Justin RogersThe Detroit News
During a receipt-cashing spree at his end-of-season media session, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes declared a draft class should be graded three seasons after the selections are made, not the day after the event. Well, good news, that's how I've long approached the process.
With the 2024 NFL Draft later this month, it's time to review the Lions' 2021 class, the first of Holmes' tenure with the franchise. It's the safest of bets it'll score better than the D+ given to the 2020 class, the fifth and final group selected by predecessor Bob Quinn.
▶Offensive tackle Penei Sewell (Round 1, pick No. 7)
Who could forget Holmes' jubilant reaction inside Detroit's war room when he landed Sewell? It was the first taste we got of the GM's unfiltered excitement when able to snag one of his top targets — filled with jumping, hugging, fist pumps and high fives.
The Sewell selection was well received in the moment, but hindsight has shown the initial celebration actually might have been too muted. Given how well it's worked out, maybe the Lions should have shot fireworks from the roof of Ford Field after Roger Goodell announced the pick.
Sewell has been everything Detroit could have hoped for and then some his first three seasons. An immediate starter, he has set a tone for the franchise with his play, attitude and leadership. He's missed just one game during his career, while showing steady improvement as both a run blocker and pass protector. In 2023, he allowed just one sack and 20 total quarterback pressures, the fewest among full-time tackles in the NFL.
A team captain for the first time last season, Sewell's performance at right tackle has earned him Pro Bowl honors each of the past two years and he was named a first-team All-Pro in 2023.
Biggest whiff:None.
To be fair, the Lions could have gone a few different directions at the top of this draft and landed a franchise building block. Edge rusher Micah Parsons, offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, and even cornerback Patrick Surtain II have been studs for their respective franchises, but Sewell's on-field and off-field demeanors have made him a perfect fit for what Holmes set out to build in Detroit.
Grade: A+
▶ Defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike (Round 2, pick No. 41)
Holmes wanted to trade back into the final few picks of the first round to secure Onwuzurike, but was talked out of the decision by other members of his front office. Talking to the player on a conference call after the selection, it was easy to understand why the general manager was enamored. There was an nasty edge to Onwuzurike that mirrored what Sewell was expected to bring to the offense.
Unfortunately, injuries have prevented that vision from coming to fruition. Onwuzurike suffered a back injury during training camp his rookie year, and despite appearing in 16 games that season, was wholly ineffective. A second back injury, requiring surgery, sidelined him the entirety of the 2022 campaign, and he played sparingly last season, recording five tackles and 1.0 sack in 132 defensive snaps.
The Lions knew there were medical risks before the pick, rolled the dice and lost. These calculations are part of the profession and they're not always going to work out. The silver lining is there were some flashes of the ability that led Onwuzurike to Detroit in 2023, so there's a sliver of hope for his future. But to date, injuries have made the pick a bust.
Biggest whiff: If the Lions were willing to trade up for Onwuzurike, they certainly could have made the same concessions for Christian Barmore, who went three picks earlier to New England. The Alabama defensive tackle has delivered the interior pass-rush production the Lions were seeking at the time. He's tallied 120 quarterback pressures and 12.5 sacks through his first three seasons.
In terms of players selected after Onwuzurike in the second round, cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. or linebackers Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah or Nick Bolton could have provided instant impact for a talent-deficient defense.
Grade: F
▶ Defensive tackle Alim McNeill (Round 3, pick No. 72)
Unlike Onwuzurike, McNeill has provided value from the jump.
As a rookie, McNeill appeared in all 17 games and saw more than 400 defensive snaps. Perceiving untapped potential with his pass-rush ability, the Lions began to transition him into more of a 3-tech role midway through his second season. There was a notable lack of consistency that year, but after slimming down the following offseason, he experienced a breakout in 2023, logging 43 pressures and 5.0 sacks in 13 games, all while playing the best run defense of his career.
A knee injury cost him four games last season, but he's otherwise been a model of durability. And while it took a little time to find his best fit within Detroit's defensive scheme, he's been a solid piece to the team's rebuild.
Biggest whiff:Things started to click for cornerback Paulson Adebo in his third season with the Giants, and former Michigan wide receiver Nico Collins emerged as a big-play threat for the Texans in 2023, but it's difficult to find many flaws with the McNeill selection. He's been a contributor every season and was a clearly above-average defender in year three. The question now becomes whether the Lions have the resources to extend him. He's on track for a contract that could pay him somewhere in the ballpark of $15 million per season.
Grade: A-
▶ Defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu (Round 3, Pick No. 101)
The Lions were thrilled to use the first of three picks acquired in the Matthew Stafford trade to land the big, long, athletic cornerback out of Syracuse near the end of the third round.
But like Onwuzurike, durability hampered Melifonwu's ability to make an early impact. In his first start, he suffered a quad injury that put him on the shelf for half his rookie season. He returned to play most of the final three games that year, but that didn't stop the team from transitioning him to safety ahead of his second season.
Hamstring and ankle injuries slowed his development after that switch, and he ended up seeing fewer than 100 snaps in his sophom*ore campaign. It was tracking to be more of the same in 2023, with another quad strain and a broken hand limiting him to fewer than 100 snaps the first 12 weeks of the season, before he was inserted into the starting lineup down the stretch.
Those six starts, plus three more in the playoffs, have altered the perceptions of Melifonwu's trajectory. He proved to be electric as a blitzer, steady in run defense and above-average in coverage. He's safely projected as a starter heading into the 2024 campaign, and should be a dynamic piece if he can manage to stay on the field.
Biggest whiff: Two picks after the Lions took Melifonwu, the Rams, Holmes' former employer, grabbed South Carolina linebacker Ernest Jones. Slightly undersized, but an explosive athlete, he carved out an immediate role as a rookie for the eventual Super Bowl champions. And he's only gotten better with time, establishing himself as one of the league's better gap-fillers and tacklers against the run. He also took a big step forward as a blitzer in his third season, recording 37 pressures on 141 rush attempts.
Grade: B
▶ Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (Round 4, Pick No. 112)
One of, if not the biggest steals of the draft. It took St. Brown approximately a half-season to reveal himself as a future NFL star. In the final six games of his rookie year, he caught 51 passes for 560 yards and five touchdowns. The following season, he scored a Pro Bowl nod with 106 grabs and six scores.
The production increases only continued into his third season. In 2023, St. Brown finished in the top five in receptions (115), receiving yards (1,515) and touchdown catches (10), resulting in first-team All-Pro honors.
Like Sewell, St. Brown is more than his on-field accomplishments. He's been a culture-setter for the Lions, which is why the receiver is in line for a massive contract extension this offseason, which will almost certainly make him one of the league's highest-paid at his position.
Biggest whiff: None. Nothing even close. The biggest whiff was every team in the league not having St. Brown higher on their draft boards.
Grade: A+
▶ Linebacker Derrick Barnes (Round 4, Pick No. 113)
Barnes was a bit of a projection when the Lions used a future fourth-round pick to move up 40 spots to take him out of Purdue. In college, he had mostly been used as an edge rusher, but at 238 pounds, his NFL future was going to be playing off the ball as a stack linebacker.
As a rookie, Barnes got a decent chunk of playing time, seeing nearly 450 defensive snaps. It wasn't always pretty, especially with his coverage assignments, but the hope was experience would accelerate his development. But after some recurring struggles to begin his second season, the Lions pulled the reins on his role in favor of rookie Malcolm Rodriguez.
That coaching decision helped rebuild Barnes' fundamental base and confidence, while renewing his focus going into his third season. The hard work paid off with the best year of his career in 2023.
Splitting time with first-round pick Jack Campbell, Barnes finished with 81 tackles and 20 quarterback pressures, both personal bests. And the cherry on top, particularly given the early-career coverage issues, was a game-sealing interception in the playoffs that sent the Lions to the NFC Championship game.
Biggest whiff: The Lions didn't have as obvious a need at safety as many other spots with Tracy Walker, Will Harris and free-agent addition Dean Marlowe at the top of the depth chart, but there was a missed opportunity to upgrade the position with Talanoa Hufanga. And the Lions wouldn't have needed to trade up to make that happen. He didn't come off the board until pick No. 180 in the fifth round.
After registering four interceptions in his final season at USC, Hufanga has continued to demonstrate premium balls skills at the next level, snagging seven picks the past two seasons, earning Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors in 2022.
Grade: C+
▶ Running back Jermar Jefferson (Round 7, Pick No. 257)
A productive college back, Jefferson averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored 27 times on the ground while at Oregon State. After selecting him, the Lions raved about the one-cut runner's GPS-tracked game speed. But he's only had a small window to show what he could do at the next level, recording 15 carries his rookie season, which included a 28-yard touchdown run against the Steelers.
Instead of locking down the third spot in Detroit's backfield rotation, Jefferson's inability to separate himself as a blocker or special-teams contributor has kept him languishing on the practice squad the past two seasons.
Biggest whiff: There weren't a slew of quality undrafted free agents from this class. Detroit landed a couple of the better ones in cornerback Jerry Jacobs and tight end Brock Wright, who both had far bigger impacts for the franchise than Jefferson the past three years.
One UDFA the Lions missed out on was Iowa offensive tackle Alaric Jackson, a Windsor native who played his high school ball in Detroit. He signed with the Rams and has developed into a quality starting left tackle. Finding reliable depth at offensive tackle, especially depth with starting potential, is a challenge for most NFL teams.
Grade: D
▶Overall
While the Onwuzurike selection has proven to be a misfire, Holmes did very well in his first draft, scoring two future All-Pros, an above-average starter in McNeill, and potentially another in the late-blooming Melifonwu. Even Barnes was a decent get on Day 3, as a quality special teams contributor who has slowly morphed into a reliable defender.
Grade: A-
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers
