Are Lions one draft away from Super Bowl run?

The Detroit Lions have high expectations and hefty goals to reach in 2024.

After a run to the NFC Championship game that surprised fans across the league, the Lions have gone from afterthought to contender.

With the team having tasted success, they’re looking to get to the top of the proverbial mountain in 2024. They can begin that climb with a strong showing in the NFL Draft.

General manager Brad Holmes received plenty of praise for his work in last year’s NFL Draft, having drafted instant starters with each of his first four picks. Now, Holmes is looking to replicate that success.

Should he do so, ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes that a consecutive strong Draft could indeed put the Lions over the top.

“That late, you are so dependent on what’s going around you that it’s impossible to forecast this far in advance. They’re gonna have a group of players that they’re interested in, and if one of them is there they’d be very happy to go take that guy,” Schefter told WXYZ-TV’s Brad Galli. “If not, if the group of guys that they like at the back end of the first round are gone, then you can start listening to pitches from other teams that want to come up and maybe take a quarterback near the end of round one, sneak into the back end of that and maybe you get extra draft picks.”

Whether or not the Lions make a trade or stick and pick, Schefter said he thinks Holmes and his staff have earned the right to be trusted by the fan base.

Last year, Holmes drew the ire of the fans when he picked Jahmyr Gibbs with the team’s first pick last year. However, Gibbs turned out to be an excellent choice and surpassed 1,000 all-purpose yards. After that selection, the Lions drafted three more starters in Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch.

“But they’ve shown that they can and should be trusted with the decisions they’ve made in recent years, so we’re gonna give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re gonna do the right thing, whatever that is,” Schefter said. “Because they’ve done that in recent drafts. If they can have the kind of draft in this one that they had last year, this team gets that much better, becomes that much more powerful and potent for next year and you can start talking about a Super Bowl in Detroit. We’ll see if they’re able to get there but they were really close to having it happen last year. And maybe one more draft can make a difference and put them over the top.”

Holmes has a strong list of past Draft successes. In addition to the 2023 class, he’s also brought in the likes of Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

If he can continue adding to that stable with the 2024 Draft class, the Lions will be set up for serious success for the foreseeable future.

WATCH: @AdamSchefter talked with me about the way NFL teams believe Michigan QB JJ McCarthy has a bright future (and how Adam won a bet because of it).

ESPN's Senior NFL Insider explained why Lions GM Brad Holmes may need just one more draft to build a Super Bowl winner. pic.twitter.com/PMeNH6LC7x

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) April 17, 2024