After keeping all of Brad Holmes' draft picks from 2021 to 2023, the Lions could be parting with up to 5 of them before the 2024 season

Last season one of the big things that the Detroit Lions could tout is that since Brad Holmes had taken the job as the team's general manager, the Lions had 23 draft picks and all 23 of them were still on the roster.

During free agency we saw the first departure when the Lions chose not to bring back cornerback Chase Lucas and he hit the open market and wound up signing with the 49ers . He may not be the only Brad Holmes' draft pick to leave this offseason.

Training camp is going to be extremely telling this year. The Lions have a very good roster and usually when you have a very good roster, you're able to part with players you normally wouldn't think a team would part with.

We've got four of Holmes' draft picks that are going to have a lot of pressure on them to make something happen during training camp or possibly be cut and looking for a new team in 2024.

Levi Onwuzurkie

The Lions first second-round pick under Brad Holmes. He showed a lot of promise in his rookie season and then suffered a bad back injury that kept him out of the entire 2022 season.

He was able to come back in 2023 and was around all season, but the Lions took him out of their defensive line rotation midway through the year and he was a healthy scratch for multiple games. When he did play, his snap counts were relatively low. He only played 132 snaps in 2023.

The good news for now is that Lions head coach Dan Campbell did say that Onwuzurkie had a very good spring, but he also noted that things could be different once the team is in pads. Onwuzurkie needs to have a big camp or there is a chance he could be cut with new players like Mehki Wingo, Mathieu Betts and Mitchell Agude coming for spots.

Jermar Jefferson

The Lions took Jefferson in the seventh-round of the 2021 NFL Draft and he's managed to stick around for most of the time. He was cut last season with an injury and then wound up coming back on the practice squad in September.

It's not that we haven't seen good flashes from Jefferson over time, it's that he's so buried on the depth chart behind Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Sione Vaki, Craig Reynolds and Zonovan Knight. He has to try to get over half of those guys to maybe get some regular season snaps at best.

It's probably in Jefferson's best interest to get a change of scenery this year. There are teams in need of running backs. Maybe he'll get a shot on one of them.

James Mitchell

Mitchell was such a stud at Virginia Tech. He was someone that not only played tight end, he lined up as a receiver, he ran the ball and he even returned kicks on occasion. He would have gone so much higher in the draft had he not torn his ACL.

The Lions got him in the fifth-round of the 2022 NFL Draft and that felt like a steal at the time. But Mitchell has had trouble getting used to the NFL game and when his number gets called, he's struggled to capitalize on it. It makes you wonder if he ever will.

Now going into camp, the Lions have a bevy of tight ends fighting for a third tight end spot. Mitchell will have to go up against Shane Zylstra, Sean McKeon and Parker Hesse. One of these guys are going to make the roster. Is Mitchell that guy?

Antoine Green

Green was a seventh-round pick last season and we didn't get to see a whole lot from him outside of what he did in the preseason, which wasn't much. He had seven receptions for 151 yards and a touchdown. Most of that came in the third game.

During the regular season the Lions kept him stashed on the 53-man roster and made him active eight times. Still, he only actually played 57 snaps and was targeted twice.

The Lions do need some depth at receiver and there's still a chance that they go out and get another guy or two between now and the end of camp. Green is still behind four guys and will have to fight for a roster spot in 2024. It's not just granted because he was a draft pick.

Players like Tre'Quan Smith, Isaiah Williams, Jalon Calhoun, Daurice Fountain, Kaden Davis and Maurice Alexander all bring something to the table and could realistically beat out Green and cause him to get cut.

Related: An encouraging injury update on Lions' defensive back Brian Branch ahead of training camp