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
MLB Insider Highlights Under-the-Radar Detroit Tigers As Potential October Stars
There may not be a team heading into the MLB playoffs that anyone wants to face less than the Detroit Tigers.
They are red hot, crashing the American League postseason picture with a torrid pace that began back at the start of July. Not even the temperatures dropping have been able to cool off the Tigers, who are in a tie with the Kansas City Royals for the second wild card spot.
Two games clear of the Minnesota Twins with four to play, Detroit is in a great spot. After completing their series against the Tampa Bay Rays, they will face the lowly Chicago White Sox for three to finish out the regular season.
Odds are certainly in their favor for qualifying for the 2024 MLB Playoffs.
Who has helped them get to this point? Ace starting pitcher Tarik Skubal is probably the only household name that casual baseball fans recognize.
A heavy favorite to win the Cy Young Award this season, he has been anchoring the pitching staff all year. A bonafide star, he gives the team a chance to win every time he steps on the mound.
But, he has received some help during this incredible run. In the lineup, the Tigers have several players who will become well-known in October.
MLB insider Jeff Passan highlighted some of them in a “Who are some under-the-radar players with industry buzz as potential October stars?” category of a recent piece over at ESPN.
“Riley Greene is the best player on the resurgent Detroit Tigers, and Kerry Carpenter is their best hitter, but two other left-handed bats in a quite-lefty-heavy lineup are making excellent impressions during this late surge. Center fielder Parker Meadows and shortstop Trey Sweeney have won everyday jobs and are doing enough offensively and defensively to keep them. Meadows struggled early and was hurt, and Sweeney came over along with Thayron Liranzo in the deadline deal for Jack Flaherty. Meadows returned Aug. 3, Sweeney arrived Aug. 16, and the Tigers are 23-9 in games they both played,” Passan wrote.
No one expected Detroit to be in this position, as their playoff odds were under 1.0 percent at one point. They would become only the fifth team in MLB history to make the playoffs after facing a double-digit deficit at least 115 games into the season.
The emergence of their young hitters has certainly helped. They are using speed and athleticism to make up for their lack of power, as they are in the bottom half of baseball in most batting categories outside of triples.
With all of the positive momentum in the world, this is a team peaking at the right time. They are going to give whoever they face off against a tough challenge even if they are presumed heavy underdogs entering the postseason.
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.
Dan Gilbert paid for an army of Cleveland Cavaliers fans to take over Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena for Game 2 of the NBA playoffs against the rival Detroit Pistons.
Gilbert, the longtime Cavs owner who has founded several Detroit-based companies and owns much of the real estate in downtown Detroit, sent seven bus loads of Cavs season ticket holders up I-75 North on Thursday, May 7, to wear maroon and gold shirts that read “BEAT DETROIT!”
Coworkers Rick Amador, 46, of Lorain, Ohio, and Eric Karr, 24, of Strongsville, Ohio, said they were thankful their trip to the playoffs in Detroit was fully paid for.
“Dan Gilbert fully paid for all of our tickets, paid for the shirts that you see here today,” Amador said. “He paid for the swag and he brought us here, fed us. We had a party at The Beacon [in Detroit, owned by Gilbert]. DJ, food, it was phenomenal.”
[ Pistons vs Cavaliers score updates, Game 2 highlights, commentary ]
Gilbert earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State and a law degree from Wayne State in downtown Detroit.
“I’m just ready to bring a dub home to Cleveland,” Karr said. “It’s been a long time coming. We got lucky with LeBron [James] always coming here and now it’s time for us to build our own future and win our own championship. All of them. Yes, Donovan [Mitchell] has to have his legacy game.”
The Pistons on Tuesday night won Game 1 of the best-of-seven series, 111-101, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Games 3-4 will be in Cleveland on Saturday afternoon and Monday night.
As for a prediction for the rest of the series?
“Five games, Cavs win it,” Karr said without hesitation.
On the roster: Aidan Hutchinson, DJ Wonnum, Derrick Moore, Payton Turner, Tyler Lacy, Tyre West, Ahmed Hassanein
Twentyman: Hutchinson, 25, was named Second-Team All-Pro after setting a new career single-season high in sacks (14.5) while leading the NFL with 100 total pressures. Hutchinson is the first player in franchise history to log multiple 10.0-sack seasons through the first four years of a player’s career. With Al-Quadin Muhammad and his 11.0 sacks last year signing with Tampa Bay in free agency, the Lions needed to find Hutchinson a new running mate on the opposite edge.
Detroit added Wonnum in free agency and Moore in the NFL Draft and like what both bring to the table. It will be interesting to see how their unique skillsets fit in Kelvin Sheppard’s defense. Onwuzurike is a defensive tackle by trade but could also get some run as the big end.
While Detroit’s 49 sacks were the fourth most in the NFL last year, Detroit’s average time to pressure of 2.92 seconds was the slowest in the NFL, per Next Gen Stats. It wasn’t always the kind of pressure that affected the timing of opponent passing attacks as opposing quarterbacks finished with a 92.5 rating against Detroit’s defense, which ranked 19th.
On roster: Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, Jimmy Rolder, Damone Clark, Trevor Nowaske, Joe Bachie
Twentyman: The departure of Alex Anzalone means the Lions will have a new starter at the WILL in 2026. The leading candidate to fill the role is the veteran Rodriguez. Rolder has an interesting skillset, but is he ready to step in right away after playing limited defensive snaps at Michigan? Could the versatile Clark potentially be a fit there too? The competition for the starting WILL spot will be one of the better ones to watch in camp.
It will also be interesting to see how Sheppard might evolve his scheme after an extensive sit-down with head coach Dan Campbell this offseason going through all the cut-ups on defense from last year. Detroit wants to be more adaptable and versatile. Will Barnes’ SAM role change at all within the defense? Will a team that played the most base defense of any team in the NFL last year play more nickel?
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