Aidan Hutchinson was on a Defensive Player of the Year track before he suffered a broken left leg in Week 6 last season. The addition of Za'Darius Smith helped the Lions' pass rush, but Hutchinson still led the team with 7.5 sacks despite playing less than five full games.
So edge rusher has stood as top need for the Lions all offseason. Re-signing Marcus Davenport and releasing Smith looks like a bad swap in the assumption of a "one or the other" decision. A deep edge rusher class in this year's draft meant taking one in the first round at No. 28 overall was not mandatory, but ideally it would've come before the sixth round (even if Ahmed Hassanein looks like a fantastic fit).
There has been a faint idea Smith could come back to the Lions. Now that the draft is over, the timing might be right for it to happen.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes was on "Costa and Jansen" on 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday morning, and the just-completed draft was the topic.
Co-host Jim Costa asked Holmes if he understands why people inundate him with questions about edge rusher, or at least placing more priority on adding one opposite Hutchinson.
"I don't understand it", Holmes said. Costa then added how there were questions there before Hutchinson got hurt last season, but Holmes apparently doesn't see the need for an edge rusher the way many people do.
Brad Holmes goes in defiant direction about Lions' edge rusher situation
"I'm curious", Holmes said...."Would you say Aidan Hutchinson is an elite edge?" The answer is of course yes for anyone and everyone. "How many elite edge rushers are there in the NFL?", Holmes asked, prompting co-host Jon Jansen to say "five or six."
Holmes started off with the obvious sentiment that good/high-end edge rushers are hard to find or acquire from other teams, before taking things in a more defiant direction.
"They’re hard to find, they’re hard to get, they’re hard to acquire," Holmes said. "But I have felt like, ever since we have acquired Aidan Hutchinson, as great of a player he is, I have always felt like the fan base is almost mad. Like, they’re mad because we have Aidan Hutchinson. Because, now, he’s so good, well why don’t you have two of them?"
"I have been curious, the teams that have those five or six elite edge rushers in other media markets, I have been curious", Holmes continued. "Okay, we have an elite edge rusher, all we’re gonna ask is about edge rusher.’ You know who those players are. When you go to those cities and those media markets, all you do is get questions about edge rusher. You have an elite one, but all you’re asking about is, ‘How come you don’t have another one?’ Now you get into the — are you trying to build a football team? Or are you trying to just pair ends? I’ve said all the time, we would love to have three or four of them, but that’s just not reality all of the time.”
Costa followed with the simple idea of the Lions needing more production from edge rushers not named Hutchinson, which is an undeniable fact. Holmes took the initial inquiry to a lame and ridiculous, "how dare anyone question me/us?" extent.
Jeff Iafrate of Crunch Time Sports hit the nail on the head in a Twitter reaction to what Holmes said.
"I think Brad Holmes misunderstood 's question @Jim Acosta's question, it's not about finding another Aidan Hutchinson.. Because that would be insanely unrealistic."
"I think the fanbase just wants someone more reliable and stable than Marcus Davenport. Hence why Za'Darius Smith is so beloved here."
"Last year was clearly due to the INSANE injuries. But the DE2 spot has been a question even before then."
Finding another edge rusher like Aidan Hutchinson is unrealistic. No one is debating that. But Holmes wants everyone to believe an injury-prone Davenport and a sixth-round rookie is enough to address the need for more production opposite Hutchinson, when Davenport has played six games over the last two seasons and Hassanein is a question mark until further notice.
Here is Holmes' full appearance with "Costa and Jansen", with the edge rusher conversation starting at the 7:23 mark.