RandyMarsh

To me cornerback is the biggest one. We're another injury or player taking a downward spiral away from being in major trouble there. Id rather be proactive and get a player now just incase those things happen.

Jamo, Paschel and Levi havent produced yet as 1st or 2nd rounders either so its not like every early pick he gets is a guaranteed home run.

After reading a few articles this morning sounds like Surtain is untouchable as the Broncos want to keep him as a building block. Oh well Probably would've taken atleast what the Rams gave up for Ramsey so unlikely Brad would've parted with that much anyway.

On top of all the aforementioned young players on the roster Baltimore also has the top system in baseball with several top 50 prospects including the consensus number 1 so they should be a force for years to come. Given the nature of the playoffs don't know if that will lead to any World Series wins or appearances but they should have plenty of cracks at it in the next several years and beyond.

Crosby, Surtain and Chase Young are definitely 3 guys I would look at heavily. I wouldn't want to overpay since you're gonna have to likely give them new contracts pretty soon but Id certainly be willing to give up some valuable picks for them, particularly the first two. Also I wouldn't view it has giving up on the future if we did so since all of them would be around and likely producing at a high level for the foreseeable future.

Ideally I'd call Denver and see what they want for Surtain. I'd be willing to give up a 24 first for him in a heartbeat, yeah he's due for an extension in a couple years but it's not like you can't have any high dollar players in this league. You could build a defense around him and Hutch being the expensive players while sprinkling younger more affordable players to compliment them.

I know they have held up thus far but with the Mosely news I think we need to be in the market for a corner if there's an upgrade available.

If Baker wasn't playing as well as he has thus far TB would be another possibility, I guess it still could be if they aren't sold and waiting for the clock to strike midnight on him.

The Lions leading the division by 2 with the current tie breaker over 2nd place so basically 3 games, when was the last time we've had a lead that big? The 50s?

Lions currently 3rd in DVOA, never before have they been that high through 5 games of the season. And yes this is just another reminder of horrible we have been over the decades, even more so at the start of the season. Some of our best years we were a mere 3-2 or worse.

Things change all the time in the NFL so who knows what the trend will be 5 years from now but currently I think we are trending towards not needing the elite QB that can do everything to win based on how offenses are calling plays now. The trend now play calling across the league(with some exceptions) is shorter developing plays where you get your play makers in space, generally on 10-15 yard crossing patterns. Those play designs in turn make throws easier for your QB. You just don't see as many vertical downfield throws or throws to the sideline from the other hash ie the throws that require a cannon, or throws where you have to fit in tight windows. I posted Goff's stats but he also leads the league in downfield throws(20+), downfield completions and downfield completion percentage. If you watch the Lions it's not like they are constantly throwing down the field yet they are doing it the most in football, that's because teams just aren't doing it that much anymore. Also teams just aren't throwing it as much anymore on a per game basis, 3 years ago 22 teams averaged 35+ pass attempts a game, this year that number is down to 8. Teams are starting to slow the game down with quicker/shorter completions that keep the clock running and running the ball. So to sum it up, sure it would be great to have a QB that can do everything but I think we are getting to the point where what you want most is a smart QB that can process things quickly and can throw an accurate ball, almost like the "game manager" type, if he can do more great but it's not as necessary as it was not too long ago. But again things change quickly so who knows if this is going to be a short trend or something that lasts 10 years.

Virtually every great QB ever has had the benefit of having elite play callers and/or coaches, it goes hand and hand.

Aside from the aforementioned Goff, Hutch is the 5th highest graded DE in the NFL(first the last 3 weeks) and McNeil is top 5 DT and 1st in the last 3 weeks as well. Not that I think PFF is gospel or anything but considering how poorly the Lions usually are ranked there its good to see some names being ranked that high that also pass the eye test.

After posting a grade of 93.9 Sunday Jared Goff is now the highest graded PFF QB on the season.

I did the same and I love it, only thing that sucks is that yt tv doesn't carry ballys, with the Wings and Pistons starting up I may have to sign up for bally+.

It may be recency bias since we just had a big offensive game without him but Im not sure I would give a big money extension to St. Brown. Not that I don't think he is a great player and if we have the money sure but I think he's the type of player we don't need to keep to be successful. I trust that Brad can find a suitable replacement whether it be via trade/fa or through the draft. To me Hutch, Goff and Sewell are the only three guys on the team at this point that Id be willing to break the bank for long term.

Mosely out for the year with a right acl tear.

I think Geno Smith is a tough matchup for the Lions cause of his accuracy and his ability to move in and out of the pocket. They cant really send the house cause he is good at getting out of trouble but if you give him time to throw somebody is going to get open and he is accurate enough to get him the ball. I think the defense matches up better against the gunslingers, the type of qb that can make spectacular throws but don't have the pin point accuracy. Or at the very least if they do have the accuracy they could be contained in the pocket so you can bring pressure.

I don't put too much stock into the slow 2nd halfs after having a big lead at half time. The reason being its hard to dominate an NFL team for all 4 quarters, there's almost always going to be atleast 1 part of the game where the losing team plays well and starts to come back, just the nature of the NFL and for the Lions it just so happened to be after halftime. Now If it's an ongoing thing even in games that are really close I'll start to be concerned about it but not at this point. Just think it's random right now.

Maybe top seeds could get a game advantage? Like depending on the length of the series they only have to win 2 or 3 games while the lower team has to win 3 or 4?

I dont know the order Id put them in but at this point I think SF and Philly are in a class of their own in not only the NFC but NFL as well. Right below them are KC, Miami, Buffalo and Detroit. Seattle, Dallas, Jax and Baltimore are in the next tier. I know Seattle beat us two years in a row and they are certainly a good team but I just don't think they are better than the Lions at this point. They may match up good with us so in turn have our number but I think in the grand scheme of things we would fair better against the rest of the NFL than they would and have the better resume thus far which is why I have them ranked higher. I don't have KC in that top tier anymore just cause I don't think this is the same team that won the SB last year. They still have Mahomes and Reid so they're still a threat but I don't see them as this dominant force nor have they played like one this year.

PFF posted the side by side on their twitter account and it was almost exactly the same, totally not a coincidence. With that said not sure if Shanahan copied Johnson or if maybe they both watched some college football game or something last week that ran that play and both decided to implement it into the playbook. It doesn't seem like the 49ers would've ran that play in a game without practicing first which would've been the case if they stole it after watching the Lions today which makes me think that they both took it from the same team/person and coincidentally happened to both use it today.

The offense only has 28 first half points, if they had a better offensive coordinator that didn't run on 2nd downs they'd have atleast 40. #FIREBENJOHNSON

Notre Dame gets trucked by Louisville, you love to see it!