Detroit Lions Scout on Brad Holmes NFL Draft Philosophy!

Detroit Lions Scout on Brad Holmes NFL Draft Philosophy!

I know Lions fans and probably much of the NFL World seeing what the lions are doing in terms of scouting identifying Talent now with Brad Holmes you have to wonder yourself what’s the key to finding these guys you know you hear Brad Holmes speak about it his philosophy how he identifies Talent what he values what he doesn’t value and you get little Snippets from press conferences and you try to piece it all together but when it comes to actually identifying their philosophy we only have press conferences until right now and I I want to give a very special shout out to to Michael Michael luchis who sent me this link to this interview and this interview was done by Schwarz talking Sports and they had Patrick Malarkey the an area Scout for the Detroit Lions on his show which I will put the link in the description go check out the interview watch it for yourself even comment crunch time sent me and show them some love because this interview is fantastic and it and it at least for me it gave me more insight to what the lions look for in players what they think of certain players which we’re going to play some clips of about uh Patrick talking about um Makai Wingo jir Gibbs you know positional value and of course really the Lions philosophy on attending the combine why they don’t attend the combine so there are some interesting things to get to here so we’re we’re going to start off we’re going to play the clip about Patrick Malarkey talking about positional value and what they saw on Jamir Gibbs and why you know they didn’t look at him as just a running back and we kind of know this but but to get more insight is always interesting let’s get to the first clip this is Patrick on the Lions selecting jir Gibbs but really the whole positional value narrative okay let’s let’s get to the clip three four five years there’s been a shift in drafting certain positions in the NFL uh it used to be a run league to set up the pass now it’s really more pass happy with you know the triggerman coming in there throwing 40 50 times a game very RAR do running backs go high you guys took a chance last year on jir Gibbs from Alabama the transfer out of Georgia Tech went to Alabama um a speed Merchant you can’t coach speed the kids got it all over and he comes right in and he fits in seamlessly with the Lions um you know onew punch with Montgomery is more of an inside more of a Thumper back um what is the reason do you think just personally of why the I’m going to say devalued I’m not going to say it’s devalued but why it’s more wide receivers tight ends offensive tackles quarterbacks taken and less running backs is it just because it’s been a league switch to the passing game yeah I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that I just think it’s that we’ve developed into more of a passing league and just the the running back position is become of less value in this league uh um you know you’re finding teams that are are identifying running backs later in the draft so you don’t have to um you know draft too early and uh you know and a lot of those early picks are going to tackles like you said quarterbacks wide receivers because that’s kind of what the league is now um but you know with with with gibsy we never really viewed him as a running back he was purely viewed as a weapon because of all the things that we could do with him uh out of the back field in the slot so you know we a lot of people talk about positional value uh which it’s a big you know keyw um that’s thrown around a lot during the draft process but you never hear it once once the season starts because positional value doesn’t exist so you just try we’re just trying to find good football players and he was a really good one and I know the the word positional value or the words positional value uh gets thrown around a lot as somebody like me who you know i’ I’ve made it very clear at least in my opinion and I know a lot of GMS think that way and a lot of people in media think this way it is a passing league so therefore tackles wide receivers quarterbacks Edge rushers those positions are going to be more valued higher in the draft and that’s always been my line of thinking it’s not that I hate running backs it’s that you know I’m I’m aware of the fact that tackles protecting your quarterback quarterback because again you have you need a quarterback to win this league wide receivers because they’re the ones catching passes cornerbacks because they have to guard wide receivers and then of course Edge rushers because you have to get after the opposing quarterback so I that that’s always been my philosophy on it but now jir Gibbs the interesting uh point he made there is he’s a weapon that right there is the key you know he’s not just he’s labeled as a running back and he is a running back but I I do think the upside with jir there is a lot in the passing game so if you want to make that argument that’s fair whether I agree with it or not Brad Holmes has always said they they identif Talent they take talented football players and Jamir Gibbs is clearly a talented football player so you know it’s not even about me whether I like the pick or not I think Jamir Gibbs a fantastic player whether you know there are G whether or not there are GMS in in the NFL that that believe hey I’m always going to take running backs a little later because I can get value for him if if you’re drafting a player like jir and you believe he can really play in the slot you know he could you could you believe he can catch you know 50 balls a year whatever it is then yeah there’s a lot of value in that you whether they resign him or not it’s a whole another conversation but I actually do appreciate his answer here he also weighed in and they asked him um they asked Patrick about why the Lions don’t attend the combine and you know me and the Fellas we went to the combine this year and the Lions weren’t there when we went and uh I thought this was a very interesting answer so check this out this is Patrick kind of on that uh line of thinking and and why the combine doesn’t always mean everything okay now before we go to another question uh you had told us earlier but talking to Al and I that the lions are one of the teams in the NFL that do not attend the actual combine in Indianapolis that they do every year and yeah listen it’s working I mean you guys are picking tremendous players I know you go to the pro day but yeah what was the reason what was the rationale that for the Lions not attending the uh the annual combine you know that’s just something our general manager brought from um the Los Angeles Rams they started doing that a couple years back and he kind of brought that philosophy over to us and uh you know just I think it’s just because he wants to keep football the main thing um you know that’s kind of why we draft is we’re not um you know we don’t want to get too caught up in the underwear Olympics you know some people call it I like it I like it yeah yeah we just want we just want a good football player and sometimes you know those things that the combine and all the numbers and stuff you can get caught up into it and forget about what the guy is on tape uh but we just want to keep blinders on and make sure we’re drafting good football players not good testers well Patrick is that also inclusive of the pro days they hold at The Universities at the schools themselves I mean we go to all the pro days yeah we do do that yeah so um that’s good to see um you know and we we don’t even really when we go to the pro days we don’t even really put a whole lot of stock into the testing uh we put more stock into the football drills that are done after testing you know the positional drills on so just how they move around they play the ball and we’ll kind of give it a thumbs up thumbs down based off the performance love this absolutely love this and it relates to a lot of the players they’ve they’ve selected as well and the first one that comes to mind would be Brian Branch right he’s not athletically uh he doesn’t test off the charts he’s not athletically gifted as some would say but he’s a fantastic football player so that philosophy does align with you know how the Lions have drafted now whether or not you’re at the combine or not you know we attended the combine and I know some some GMS and some front offices value the combine some others don’t in all honesty I do agree with this line of thinking the combine to me you know it’s something that you look at but you use it to confirm what’s already on tape like if a player plays fast on tape and he runs fast at the combine you use those two things and you put the two and two together but overall it should be it should be all based on tape you know that like uh Patrick put there the wear Olympics as many would call the combine and I agree so whether it’s Brian Branch or whether it’s other players that the Lions have drafted that didn’t attend the combine it it does make sense and it’s worked out very well for them foot keep football the main thing and I love that absolutely love that and it’s it’s helped them find fantastic football players so you know I thought that that comment by Patrick was was very very key and this is all information that Lions fans Lions media we all can use for future drafts right it’s not always the guy that tests really well at the combine even though you know I I’ve I’ve made an argument for why Brad Holmes values Ras scores but at the same time that’s something again you factor in I don’t think it’s the end all Beall tape matters always you know watch the tape and if the tape checks out then you can look at the RAS score or how athletic a player is like right Jack Campbell tested he was athletic he tested off the charts he was athletically gifted you know he just tested perfect in every area but you look at the tape and that’s what stood out to Brad Holmes from Jack Campbell was the tape and how much of a disruptor he was as a linebacker and he just did everything right so that’s what matters even though I bring up the raft score I think we all can agree tape matters the most and it’s something that you know Patrick mentioned he brought from LA you know being under lesne and which which is a great a great thing to take away like lesne is one of the best evaluators in the NFL he’s had success not having a first round pick and you look at Brad Holmes and he’s always found ways to find Talent Laten drafts so if this is the philosophy he uses and he doesn’t value the combine as much as he values act the actual tape then hell yeah like this is this is how it should be he also went on to answer question regarding just evaluating talent you know what you look for for example Bill b they brought up and you’re going to hear it in the clip bill bich when he was on Pat McAfee their draft their their draft Aon or the draft special and the Patriots selected Drake may he brought up footwork Bill b you know talking about Drake May brought up footwork and and all the stuff that you know he noticed so he asked Patrick like what are some things that you guys kind of look for when you’re evaluating talent and let’s hear what he had to say on tape um you don’t really need to know what they’re being asked to do by their offens or defensive coordinator and those are things that we’re looking for now if you see something that you’re not quite sure those are times that we usually take a note down and then when we have a chance to talk to the position coach offensive coordinator we can kind of get some clarity on like hey what was the quarterback’s you know Keys here what was he looking at was the receiver you know having the right you know footwork as far as he h the right depth does he break at the right Point as a quarterback off so um those are things we can’t identify in film but we try to figure out once we talk with coaches and stuff like that the lions got to be one of the most thorough teams through this process like they they’re going to find out everything about a player and I know a lot of NFL teams do that but at least hearing Patrick speak about it it is incredible like he even mentioned how his favorite position to scout is defensive line and he went into Makai wngo who was the lion six round pick this year out of LSU defensive tackled defensive end and he kind of weighed in on his opinion of Makai wngo and and just some traits that he absolutely loved so let’s let’s hear what he had to say before we go to another question Janie so why don’t you talk speaking of that you guys chosen the six round pick number 189 McKai Wingo uh Kido transferred out of Missouri maybe a lot of people see him as being undersized he’s about 61 about 290 um uh but you know really played well at LSU we got some good video here of Maki making the sack love that game saw it uh what can you tell us a little bit of maai Wingo yeah maai was like one of my favorite players coming into the year um and then he you know he just he played really well again before he uh left with the injury uh but he’s a great kid great person um he got that number 18 as you know that’s a big honor there for people who don’t know like go the people with the the highest football and personal character so it says a lot about who he is uh but as a player you know he’s undersized but he makes up for it for a lot of things uh he’s really quick off the ball he lands his hands really fast um he’s athletic he plays with natural leverage so he gets underneath guys at the point I think he does a really good job of just awareness of where the ball is you know those those undersized guys at times they’ll get lost in the Block in those big bodies and they can’t find the ball for a guy that’s short and a little bit of short arms he can keep separation from the Block and find the ball really really well uh but he also has that ability to just get off the Rock and shoot gaps and get up field and get on edges and pressure the quarterback so uh really excited about them especially getting them in the sixth round that was awesome yeah sixth round for Makai Wingo now I mean and Christian mahogany two top 100 players but that goes back to just the value that the Lions continue to find late in drafts I think Makai Wingo is going to be the next not same player but in terms of value James Houston like I I think Makai Wingo in the sixth round was an absolute steal and there is upside at least to start him on the edge he’s got that type of talent he he could play in my opinion anywhere on the defensive line you know he not maybe not a he’s not a nose tackle but still I think he can be a disruptor anywhere you play him and that excites me you know because there are a lot of guys on this defensive line that you know are competing and I think Mak wingle could shock a lot of people this training camp heading into the season you know that’s someone to watch right as a rookie as a six round pick a guy who’s played in the SEC and again like Patrick put wearing that number 18 at LSU which just speaks about his character his football character which the Lions do value by the way so he checks a lot of those boxes as well player check human being check for Makai wingo and I think he can steal someone’s job this training camp absolutely abolutely so I’m very excited for him you know you got a Lee mcneel’s contract extension looming you’d hope they get a deal done with him you know but you have a a Makai Wingo sitting there learning developing you know does he does he is he is he going to eventually play on the edge is he a true defensive tackle what is he I know he’s a damn good football player so I’m very excited for Makai Wingo I mean it’s clear that even Patrick Malarkey who his specialty something that he loves to do is Scout defensive lineman and Makai wngo was a player that he absolutely fell in love with so we can revisit this clip and when Makai wngo becomes a fantastic player you know who was a fan of him from the Detroit Lions the Detroit Lions area Scout Patrick Malarkey but what you guys think of of some of the comments from Patrick there’s a lot more stuff we’re going to review this tonight on our show as well he spoke about henden hooker kind of his vision for henden now with Jared gof extended and you know he he also went through the process of being an area Scout and and what that entails it was a very good interview so again check that out link will be in the description go tell them that crunch time sent you and tune in our live show tonight 8:00 P pm to 10 pm weekday and like I said we’re going to break a lot of this down as well on the show until next time I’ll catch you guys

Jeff Iafrate discusses Detroit Lions Area Scout Patrick Mularkey’s interview with “Swartz Talkin’ Sports” talking about how the Detroit Lions don’t value the NFL Combine as much as other teams, what went into identifying Jahmyr Gibbs and Mekhi Wingo, and what makes a good NFL prospect.

FULL INTERVIEW HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sPFniYs72c&t=261s&ab_channel=SwartzTalkin%27Sports

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