The Jacksonville Jaguars have followed the Los Angeles Rams‘ unique approach of discontinuing most pre-draft visits, but don’t expect the Detroit Lions to follow suit.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes said in his pre-draft news conference Thursday he still finds value in hosting prospects on “top-30” visits.
“Yeah, it gets put out in the media, it’s like, ‘Well, you brought in this player,’” Holmes said. “But those players are brought in for so many different reasons. It could be just the makeup, it could be how well they retain football. It could be just the personality, how well they’re going to fit into the locker room.
“They’re human beings that you’re going to have to work with, so it goes past just what their job is on the football field.”
Every NFL team is allowed to host 30 prospects for pre-draft visits and physicals, and can bring in an unlimited number of players from their defined “local” area for visits, physicals and workouts.
The Lions’ visit list this spring included confirmed or reported meetings with a handful of players who could be under consideration for their first-round pick, No. 28 overall, including defensive linemen Shemar Stewart of Texas A&M and Tyleik Williams of Ohio State, receiver Matthew Golden of Texas and offensive lineman Grey Zabel of North Dakota State.
Two more potential first-round picks, Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon and Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston, made local visits as Detroit natives.
Holmes, a former Rams scout and the team’s one-time director of college scouting, said he’s not surprised his old boss, Rams general manager Les Snead, has mostly stopped bringing prospects in for visits.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, who hired another former Rams scout, James Gladstone, as their GM this offseason, also do not host prospects on top-30 visits.
Gladstone told reporters in his news conference this week he did away with pre-draft visits to eliminate the “implicit bias” that comes with the process.
“So much of the work that is done in preparation for these decisions starts years in advance,” Gladstone said via the team website. “The sourced intel from those who have lived with these individuals is likely to be more accurate than me sitting down with a prospect for a short period of time and attempting to dissect who that human being is.
“I don’t view myself as having this extreme superpower of deciphering the complexity of a person in an hour. There are other mechanisms that tend to lean into to help us determine whether or not a player is, in fact, a fit for us, more than just a singular touchpoint that would be a Top 30 visit.”
Under Holmes, the Lions have drafted several players they’ve hosted on pre-draft visits. Last year, first-round pick Terrion Arnold, second-rounder Ennis Rakestraw and fourth-rounders Sione Vaki and Gio Manu all made top-30 visits to Detroit. In 2023, Brian Branch, Sam LaPorta and Hendon Hooker were among those who came to town.
Lions assistant Scottie Montgomery said last year his pre-draft meeting with Vaki, a college safety, was essential to the team’s decision to draft Vaki and know he could play running back in the NFL.
“It’s human beings that you have to really invest in,” Holmes said Thursday. “They’re really young kids that may need some growing up or development here or there. They come from all different backgrounds, so it’s another opportunity to kind of just dig deeper into the human being besides just the 15 minutes at the combine.
“But obviously our scouts – that’s what I feel great about is our scouts do such a great job with that stuff. By the time we get to the combine it’s pretty much we kind of know what it is. But it’s good to feel it, too.”
Lions’ pre-draft visit tracker
Top 30 visits: DL Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M (per Draft Network); DL Tyleik Williams, Ohio State (per Fox); DE Que Robinson, Alabama (per Fox); LB Chaz Chambliss, Georgia (per Draft Network); LB Ruben Hyppolite, Maryland (told reporters at his pro day); S Jonas Sanker, Virginia (per NFL Network); OL Grey Zabel, North Dakota State (per KPRC-TV Houston); OT Anthony Belton, North Carolina State; OG Dylan Fairchild, Georgia; WR Matthew Golden, Texas (per NFL Network); WR Isaac TeSlaa, Arkansas (per Fox); RB Lan Larison, UC-Davis (per Draft Network); TE Ben Yurosek, Georgia; TE Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green (told the Up and Adams Show).
Local visits: QB Cole Snyder, Eastern Michigan; OL Josh Priebe, Michigan; OL Spencer Brown, Oklahoma (Walled Lake Western); OL Luke Newman, Michigan State; RB Jacquez Stuart, Toledo; RB Peny Boone, UCF (Detroit King); RB Myren Harris, Davenport; WR Tyrone Broden, Arkansas (West Bloomfield); TE Blake Daniels, Eastern Michigan; TE Anthony Torres, Toledo; TE Maliq Carr, Houston (Oak Park); TE Chris Carter, Northwestern (Detroit Country Day, per Draft Network).
CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky; CB Aamir Hall, Michigan; S Makari Paige, Michigan; S Jaylen Reed, Penn State (Detroit King); S Rod Heard, Notre Dame (Farmington Hills Harrison); DB Daraun McKinney, Central Michigan (per Sports Illustrated); OLB Josaiah Stewart, Michigan; LB Devin Veresuk, University of Windsor; LB Dorian Mausi, Auburn (U-D Jesuit); LB Kobe King, Penn State (Detroit Cass Tech); LB Jordan Turner, Michigan State; LB Cornell Wheeler, Kansas (West Bloomfield); DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon (Derrick Loyola); DT Darius Alexander, Toledo; DT Maverick Hansen, Michigan State; DT Ali Saad, Bowling Green (Dearborn); DT Peyton Price, Eastern Michigan; DT Muftah Ageli, Northwestern Oklahoma State (Windsor); LS William Wagner, Michigan; K Griffin Milovanski, Wayne State.
Dave Birkett is the author of the book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pre-draft visit tracker: See players who Lions hosted on top-30 visits