It’s been quite some time since we checked in with Detroit Lions fans regarding their opinion of general manager Brad Holmes. The last time we polled our audience was almost exactly a year ago, following the team’s 2025 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, those poll results were lost to time (and a migration to a new content management system at SB Nation).
Detroit, MI
Lions vs. Rams snap counts: Detroit makes surprising choices at LB, CB
To get a better sense of the Detroit Lions’ strategy against the Los Angeles Rams in their 26-20 overtime victory, let’s take a closer look at their personnel choices.
Here’s a detailed look at the team’s Week 1 snap counts for the 2024 season.
Offense
Quarterbacks
Jared Goff: 70 (100%)
Hendon Hooker: DNP
Goff stayed healthy, allowing Hendon Hooker to spend the game logging mental reps and enjoying the crazy Ford Field environment.
Running backs
Jahmyr Gibbs: 31 (51%)
David Montgomery: 30 (49%)
Sione Vaki: 2 (3%) — 18 special teams snaps (69%)
Craig Reynolds: 0 (0%) — 18 (69%)
Given how good Montgomery was, it may be a bit surprising to see Gibbs outsnap him in this game, even if it was only by one. However, expect this to be the norm going forward. Detroit loves both backs because they both offer something completely different.
Also interesting to see Vaki get a couple of offensive snaps. On both occasions, he motioned to fullback. The first, he was initially the second back next to Goff in shotgun. The other snap, he motioned into the backfield after lining up out wide.
Tight ends
Sam LaPorta: 48 (79%)
Brock Wright: 30 (49%) — 4 (15%)
Parker Hesse: 9 (15%) — 14 (54%)
I expect this to be a pretty normal split from the Lions’ three tight ends. Nothing too out of the ordinary, as Parker Hesse remains the team’s primary fullback. Seven of his nine snaps were at that position.
Wide receivers
Amon-Ra St. Brown: 60 (98%)
Jameson Williams: 52 (85%)
Kalif Raymond: 37 (61%) — 9 (35%)
Tom Kennedy: 4 (7%) — 6 (23%)
Unsurprisingly, Williams received the most playing time in his young career, now that he’s clearly WR2. It’s also wasn’t surprising to see that Raymond was their preferred WR3, although it’s a bit shocking to see that he didn’t garner a single target in the passing game. His lone contribution with the ball in his hands on offense was an 11-yard run to kick off overtime.
Tom Kennedy’s elevation from the practice squad was mostly for insurance. He doesn’t play much on special teams and he only contributed four offensive snaps. It will be interesting to see if one of the other three practice squad receivers gets called up for Week 2.
Offensive line
Taylor Decker: 61 (100%)
Penei Sewell: 61 (100%) — 4 (15%)
Frank Ragnow: 61 (100%)
Kevin Zeitler: 61 (100%) — 4 (15%)
Graham Glasgow: 61 (100%) — 4 (15%)
Dan Skipper: 2 (3%) — 4 (15%)
Kayode Awosika: 0 (0%) — 4 (15%)
Michael Niese: 0 (0%) — 4 (15%)
Colby Sorsdal: INACTIVE
Giovanni Manu: INACTIVE
Always love to see the Lions’ starting five in there for 100% of the snaps. Only two jumbo formations with Dan Skipper this week, and everyone else was relegated to special teams duties.
It was certainly interesting to see Niese active over Sorsdal, particularly given Sorsdal’s versatility to back up both guard and tackle. However, Sorsdal did struggle in training camp and the preseason with his move back to tackle, so it’s clear the Lions believe he needs more development.
Defense
EDGE:
Aidan Hutchinson: 70 (90%)
Marcus Davenport: 49 (63%)
Josh Paschal: 22 (28%)
James Houston: INACTIVE
If there was anyone out there who believed the Lions may try to scale Hutchinson back from his high usage last year to keep him fresh, it doesn’t appear that’s in the plans. The third year defensive end continues to have a high motor and doesn’t seem to slow down throughout the entire game, seeing as his final play was a sack. In fact, 70 snaps is actually a career high for Hutchinson.
Speaking of highs, Davenport’s 49 snaps was the sixth-highest in his career, with only two games in the past four years reaching that mark. He’s clearly going to be a big part of this defense, and he proved his worth with four quarterback hits on Matthew Stafford and a half-sack.
Paschal had just a small rotational role, while Houston appeared to be a healthy scratch—indicating how low he is on the totem pole right now.
DT:
Alim McNeill: 68 (87%) — 4 (15%)
Levi Onwuzurike: 50 (64%) — 4 (15%)
Kyle Peko: 37 (47%)
Chris Smith: 8 (10%)
Mekhi Wingo: 6 (8%) — 4 (15%)
DJ Reader: INACTIVE
More career highs here, as McNeill’s ridiculous 68 snaps is 10 more than his previous high. And what an accomplishment for Onwuzurike! Not only was this his first career start, but his 50 snaps was two more than his previous high and well above his typical average of about 20 snaps per game.
Linebackers
Alex Anzalone: 78 (100%)
Derrick Barnes: 64 (82%) — 12 (46%)
Jack Campbell: 44 (56%) — 9 (35%)
Malcolm Rodriguez: 14 (18%) — 22 (85%)
Jalen Reeves-Maybin: 3 (4%) — 22 (85%)
Ben Niemann: 0 (0%) — 18 (69%)
Trevor Nowaske: INACTIVE
This is pretty interesting and a bit unexpected. Anzalone playing every snap is not a surprise, but seeing Jack Campbell—in his first year taking over the MIKE linebacker position full-time—limited to just 56 percent of snaps was surprising. Both Malcolm Rodriguez and Derrick Barnes often took his spot in the defense in subpackages.
That said, maybe we shouldn’t have been all that surprised when it comes to Barnes’ eye-popping 64 snaps. The coaching staff has been talking him up all offseason (again), and while he was seemingly focused on the SAM linebacker position, we know he can thrive at MIKE, as well.
Cornerbacks
Carlton Davis: 77 (99%)
Terrion Arnold: 76 (97%)
Amik Robertson: 36 (46%)
Ennis Rakestraw: 3 (4%) — 11 (42%)
Khalil Dorsey: 0 (0%) — 16 (62%)
Kindle Vildor: 0 (0%) — 15 (58%)
Last time the Lions played the Rams, Brian Branch—who was playing nickel—played 98 percent of the snaps. This time around, the Lions were in nickel less than half the time, as evidenced by Amik Robertson’s 36 snaps. That’s a drastic change in strategy, and it speaks to their confidence in their front seven to roll with just four defensive backs for most of the game. Detroit managed to keep the offense in front of them, so the strategy arguably worked.
Rookie Ennis Rakestraw only saw the field a few times, serving as an injury replacement in short spurts.
Safety
Brian Branch: 78 (100%) — 9 (35%)
Kerby Joseph: 75 (96%) — 9 (35%)
Brandon Joseph: 0 (0%) — 9 (35%)
Ifeatu Melifonwu: INACTIVE
Loren Strickland: INACTIVE
No surprises here, other than maybe Branch and Joseph logging special teams snaps. However, once Melifonwu and/or Strickland come back, I would imagine those extra duties will be taken off Branch’s and Joseph’s plates.
Special teams
Jake Bates: 9 (35%)
Jack Fox: 8 (31%)
Hogan Hatten: 8 (31%)
Special teams happened, too.
4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.
SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.
After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.
That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.
Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.
Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.
Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.
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But as you can see below, Holmes has been an extremely popular figure among Detroit sports fans for pretty much his entire career.
Although, if there was a time when Holmes’ popularity took a hit, it was likely during the 2025 NFL season, when the Lions took their first clear step back since he and Dan Campbell came to town.
Since last year’s data was lost to time, this is a good opportunity to check back in with Lions fans. While Holmes certainly deserves a ton of credit for getting the Lions back to relevancy and helping them produce four consecutive seasons with winning records, there are some serious blemishes on his resumé now. The 2024 NFL Draft class has not lived up to his high standards through two seasons, some of his riskiest picks over the last few years have all failed to pay off, and last year’s roster just wasn’t good enough to withstand the injuries.
But Holmes is also coming off a very crowd-pleasing draft. Detroit addressed their two biggest needs with their first two selections, and there were no crazy head-scratching picks or expensive trade ups. Many have categorized his latest draft as “back to business as usual,” which could have some fans he lost back on his side.
However, that is all up to you. Vote on your thoughts about Holmes’ time in Detroit below, and share your extended thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
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