Jimmy Raye III is the newest member of the Detroit Lions front office. Bob Quinn hired Raye as a Senior Personnel Executive, a rather ambiguous role which should be more defined by the Lions soon.

I covered Raye during his Texans tenure, and he’s making a fairly lateral move to Detroit in terms of status. I expect Raye to primarily work on the collegiate scouting side but in close quarters with the coaching staff and also the pro personnel scouting team. That’s what he does best; Raye is very good at disseminating information between departments and making sure everyone is pointing in the same direction.

He’s a scout at heart, a former player who quickly moved into the collegiate scouting ranks. He was very respected by both his scouting peers and his higher-ups with the Chargers organization. I’ve been told reliably and repeatedly he’s the guy who “pounded the table” for the likes of Eric Weddle and Michael Turner.

Many in Houston were surprised he did not land the Carolina Panthers GM job. While he was indeed a serious candidate for the Texans vacancy as well, it became clear early in the process that Brian Gaine (whose role he inherited when Gaine left Houston for Buffalo for a year) was the primary target to succeed Rick Smith.

Raye, a former wide receiver and son of longtime NFL offensive coordinator — and Michigan State QB and coach — Jimmy Raye II, has moved away from being a straight scout in recent years. He’s had a similar career arc as Kyle O’Brien, who has thrived being Quinn’s right-hand man.

I do worry that Raye is another cook in the increasingly crowded kitchen. He’s never worked with Quinn or O’Brien and has no roots in the “Patriot Way” of doing things. It will be interesting to see what kind of influence his experienced voice will carry with the team.