Allen Park — Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes made two trades, 124 days apart, boldly proclaiming the same thing: I believe in Isaac TeSlaa.
In late April, facing a prolonged wait between the team’s second-round selection — used to fill a massive roster hole with Georgia offensive lineman Tate Ratledge — and pick No. 102 at the end of the third round, Holmes aggressively explored ways to move up to land the Arkansas receiver and Michigan native.
The GM finally found a taker in Jacksonville, who parted with No. 70 in the early stages of the third round, pick No. 182 in the sixth, and a future sixth for 102 and a pair of third-round choices in 2026.
Moments later, TeSlaa was a Lion.
TeSlaa was an upside play more than an expectation of immediate impact. That was clear the night of the draft and driven home in the team’s “
Inside the Den” documentary, where coach Dan Campbell talked about which prospect offered the most upside in Year 2.
Development was going to be required for the former high school quarterback, who started his college journey at D-II Hillsdale before playing a slot-heavy role for two seasons at Arkansas.
But for as much as the Lions downplay measureables, TeSlaa offers them in spades,
testing out as one of the most athletic receivers to ever enter the league. On top of that, he commanded Holmes’ attention at the Senior Bowl with his blocking, showing the requisite grit to wear the Honolulu blue.
A funny thing has happened in the months since Holmes made TeSlaa’s dreams come true with a draft-night phone call. The rookie has blown his developmental timelines out of the water, flattening the curve at each turn of his first offseason.
TeSlaa impressed Campbell with his toughness, battling through a leg injury during the early stages of training camp. Then, when the pads came on, the rookie’s physicality commanded everyone’s attention. TeSlaa put an exclamation on things with an impressive preseason, catching 10 passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
Even before the preseason finale, the questions about TeSlaa’s rookie year morphed from how much he would see the field to how much he could contribute.
That led to Holmes making the second trade, shipping Tim Patrick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The unspoken message was the same as it was in April: I believe in Isaac TeSlaa.
Helping hands
Patrick was an important piece to the roster in 2024. His contributions as the No. 3 receiver, when the Lions had struggled to find one, shouldn’t be downplayed. He played a meaningful part in the team’s record-setting offense, hauling in 33 of 44 targets and blocking with ferocity on the perimeter for the team’s potent ground game.
The Lions re-upped with the veteran this offseason, fully guaranteeing a $2.5 million salary with some incentives that could bring his earnings to $4 million. They would have been happy for him to continue in his role, if only as a placeholder, to be eventually overtaken by TeSlaa, likely in 2026.
That’s just not how it played out. New information demands change, decision-makers adjust, and TeSlaa’s rapid acclimation was cause for an adjustment.
Prior to the trade, Patrick readily served as a mentor to his heir. It was clear to anyone paying attention during training camp that the two formed a fast bond.
“I was looking up to him a lot in the room,” TeSlaa said. “I'd say the biggest thing is sometimes you hear about veterans, and you bring in a guy that's ‘going to be behind them,’ and they're an a_____ to them. They're not giving them s___. That was the complete opposite case with Tim. He took me under his wing, and he was really helping me every single day grow as a receiver, so I have nothing but respect for him. I think we're going to miss him for sure.”
In part, Patrick’s investment in TeSlaa helped punch the veteran’s ticket out of town. It also served as an introduction to the sometimes harsh business side of the NFL for the rookie.
“Yeah, I mean, it's just crazy how out of the blue it is,” TeSlaa said. “We had no indicators whatsoever that that was going to go down. It's unfortunate, but it's the nature of the game. We've got to move on with the guys we've got.”
Patrick obviously wasn’t the only one helping TeSlaa this summer. The rookie has been picking up knowledge from all the receivers in the room. But the biggest piece to the puzzle is position coach Scottie Montgomery, arguably the coaching staff’s most detail-driven assistant.
TeSlaa caught 10 of 13 targets in the preseason, including touchdowns in each of the final three games. However, despite all those positives, Montgomery was always quick to point out where TeSlaa could have been better.
“The biggest thing for me is he's not going to let you get away with anything,” TeSlaa said. “Even on some of the plays that I scored, it was like, ‘That's not good enough.’
“And I could see what he's talking about. He was 100% right. I think having him as my coach is extremely good for me, just because I've got to be locked into all the details if I want to continue to play.”
Talking to the media earlier this week, Montgomery praised TeSlaa’s ability to take his hard coaching and avoid repeating mistakes.
“No matter what we did to him to make him understand, 'That's not good enough, that's not good enough,' he kept correcting it. And he continues to pass the next test, right?” Montgomery said. “…What we would see is he would take it from the meeting room to the walkthrough to the individual drills to the practice tape. When he failed in practice, he very rarely failed again in that same detail.
“That lets us know, first of all, he cares,” Montgomery continued. “But it (also) lets us know he's in his playbook. When you're in your playbook, you're going to get the respect of the people in the room. And when your mental errors are low, you get the respect of the people in the room. A lot of other people on the outside, they see playmaking, and they think that's it. Well, you've got to be in the right spot, especially now, when the lights are truly on."
More than any physical adjustment, absorbing that playbook has been the biggest challenge for TeSlaa. It’s far more voluminous than anything he experienced in college, and the precision required to succeed in the NFL is incomparable.
Making the physical adjustment from being a slot receiver to the X, which better suits his 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame, has come more naturally.
“I think I always had the versatility to go outside,” TeSlaa said. “I just didn't really have the opportunity to go out and do it in college. So, for me, it was just getting that opportunity to be able to learn from coaches, learn from these players, just kind of watch the guys ahead of me. I think that was the biggest thing for me was just learning what I needed to do on the outside and then just going out there and doing it.”
Countdown to launch
The Lions, including Holmes, continue to downplay what TeSlaa might be able to produce this season.
“I think you’ve got to still keep in perspective, TeSlaa’s a rookie, young player,” Holmes said the day after the Patrick trade. “He’s had a good training camp, a good preseason, but we’ll just see how it goes.”
And, to be fair, Kalif Raymond continued to rep ahead of TeSlaa all through camp. One veteran has departed, but the path to a full workload remains rightfully blocked by another. Raymond absolutely earned reps with an offseason Montgomery called one of the most consistent he’s seen from a receiver in his three years with the Lions.
Still, it all feels like it's a matter of time — a future rapidly approaching — before the balance shifts in TeSlaa’s favor.
TeSlaa began this work week under the weather. That bug has kept him from fully participating during the first two days of practice in preparation for the season opener in Green Bay. Still, good luck keeping him out of that game.
TeSlaa, who grew up a massive Lions fan, who famously wore a custom jersey with his name on it during his pre-draft visit with the team, has mostly negative memories of watching the Lions play the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau. He also knows the tide has turned in recent years, with the Lions winning three straight at the stadium.
Could there be a more perfect setting to debut? He'll look to contribute as a receiver, a blocker, and on special teams. His goals for his rookie season haven’t been altered by his better-than-expected offseason or the Patrick trade: TeSlaa is just looking to carve out a role and help however he can.
“I've thought about it a little bit for sure, but I think it really won't hit me until I'm running out of that tunnel onto Lambeau Field,” he said. “It's just another great opportunity to go out and play.”
