Somehow, NFL teams always wind up with just the player they wanted in the first round of the draft. Or at least that’s what general managers seem to say after the selection.

But as documented by “Inside the Den: Behind the Scenes of the Lions Draft,” Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs really was the player targeted by Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes.

MORE NFL:

· ‘TOP 100 PLAYERS’ RATINGS INCLUDE 2 MORE FROM ALABAMA

· BRIAN ROBINSON JR. FEELS LIKE HIS OLD SELF IN COMMANDERS’ TRAINING CAMP

· BIRMINGHAM AND THE NFL: ONE LAST SHOT BEFORE MOVING ON

As Detroit prepared to make the sixth and 18th selections on April 27, the Lions had 14 players in their first-round “bucket,” Holmes said in the video, which was released on Thursday.

“Picking Gibbs, that was easy,” Holmes said. “Yeah, we’d have been comfortable at six. But when you get into having an opportunity to maximize that sixth overall pick, we couldn’t be any more thrilled with how that came out.”

The Lions took a trade offer from Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort for the sixth selection, which packaged that pick with the 81st choice to receive the 12th, 34th and 168th selections.

“The whole time, I had a pretty good sense that he was not going to last till 18,” Holmes said. “And really I just thought the player was too talented to last to 18, so even when we made the trade back to 12, I’m still kind of like, ‘Someone’s going to jump us.’ You just don’t know, so, yeah, you’re still sweating bullets a little bit.”

In the five picks between six and 12, a running back was chosen, but it was Texas’ Bijan Robinson, who went to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 8.

“You’ve got a guy you’ve identified, and then you’re just – man, you’ve got to hold on and hope that your guy doesn’t go,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said.

Holmes correctly predicted that offensive tackles Darnell Wright of Tennessee would go to the Chicago Bears at No. 10 and Peter Skoronski of Northwestern would go to the Tennessee Titans at No. 11. When the Titans’ selection of Skoronski was announced, it set off a celebration in Detroit’s draft room.

“Just to be able to get that player, it’s just the best feeling you could ever have,” Holmes said.

RELATED: ALABAMA ROOTS: NFL DRAFT PICKS SIGN FOR $198 MILLION

While the Lions’ selection of Gibbs at No. 12 was widely panned – too soon to take a running back, the detractors said – Detroit’s next selection from the Crimson Tide was hailed as a steal.

Holmes selected Iowa players with the Lions’ two picks after Gibbs – linebacker Jack Campbell at No. 18 and tight end Sam LaPorta at No. 34 – and still had another decision coming in the second round at No. 48.

“Sitting there at 48, and again we still got our crop of guys,” Holmes said “We’re ready, but then I’m just starting to see this Brian Branch. And I’m like, ‘Wait. He’s still there.’”

Branch had been one of the players invited to the draft in Kansas City, but the Alabama defensive back didn’t go in the first round.

Holmes started making phone calls. Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst would trade his 45th selection for the Lions’ No. 48 and No. 152. But Holmes balked at that offer, and Gutekunst counted with No. 45 for No. 48 and No. 159.

Holmes took that proposal, and Detroit immediately picked Branch.

“We got this guy as one of those 14 players we had in that first-round bucket, and let’s make sure we don’t lose him,” Holmes said. “… To be able to land Branch, we were ecstatic.”

After the Lions chose Tennessee quarterback Herndon Hooker at No. 68, Holmes started working the phones. With Detroit’s next pick at No. 122, Holmes sought a trading partner so the Lions could move up for Western Kentucky defensive tackle Brodric Martin, a former Northridge-Tuscaloosa three-sport athlete who had spent four seasons at North Alabama between the Jaguars and Hilltoppers.

“Me and Dan just had this affinity for Brodric,” Holmes said. “… It’s hard to find guys that big that play with the competitiveness and urgency that he plays with.”

Holmes worked a deal with the Cardinals, sending the 122nd, 139th and 168th selections to Arizona if Martin was still available when it came time for Arizona to pick at No. 96.

When the Cincinnati Bengals chose Alabama safety Jordan Battle at No. 95, it set off a round of hand-slapping by Campbell with the personnel assembled in Detroit’s draft room.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.