lions could select him. Noah Sewell is the brother of Penei Sewell and is a projected fourth round pick.

But Sewell might be more valuable to the Lions because he’s been indoctrinated by his older brother to Lions culture. He is a bit on the slow side but my folks are telling me he is working his tale off to become an NFL linebacker. He is also willing to put more time in if the Lions select him. Most importantly, he wants to play with his brother and wants to win with his brother.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE QUARTERBACK ROOM

The Lions are in win now mode. Therefore there is no way they enter the regular season with just Jared Goff and Nate Sudfeld. Goff is legit. Sudfeld is not.

The law of averages says Goff gets injured this season. Whether it is for one play, one quarter, one game or one month you do not want a Goff injury to sidetrack the season. The Lions have already reached out to veteran free agent quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Holmes won’t stop there. Look for

Double Down Holmes, who likes to stack position groups, to select a QB within the first two rounds – perhaps Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker or UCLA standout Dorian Thompson-Robinson — for down the road development.
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For more from the author Terry Foster, check him out on Twitter here: @terryfosterdet

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