How does Holmes view this year’s defensive line group in the NFL Draft?
A lot of draft analysts leading up to this week’s Combine have raved about this year’s defensive line draft class, both on the edge and the interior. Some consider it the most talented and deep defensive line class the draft has ever seen.
“I’ve always been close to the vest about talking about strengths and weaknesses in the draft because it’s very subjective,” he said. “But this one here, me and Ray Agnew were looking at the totality of just, yeah, it’s a lot deeper than what we can remember at least in the past couple years and that’s both inside and out, for sure.”
The Lions could certainly be in the market to add talent and depth along the defensive line this offseason.
How excited is Holmes for the addition of new running backs coach Tashard Choice?
Holmes said Choice is a name that’s held a lot of weight in the college ranks for a long time and he’s ecstatic the Lions were able to get him on their coaching roster.
“He coached Jahmyr at Georgia Tech, which is huge, but he’s one of those ones that I never would have thought we’d be able to get him and was just so glad we were able to land him,” Holmes said.
Holmes said Choice and all the new coaching hires from offensive coordinator John Morton to defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and right down the list are good fits and great teachers.
“I just give Dan so much credit in terms of the patience that he displayed throughout the process,” Holmes said. “When you lose two great coordinators like we did and other position coaches as well. To be able to add and replenish like we were able to, I thought that’s just an incredible job by Dan.”