What might Lance Newmark bring to the table in DC’s front office?

One of Adam Peters’ first moves as Washington’s General manager was to begin populating his front office with talent from elsewhere in the league, and one of his first additions was Detroit’s former senior director of player personnel, Lance Newmark.

Historically, the Lions would have been an unlikely organization to be poaching personnel talent from – they’ve been one of the worst franchise in the NFL over the past half century. But, over the past several years, they’ve ushered one of the most impressive turnarounds in the league, making it to the NFC championship game last year.

Detroit’s improvement correlates nicely with Newmark’s elevation to senior director of player personnel in 2022, though obviously the team’s general manager, Brad Holmes, hired in 2021, deserves the lion’s share of the credit.

Newmark’s Background

Newmark began his career in San Diego, with the Chargers, under legendary Redskins’ general manager Bobby Beathard in the late 1990s. He spent two seasons there as a staff assistant before moving to the Lions in 1998 as a scouting assistant. He was subsequently elevated to area scout in 1999, and spent five year in that position before being promoted to a national scouting role in 2005. He was made assistant director of college scouting in 2008, became director of college scouting in 2015, and served as director of player personnel beginning in 2016.

The Lions’ last two drafts – where Newmark was in his most advanced role – were interesting, to say the least. I’ll list the draftees in each class, and point out several things that stand out to me.

The 2022 Draft Class

The Lions had the #2 pick in the 2022 class, a class which was notoriously bereft of high end quarterbacking talent. As such, defensive players ruled the top of the talent chart – the first five selections would end by being defenders:

Round 1, Pick 2 – Aidan Hutchison (EDGE)

The Lions would get fortunate, as the Jaguars took Georgia EDGE Travon Walker number one overall. That would leave Michigan stand-out Hutchison to fall to them at #2. Thus far, he’s been everything they could have hoped for and more.

Round 1, Pick 12 – TRADE UP – Jameson Williams (WR)

The Lions gave up picks #32, #34, and #66 to the Vikings in exchange for #12 and #46, in order to come up and grab a players perceived to be one of the best receivers in the draft. Williams’ had slipped considerably as a result of a torn ACL in the 2021 National Championship game. The thinking was, when he returned – likely in 2023 – he would end up being a steal at #12. Williams put up 354 yards in 12 games last year, and I think they jury is still out on whether this was a sound move or not.

Round 2, Pick 46 – Josh Paschal (EDGE)

Paschal has spent time on IR in both of his seasons thus far and has notched 3 sacks in 22 total games played.

Round 3, Pick 97 – Kerby Joseph (DB)

Joseph, who was part of an Illinois defensive backfield that has since produced top draft picks in Devon Witherspoon and Quan Martin, was a great grab in the late third round, and was named to severall All Rookie teams in 2022.

Round 5, Pick 177 – James Mitchell (TE)
Mitchell, like most late drafted TEs, hasn’t produced much in his first couple of years in the pros. Concerningly for the Lions, he was quite a bit more productive in 2022 than he was in 2023. It turns out, he had also suffered a season-ending injury during the second game of his senior year in college.

Round 6, Pick 188 – TRADE BACK – Malcolm Rodriguez (LB)

The Lions traded pick #181 to the Eagles for picks #188 and #237. Though a bit undersized at LB, Rodriguez was a ridiculously strong, top athlete. The move paid off, with Rodriguez being named to the PFWA All Rookie team in 2022.

Round 6, Pick 217 – James Houston IV (OLB)

A role player out of Jackson State, Houston has already had 8 sacks in his career, despite missing most of 2023 with a leg injury.

Round 7, Pick 237 – Chase Lucas (DB)

After being released multiple times, Lucas is now on the 49ers.

Notable Trends

The thing that stands out to me most with the Lions 2022 class is how many of the players drafted had suffered serious college injuries, and how many of the draftees were injured in their first two years in the league. A fifth round injury gamble on a guy like Mitchell is probably no big deal. A first round, trade up, injury gamble on a player like Williams is much higher stakes. We’ll see if that bet pays off in 2024.

The 2023 Draft Class

In my opinion, and it’s still early, Detroit’s 2023 class is one of the best in recent memory. Sure, that’s facilitate by the fact they had two first and two second round picks, but they nailed them all.

Round 1, Pick 12 – TRADE BACK – Jahmyr Gibbs (RB)

The Lions traded picks #6 and #81 to the Cardinals for #12, #34, and #168.

One fascinating thing – to me – is that in 2023, the Lions used their top three picks on three of the lowest value positions, RB, LB, and TE. At the time, I thought taking Gibbs at #12 was a huge gaffe, not because Gibbs wasn’t a good player, but because their are excellent RBs available much later in the draft. That said, Gibbs ended up the #2 RB in the rookie class, second to Bjian Robinson (drafted at #8).

Round 1, Pick 18 – Jack Campbell (LB)

Campbell was a great addition to Detroit’s defense in 2023, starting in 12 games, and playing well enough to make the PFWA All-Rookie team.

Round 2, Pick 34 – Sam LaPorta (TE)

One of my favorite prospects from last year’s draft, LaPorta set the league on fire last year, making the Pro Bowl as a rookie, and serving as the exception to the rule that rookie TEs take time to make a serious offensive impact.

Round 2, Pick 45 – TRADE UP – Brian Branch (S)

Branch was clearly a player Detroit was surprised to see slip, as they traded up to #45, giving the Packers #48 and #159. The slight move paid off, with Branch having a great rookie season.

Round 3, Pick 68 – TRADE BACK – Hendon Hooker (QB)

Detroit was content to slide back a bit, giving Denver #63 and #183 in exchange for #68 and #138 to grab the injured Hooker as a developmental option at QB.

Round 3, Pick 96 – TRADE UP – Broderic Martin (DT)

The Lions must have seen something they liked in Martin, giving up #122, #139, and #168 to the Cardinals to come up and pick Martin at #96. Martin had an unremarkable 2023 season, only playing in 3 games.

Round 5, Pick 152 – Colby Sorsdal (OL)

Sorsdal played in 16 games, starting in 3, for the Lions last season.

Round 7, Pick 219 – Antoine Green (WR)

Green played in nine games, almost completely as a special teamer in 2023.

Notable Trends

I was a little surprised at how much the Lions moved back and forth in this draft. The early decision to trade back with the Cardinals was inspired, and essentially netted them Sam LaPorta. Moving up for Branch was shrewd as well, particularly because it allowed them to leapfrog Washington, who I believe probably would have taken him at #47 (instead they took Quan Martin). The outcomes of moving up for Hooker and back for Martin are hard to assess at this point, but are certainly illustrative of a willingness to shift around based on player priorities.

Conclusion

As I mentioned in the introduction, it’s not possible to assign any of these actions solely to Newmark. We don’t know which he may have authored, and which he may have simply observed. In any case, we can be relatively confident the outcomes of these moves influenced his draft philosophy moving forward. If he can help replicate Detroit’s 2023 draft here, that would be an amazing start for the new regime.

Bonus Content:

I was curious to run the Lions’ 2023 trades through the Rich Hill draft trade chart to see how they worked out point-wise. Below are the results:

First Round Trade:

Cardinals get #6 (446 pts) and #81 (55 pts). Total, 501 pts.

Lions get #12 (347 pts), #34 (175 pts), and #168 (9 pts). Total 531 pts.

This was a nice deal for the Lions, reflecting a bit of an early draft premium equal to an early 4th rounder.

Second Round Trade:

Packers get #48 (121 pts) and #159 (10 pts). Total, 131 pts.

Lions get #45 (131 pts).

This trade was spot on the money even.

Third Round Trade #1:

Denver gets #63 (82 pts) and #183 (7 pts). Total, 89 pts.

Detroit gets #68 (73 pts) and #138 (15 pts). Total, 88 pts.

Virtually an even trade.

Third Round Trade #2:

Arizona gets #122 (22 pts), #139 (15 pts), and #168 (9pts). Total, 46 pts.

Detroit gets #96 (39 pts).

Arizona netted a bit of a victory here, 7pts, the value of an early 6th rounder.