Photo Credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images.

The 2025 NFL Combine is underway in Indianapolis, and most, if not all, General Managers and Head Coaches are in town.

Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell both graced the stage in Indy, while new Offensive Coordinator John Morton was having an interview of his own, all of which let us in on some important information.

Holmes: Lions “probably not” adding a premier pass rusher:

Brad kicked it off, with talk of adding another premier pass rusher, and how hard that can be. He called the Za’Darius Smith deal “one of the hardest trade negotiations I’ve ever had.” When asked if he thinks the Lions could afford another top tier pass rusher, he responded with “probably not,” which is about what I assumed. However, a lot of Lions fans are upset, with comments that ‘we missed our window’ or ‘Holmes is ignoring the pass rush’ which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Holmes said, “Well, we have a high-end rusher now. Would we want to have another one? Yes,” He added, “But we’d like to have three or four high-end rushers. But that’s just not always the reality of what you’re able to do. It’s definitely not being ignored.” Clearly, Brad understands you need a lot of talent rushing the passer, but he also understands they don’t grow on trees. Myles Garrett is ‘available’ however Browns GM Andrew Berry made it very clear the Browns are not looking to move him, and if they did, it would take a king’s ransom. The Lions have definitely not missed their window, they have the 10th youngest roster in the entire NFL with an average age of around 25 years old, and they have locked their stars up for years to come. Holmes mentioned how good this defensive line class is, and that it’s much deeper than in years past. I believe he will attack that position in both free agency, and The Draft. Holmes has made it clear they are looking, but it will be hard. I expect him to do what it takes to get us over the hump.

Campbell is confident in new coaches.

Dan is confident he found the right fits, after dozens of interviews. This was a new feeling for the Lions and their fans, as their coaches were plucked like ripe strawberries from a bush. Coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn both left for Head Coaching jobs, and took quite a lot of our guys with them. Dan mentioned, “That’s something, I told Ben and AG the same thing when they were leaving, and it was the same thing I was told: The most important thing you’ll do as a head coach is hiring your staff,” Clearly, Dan knows what he is doing when it comes to adding coaches that fit the Lions. The Lions have filled the staff out very well, with former players, and just good coaches in general. I personally feel pretty confident in our new staff.

Campbell: Lions will stay true to who they are, with small tweaks.

Campbell mentioned that even with new coaches on the staff, the Lions will try to stay within the parameters they have lived by since he was hired. They trust Sheppard and Morton, so they will tweak some things for them, but the Lions want to stay true to who they are. Dan mentioned that Kelvin Sheppard will tweak the defense but it wont be entirely different. They will still play a lot of man, but the type of man coverage may be different. He also added that Sheppard playing linebacker offers a different perspective to the defense. He added, “There’ll be some things that we’ll tweak in the system that we have been running that we think are going to help us, help our guys. There’s already been a couple of things that have come up, and that’s just the nature of having different guys, right? You just kind of have a little different belief system.” When it comes to offense, Dan is confident in John Morton, who was in the building in 2022. He mentions his creativity and familiarity with the system and players, he said Morton is always bringing new ideas to the table. Campbell said, “He’s a guy who–he does not lack ideas ever,” He adds, “So he’s very creative in that regard. He’s a grinder. He’s an unbelievably hard worker. Day of the game, same thing. He’s going into–you’re talking about four hours before the game, five hours, he’s going through all these tendencies, tendencies, tendencies, ideas he’s just trying to give.” Clearly Dan feels very good about who he brought in across the board. The Lions have also done a great job filling out the rest of the staff with smart, talented coaches.

Holmes and Campbell doing their due diligence, after the injury riddled season.

Obviously, the Lions were one of, if not the most injured team in the NFL last year. They were still 15-2, and the NFC’s 1 seed, before suffering a brutal loss in the Divisional round to Washington, in a game where both sides of the ball had one of their worst performances all year. Holmes and Campbell are taking that into account this off-season when it comes to adding to the roster. They know they have needs, but with such an odd injury situation, it makes it a little harder to define those needs. Brad mentioned he was watching film on our game against the Cardinals, and he said, “It was like, ‘Wow. I forgot how good it was.’ Not saying there wasn’t room for improvement, of course, it is, there always is. But it was humming pretty good against both the run and pass. When that attrition and a lot of long-term injuries, stuff that can go on throughout the season, so, yeah, that does affect us. It was kinda like, ‘Man, I wish it was something like we just ignored something.’” Clearly, Brad knows this team has the talent, but he also knows the injury issues last year were a bit different than what we have seen before. The Lions will likely go hard after good depth players this free agent period.

John Morton Interview

New Lions Offensive Coordinator John Morton was once with the Lions in 2022, Ben Johnson’s first year as the OC, and Morton helped create a lot of the concepts that Ben used over the past few seasons, propelling the Lions’ offense to the elite tier. Morton also worked in Denver the last 2 years as the pass game coordinator. Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton recently said, “He’s super passionate and he works his tail off. He’s great with film study and ideas. He’s one of those guys that will bring you red zone third down like a lot of information,” He added, “We were together in New Orleans several times. And then it’s a chance where he’s going to be calling the plays. And so, I was just with Dan Campbell a few minutes ago. Maybe an hour ago and we were talking about him. He’ll do a great job.” Obviously, Morton has deep ties to Campbell and Detroit, and it sounds like most are pretty confident he will do a good job. He worked closely with Jared Goff and Ben Johnson during his first stint in Detroit, so it’s likely things won’t change too much on the offensive side of things. Morton mentioned he is very excited to get going. When asked about Lions weapons, he said, “I know it’s fun, isn’t it. I’m like a kid in a candy store. It’s Christmas all over again. I love that part. I live for game planning. I love all the way up to the game. That’s the chess match. When the game starts, it’s a chess match. You have to talk about those different scenarios when the game starts. Game planning, I just love that part. I’ll just stay all day and all night. I’m just looking for that play to help us win the game. You know what I mean? Whatever that is. That’s what drives me to win. I just think it’s cool when you have all these pieces.” When asked how similar this new Lions offense will be to what we have seen recently, he said, “I think it’s going to be a lot of carry over,” He added. “I think it would be a little bit crazy if we didn’t continue to do what players – we want them to continue to play fast, right? The plays, I don’t think all that is going to change as much.” I would assume some things will change, specifically situationally, but it sounds like Morton is comfortable with what the Lions do. I, for one, am very excited to see this offense, as everyone thought that without Ben, we are screwed. The ‘new look’ Lions are hoping to make a splash, and maybe even win it all.