1984Echoes

I'm on board with that.

I would say so at the start of the season... or at least I would have a month ago. If Cossa is coming on... I'm not so sure about that. I don't know what Yzerman will do.

We hated Al because he fell in love with subpar players (like Willi, etc...) and wouldn't move off of them. And was too lazy to sift through the waiver wire or whatever it took to come up with some other solution/ player. If Jung is up by July-ish, doesn't it make your point moot (if he sticks)? Again... I'm not going to worry about any short-term pain... as long as we get long-term solutions.

I think we just have to let that play out... Make adjustments at a future point in time when those adjustments reveal themselves as necessary. Until then, my mentality is to: just let it play out.

That also pushes Hayes primarily to the bench... brought only at times as a defensive stopper.

I've been arguing this. Even if Sasser is a glorified SG in a PG's body... Isn't that what we need anyways, with Cade starting? Even if it's Ivey/ Sasser... it's still the same thing. He's a secondary ball-handler, not a primary. He's a deep threat, which spreads the floor. The biggest issue is can he play enough defense against the opposing PG? But that also puts Ivey or Cade on the SG for defense... which I think helps either/ both... at least a little. I don't care if he struggles... this is a season for experimentation and learning curves. Start Sasser-Cade (when he's healthy/ on-the-court), bring in Ivey as the second team PG so he can dominate the other team... Give Ivey 30 minutes or so at PG so he'll still have time with Cade... but have at least one of Ivey/ Cade on the floor at all times. When Cade goes to the bench for a breather than Burks comes in so there is offense on the floor at all times (Sasser-Cade, Ivey-Cade, Ivey-Burks). Just my 2 cents.

If his bat is a problem, Vierling at least starts against lefties so it's a platoon. Or if it's worse than that then Meadows is a defensive replacement + part-timer against certain RH'ers. I'm not going to stress about 3B even if Vierling gets forced into playing a lot of CF. I think Ibanez + others will hold the fort until Jung is ready for a promotion. Which, btw, if he's ready sometime in June/ July, just for arguments sake... than Vierling STILL gets pushed off 3B anyways so I don't consider this an overriding situation to worry about as much as whether Meadows is a CF answer for us or not. Even if Greene is forced into CF a bit... and I don't know when he's physically ready for that... I think we have multiple OF options at the corners so we'll just see how that plays out. I'm not worried about who's in the OF, outside of Meadows... It's really all on Meadows to prove he's a part of that puzzle... or not.

Again... You're correct he's worth nothing today. If and when he shows something... We'll cross that bridge if/ when we get there... If ever. Otherwise... he's probably a good backup for us.

Cossa has a: .902 save percentage pre-Christmas and a .934 save percentage post Christmas. Small sample size and all. But the Griffins coaches I believe have stated he is playing better of late... moving better. Let's see how long he can keep that up. Maybe he's our starter on the Wings in 2024-25. If so... what do we do with Husso?

Today he doesn't. But start flashing in a year or two and teams will notice. This isn't a today discussion. It's a nothing discussion, at least until we find out exactly what we have with him. And that might take awhile. I think it's a "cross that bridge when we get there" discussion. Just my 2 cents.

I think it's a multiple thing. The first thing is, I believe he is better as a #2 CB, not a #1. Maybe even as a slot CB. But I'll let the Lions work that out. If you have a true shutdown CB taking on a team's #1 WR, and Sutton on the #2 or #3 WR, I think he looks a lot better. Yes pass rush. But I still see coverage sacks. I still see QB's throwing passes away into the sidelines or out of the end zone because they cannot find an open receiver. Have a blanket coverage secondary and sacks go up. But to your point: more pressure, more sacks, less time to throw ALSO helps the secondary. I think Holmes leaves no stone unturned this offseason. He'll hunt for additional pass-rush/ speed rush through the draft and FA's. He'll hunt for a #1 CB on the market (really, really difficult to find/ afford) and he'll draft 1 or 2 CB's to develop. And I think he will ALSO put critical resources towards the O-Line this offseason. This car goes nowhere without the engine and the O-Line is the engine of the Lions (Goff is the driver, Montgomery the drivetrain, Hutch-St Brown-LaPorta-Anzalone the wheels, McNeil, Campbell, Melifonwu, etc. offer different options like leather seats and sunroof and such... and Gibbs and Jamo are the LASER-BEAM High Beams). They still don't have the Jamo High Beam perfectly aligned just yet though... Working on it.

A few comments on Hooker: If Hooker shows anything, to the Lions or in preseason games... He can be traded for a couple draft picks and the team can reset at backup QB at a future point in time. I really like having someone with Hooker's upside at backup. I mean... we don't really know what that is. But... if Goff were to get nicked up for a few games, or for a key playoff game... I have a lot more confidence that Hooker can come in and win those games over having Blough or Sudfeld in that time of need. A LOT more confidence. And it could even make the difference between winning in the playoffs versus losing... or not even making the playoffs at all. An injured starting QB and crappy backup options can certainly derail a season. If Goff or Hooker show something different in the next few years (I believe we have Hooker 2024-26 seasons?); such as Goff deteriorates due to injuries (this is the NFL after all), or Hooker just takes off (per Lions coaches until we can actually see it in an NFL game... otherwise we have absolutely no idea)... than at that future uncertain date: the team can make a different decision away from Goff or whatever. But until then, it's Goff as our QB at least the next 4-6 years or so (assuming he gets his extension) and Hooker as the #1 backup for 3 of those. And I am absolutely good with that. Just my 2 cents.

WAG: Goff will end up with a 5 year extension at $250 mill. He'll be 35 at the end of that.

Champion level post there!!!

No.. they (the Commanders) were just on their way to Detroit to interview him for their HC position. But they're still coming as they were going to interview both Ben and Glenn. Now they just get one interviewee.

Rumor has it that Ben Johnson was asking for monstrous money to become a head coach... I don't care if teams were showing reluctance at salary demands and that helped Ben come back to Detroit. We do have unfinished business... and I think his gifted mind would be very difficult to replace.

Excellent news. And I would be down with Glenn getting the Commanders Head Coach position.

How about just a minor move? Keith plays a few games at 3B and never lets go. That would mean he has the arm, range and reaction times/glove to handle 3B at least at an adequate level, if not average. Jung shows in Toledo he's more adept at 2B than he is at 3B. There you go... nothing needed but a minor position swap. On the flipside... I think it's Jung who is showing he has the arm, range and reaction times/glove to handle 3B. Whether it's at an adequate, average, or maybe even above average level I have no idea. And Keith showed (I believe) he's better suited to be defensively hidden at 2B than at 3B; and Jung showed he is the better option at 3B. Nothing earth-shattering... But it ends up being no move at all. Just a guess.

Not anymore.

Which cries out for an actual "Effective" pass-rusher opposite him so he's not double-teamed and our pass rush ends up with a big fat ZERO without him. That should also include interior pressure BTW... McNeil played great this year and got a lot of interior pressure. But comparably, nowhere near a Suh or a Donald or those of that ilk. So... I'm happy with McNeil, but I'm really interested in what they have in Brodric Martin. They're "coaching him up" as best they can because he's raw as hell. I don't know what they can actually get him to be in the NFL... but if it's an interior run-stop guy and he doesn't have any interior pass-rush in him (I don't think he does)... Then I think the DL needs TWO pass-rushers to help out Hutch: a book-end speed-rusher, and one more guy they can put in the interior that can generate some pass-rush. Just my 2 cents.

It'll be blamed on Iran. Even if it was only an affiliate and Iran denies giving a direct order. Biden is going through response plans now. And there are lots of calls to hit Iran hard. There's going to be a robust and tough response to this. But... I'm just guessing...

It'll take another year plus or minus to find that out...

Good weather. If he wanted to, DC could've easily relied on Badgley to make the 42-yarder. The 48 yarder even, with a hint of skepticism. But... Only if he wanted to play that strategy which... he had something different in mind...

That's why I called it the "beginning" of BNL. Correct, we don't know yet if it's BNL after one good season. I mean, we have a lot of hope with Holmes & Campbell... But ACTUAL BNL will be: sustainability at this high level. And I'd like to get into at least a couple Super Bowls, and win at least one... just to be able to say "BNL" and mean it...

This is the one I have the most difficulty with. Also, I believe this one was a 42 yarder (didn't Badgley just kick a 54-yarder a couple weeks ago...?), the second one was a 48-yarder IIRC... But matching points wasn't really on my mind until they missed the 4th and 2 and... Since then, I've been going back-and-forth on that first kick... Keep with DC's signature aggressiveness, which has won us so many games? Or make it a 3 score game with a matching/ makeable FG (no guarantees of course) and keep pushing the clock? If we know they miss the 4th and 2, then FG attempt, obviously. But that's 20/20. When they went for it on 4th down, I thought "Of course." Not even an exclamation point. They just didn't execute.