The Blake Miller Pick Reveals Brad Holmes' Crisis: Detroit Lions Offensive Line
How 24 months of offensive line change exposed Brad Holmes’ talent problem: Frank Ragnow’s retirement, Taylor Decker’s future, and Penei Sewell’s move to left tackle all spell disaster in the making
The biggest issue facing the Lions in 2025 was not just coaching; it was the talent drop-off. The offensive line was a wall built on consistency, grit, and toughness — a unit that once carried the team. This unit did not just crack; entire sections of this wall collapsed.
To make matters worse, Brad Holmes drafted so well that Detroit’s own success started tightening the cap constraints around future upgrades. If Holmes was going to keep this offense from becoming all weapons and no wall, the time to act was yesterday.
The Missing Identity
For five straight seasons, the Lions’ offseason began with one common goal: win in the trenches first. The offensive line was the identity of this team. For Jared Goff, that meant clean timing. For the run game, it meant down-your-throat punishment levied against defenses. For Detroit’s skill players, it meant an offensive line that forced defenses to defend every blade of grass, pull extra bodies into the box, and leave soft spots open for big gains in the intermediate zones.
But the 2025 season delivered a hard reality check: defenses did not respect Detroit’s front the way they had in seasons past — and Week 1 of the regular season proved it, the identity was missing. Lighter boxes were deployed against the run game, leaving more defenders available to squeeze the passing lanes. Opponents were able to dictate the terms, something Detroit had not consistently allowed since 2021.
Quickly, the Lions were in trouble. They could no longer afford for more problem areas to become obvious. Then came the weekly evidence: John Morton’s systemic failures, communication issues, and what appeared to be a lack of preparedness—kept showing up in critical moments. And just like a shark, when a defense smells blood in the water, well, you know how the rest of that story ends.
“The other stuff won’t matter if we can’t find a way to run the football more than 2.1 yards per carry. If we can’t, you’re out of play-action, you’re out of everything. Guys pin their ears back, and it makes it harder on some of those guys up front. That’s where it all begins really.”
Dan Campbell explaining how the Lions’ inability to run the football against Green Bay damaged the entire offensive structure—allowing the defense to pin and go.
