The Detroit Lions took a risk in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday.

General manager Brad Holmes traded a pair of 2026 third-rounders to move up 32 spots, a deal made to secure Arkansas receiver Isaac TeSlaa with the 70th overall pick.

Some have questioned TeSlaa’s fit — despite his stature (6-foot-4, 214 pounds), TeSlaa spent most of his time with the Razorbacks in the slot — and others have called the selection a reach, pointing to draft analysts like The Athletic’s Dane Brugler having a fifth-to-sixth-round grade on TeSlaa. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah had TeSlaa ranked as the No. 95 player in the class.

Holmes isn’t doubting his move.

“I do love all of them,” Holmes said in an interview Tuesday with The Costa and Jansen with Heather Show on 97.1 The Ticket, when asked which of his seven draft selections were his favorite. “I’ll give you this, though: The pick that was probably the most questioned, I would say, was Isaac TeSlaa. I can say that he was my favorite wide receiver in this draft. I’m not saying he was the best wide receiver in the draft. But favorite wide receiver in the draft? Yes.”

TeSlaa, who started his collegiate career at Hillsdale College before transferring to Arkansas, appeared in 25 games with the Razorbacks. He tallied 896 yards and five touchdowns on 62 receptions, and he was never on the hook for a drop. He was one of six receivers at the combine — along with Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor (Tennessee Titans), Texas Tech’s Josh Kelly (Dallas Cowboys), Tennessee’s Bru McCoy (unsigned), Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan (Carolina Panthers) and TCU’s Savion Williams (Green Bay Packers) — to have 10-inch or larger hands.

The Michigan native and Hudsonville Unity Christian graduate also crushed his workouts at the combine, notably registering a vertical jump of 39½ inches (fifth out of 36 receivers) and a broad jump of 10 feet, 9 inches (sixth out of 33).

He completed the 20-yard shuttle in 4.05 seconds, which paced the 12 receivers who participated in the event.

Holmes explained his general thought process when trading up, which he did three times this year to ensure he could pick TeSlaa, second-round guard Tate Ratledge (Georgia) and fifth-round guard Miles Frazier (LSU). Holmes detailed how he looks at the teams both ahead of him and behind him in the draft order, and he notes their roster needs and whether they could be interested in the player the Lions are targeting.

The general manager also suggested TeSlaa may have been one of Detroit’s highest-rated prospects still available, regardless of position: “Take away the specific player, it’s just a player graded a certain level. Maybe it’s only two or three of those guys left on the entire board. You’re sitting down there at 102 and you look up and it’s like, ‘OK, we love this player. But also, there’s probably about eight teams that still are looking for a wide receiver.’”

“When you think about past drafts and you look into, ‘Oh, well that’s a third-round pick, that’s a third-round pick.’ You guys have heard this before: Not all drafts are the same,” Holmes said. “What I mean by that: Yeah, not all drafts are the same, but also when you look at the past, let’s say two or three drafts — even including this one — it has not been the same depth of talent.

“This year, last year and the year before, you don’t find an Alim McNeill in the third round. You don’t find Amon-Ra St. Brown in the fourth round. Those guys just aren’t there, as of recent (drafts). We’re sitting there at 102, ‘OK. If we stay here, we’re going to be dealing with a different level of player, based on our board, not on the 31 other boards, but based on our board.’ You take all of that into account.”

The Lions also got back the No. 182 pick in 2025, which was used in the Frazier trade, and 2026 seventh-rounder in the deal for TeSlaa, who is now part of a receiving corps that includes Ronnie Bell, Antoine Green, Tom Kennedy, Dominic Lovett, Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond, St. Brown and Jameson Williams. The Lions have also brought in a couple UDFAs, in Jakobie Keeney-James (UMass) and Jackson Meeks (Syracuse).