After trading up for No. 102 to No. 70 overall in April to take him, and giving up both of next year's third picks, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes to 97.1 The Ticket's "Costa and Jensen" that Isaac TeSlaa was his favorite wide receiver in this year's draft class while acknowledging how the pick was so stridently questioned.
"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," Holmes said. "I’m not saying he was the best wide receiver in the draft, but favorite wide receiver in the draft, yes."
TeSlaa was not very productive over two seasons at Arkansas, with just 62 total receptions. But his intriguing blend of size (6-foot-4, 214 pounds), speed (4.43-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine) and athleticism (the highest Athleticism Score among wide receivers at the combine) made him a late riser during the pre-draft process and if the Lions didn't move up to take him where they did they might not have gotten him.
In a pre-training camp look at the WR3 competition for the Lions, Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports predicted TeSlaa to beat out Tim Patrick and Kalif Raymond.
"This one seems very obvious to me. It's going to be Isaac TeSlaa, and the reasons are that he can just bring more to the offense than Patrick and Raymond. The ability to be a solid blocker while also being a guy who can play a big role in the red zone and gets yards after the catch elsewhere is big for this team and adds another layer to the offense."
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com called TeSlaa a "big slot receiver" who can overwhelm smaller defensive backs with size and ball skills. In the Lions' offense, if he has a big role, he will be lined up for plenty of matchups he can take advantage of.
Isaac TeSlaa looks like seamless fit for area where Lions' wide receivers excel
Looking at some numbers the Lions need to keep up in 2025, Tim Twentyman of the team website had this note when looking back on last season.
"Of the 406 catchable passes Detroit Lions quarterbacks threw in 2024, Lions' pass catchers dropped a total of seven, the fewest in the NFL. For comparison, the New York Giants led the NFL with 29 drops, and Green Bay's 7.5 drop percentage was the highest in the league."
Jared Goff being as accurate as he is certainly helps the Lions' pass catchers not have very many drops and produce after the catch. But on the other hand, sure-handed pass catchers like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams help Goff excel too.
With that latter point in mind, according to Pro Football Focus, TeSlaa had zero drops on 100 targets over his two seasons at Arkansas. So along with whatever else the Lions loved about him (size, speed, blocking), literally never dropping a pass over two years of high level college competition surely added to the allure and justified the big trade up to get him.
