Last year, Brad Holmes, Dan Campbell, Sheila Ford Hamp, and the rest of the Detroit Lions’ war room wore black hoodies with the letters H-S-W crossed through. After sporting “Positional Villains” hoodies during the 2024 NFL Draft, the Lions were turning their draft day wardrobe into a mission statement.
“It’s just a line through height, weight, speed,” Holmes said of the HWS attire. “Height, weight, speed, it is the opposite of film evaluation, and we’re all about film evaluation, and that’s the hard part of scouting. Height, weight, speed is easy. Stats are easy. A position listed is easy. But film evaluation is hard to figure out.”
Now, that’s not to say the Lions general manager avoids athletic prospects. In 2024, the Lions’ draft class had the eighth-highest average Relative Athletic Score and finished 10th in 2025. Here’s a breakdown of what RAS gives us as a picture when it comes to a prospect’s athleticism:
Relative Athletic Score (RAS) is a metric that combines the various categories measured at the NFL Combine — height, weight, wingspan, drill exercises — into one aggregate number that’s then contextualized against other athletes of the same position.
The algorithm includes results dating back to 1987, but acknowledges that data from before 2000 is a relatively small — and incomplete — sample.
Let’s take a look at how the Lions’ 2026 draft class scored according to RAS.
Blake Miller was drafted in round 1 with pick 17 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.90 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 17 out of 1645 OT from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/7Z6ntfg8MN pic.twitter.com/iaWcj8yfJ6
Miller’s athleticism feels like the most understated and overlooked aspect of his play style. We’re talking about the 17th-highest RAS score since 1987 among offensive tackles. His technique and hand timing seem to get him in trouble against speed rushers, but those feel like areas where a revered coaching staff and a running mate like Penei Sewell can help Miller hone his craft. Miller’s attitude and toughness, his football character, made him a fit in Detroit, but his athletic testing feels like where a lot of the “high-floor” talk comes from. It’ll be interesting to see what his ceiling will be in the NFL.
Derrick Moore was drafted in round 2 with pick 44 in the 2026 draft class. He does not qualify for a #RAS due to a lack of measurements.https://t.co/nKJCfsttOM pic.twitter.com/mtVgDZf5Kw
Detroit moved up from pick No. 50 to take Derrick Moore, an edge defender from Michigan. The move was partly built on Moore being their highest-ranked player at his position, and they needed to jump ahead of Moore’s former coach, Jesse Minter, who is now the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
What’s interesting of note is Moore checks in a bit lighter than most of the edge defenders Detroit has lined up opposite of Aidan Hutchinson. He didn’t complete enough athletic testing to qualify for an RAS score due to a hamstring injury.
Jimmy Rolder was drafted in round 4 with pick 118 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.53 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 165 out of 3480 LB from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/0NtKnhkh4Q pic.twitter.com/zvvZX5Lqts
Detroit’s selection of Rolder in the fourth round made them three for three on drafting to fill needs. Rolder figures to be in the mix of WILL linebackers vying for the spot vacated by Alex Anzalone this offseason, and his athleticism, when combined with his size, make him a very intriguing option for defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and Shaun Dion Hamilton—the team’s linebackers coach—to consider.
Keith Abney II was drafted in round 5 with pick 157 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 6.51 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1073 out of 3075 CB from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/JBVmQ2b5Yn pic.twitter.com/5EYX6PBmJn
Abney is widely considered the most valuable pick for the Lions based on the disparity between where he was selected and where he was found on consensus board. Maybe his athletic scoring had something to do with his fall to the fifth round. Abney is both short and light for his position, but measures up adequately to his contemporaries when it comes to speed scores. Moving him into the slot may be his best fit based on his athletic profile.
Kendrick Law was drafted in round 5 with pick 168 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.60 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 169 out of 4196 WR from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/5ejmCF9dD1 pic.twitter.com/SgRjIuEXYf
The competition between Dominic Lovett, Greg Dortch, and Kendrick Law for the kick and punt returner roles should be one of the more entertaining camp battles to watch unfold this summer. Law was a bit of a surprising pick considering just how many wide receivers are in the room and how four of them already have their spots locked up. But Law is an explosive and quick athlete who reaches his top-end playing speed in a hurry, and athletically speaking, he clears both Lovett (6.52 RAS) and Dortch (3.11 RAS).
Skyler Gill-Howard was drafted in round 6 with pick 205 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 5.62 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 999 out of 2278 DT from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/bipgKN76iC pic.twitter.com/qJc5fy0Ryx
Mekhi Wingo was the first undersized defensive lineman Holmes drafted in his tenure as Lions general manager, and Skyler Gill-Howard was the second. Athletically, Gill-Howard pales in comparison to the testing numbers of Wingo when it comes to speed and agility, but looks to have a decent set of pass-rush moves and the requisite pad level to overcome some of the limited athleticism.
Tyre West was drafted in round 7 with pick 222 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 4.65 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1209 out of 2257 DE from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/1QmmtZBhtz pic.twitter.com/XLNwfBoBSI