Brad Holmes: Isaac TeSlaa was my favorite receiver in the draft

General Manager Brad Holmes has built the Lions into a winner in recent years and that earns him the opportunity to take some chances in the draft.

Holmes took one of them in the third round this year. He dealt the 102nd pick and two 2026 third-rounders to move up to No. 70 in order to select wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa out of Arkansas. The Lions got a couple of other mid-round picks in the deal, but the success of the trade will fall on a wideout who few expected to go so early.

TeSlaa brings a lot of size to the slot, which would be a different look for the Lions, and worked out well at the Combine, which led Holmes to give him a different grade than others and he said on 97.1 The Ticket that the price was worth it for a player he coveted.

“The pick that was probably the most questioned, I would say, was Isaac TeSlaa. I can say that he was my favorite wide receiver in this draft,” Holmes said. “I’m not saying he was the best wide receiver in the draft, but favorite wide receiver in the draft, yes.”

Holmes has faced doubts about some of his other draft moves, but he’s gotten the last laugh on most of them. If he’s done it again, the Lions offense will be even stronger.