Explaining the Detroit Lions war room and their matching hoodies for the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Detroit Lions war room fit was on point for another year. As captured by NFL Network cameras after the team selected Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa in the third round, everyone in the Lions’ war room was wearing matching black hoodies . On the front of the hoodie were the letters H, W, and S crossed out.
The Lions have been notorious over the past few years for sending messages through their draft day fit. Last year, the room sported “positional villains” hoodies to snap back at critics who disliked their 2023 draft class for selecting “low-value” positions early in the draft. The night after that, they all wore Dan Campbell jerseys in their new black uniform style .
This year, they had a different message to send. As Lions general manager Brad Holmes explained at the end of the night, the H, W, and S stand for height, weight, and speed. The line through each letter represents Detroit’s evaluation that goes well beyond the measurables.
“We’re all about film evaluation, and that’s the hard part of scouting,” Holmes said. “Height, weight (and) speed is easy. Stats are easy. A position listed is easy. But film evaluation is hard to figure out.”
The Lions have been known to place a huge weight of their evaluation process, not only on the film but on the players’ character makeup—hence the creation of our Grit Index metric to try and capture the most “Dan Campbell guys” in this year’s class. It’s no coincidence that the Lions have already selected two players who have placed in the top tiers of our Grit Index: Tate Ratledge (second-highest grit score among guards and third overall) and Isaac TeSlaa (second among receivers ).
While some of their recent picks continue to face significant criticisms, it’s hard to argue with Holmes’ track record. And it’s clear that in more recent years, he’s not afraid to flaunt it a little.