RandyMarsh

Im expecting an electric atmosphere for this one!

I feel pretty similar to this except I'm not as high on the Steelers, Id probably put them near the bottom of the Good tier. Also would move Seattle and Jax up to the Lions tier. Unless Geno is a one year wonder I think both those teams are going to be really good.

I liked the one shot they showed during the delay of this elderly couple all bundle up and in the parkas still sitting in their seats despite the rain and delay. Total diehards, no doubt they been to a few Spring Trainings or two and most definitely still keep score.

Of course the flip side to that is if he looks that good the Lions may want to just keep him for himself but if there is an offer(s) good enough they may feel they have no choice but to take it.

For Hooker's sake maybe the Lions will actually be one of those teams where they clinch early or have nothing to play for at the end of the season so he gets some run. If that were to happen and he excels that could create a market for him where teams would be willing to give up something of value to make him their qb. I think about how Jimmy G excelled when Brady was suspended and he ended up creating a market and the Pats dealt him for a 2nd round pick.

I think it was MB that brought it up a little while back but I would love for them to give Goff a Carr like contract now. Give him security but also doesn't bind you to him for too long if you want to move on in 2-3 years.

Yeah the one I watched was his start like 5 days ago and was just going by the gun they showed on the graphic. Judging by the swings he was getting I figured it was mid 90s but nope some were registering as low as 88 for the FB.

Funny you mention Halter cause I ran into him too years ago. I think I told the story before on the old board but we were at O Tooles in Royal Oak sitting at the bar, it was a relatively quiet night and on the TV they showed highlights of the game. Halter did something big in that game(maybe the game he started all 9 positions) and they were highlighting it and Halter says something to the bartender like "Yeah that guy sucks" and the bartender and him just start laughing so I'm guessing he was a semi regular. He was sitting two spots down from me for like an hour and I had no idea it was him, it wasn't until then me and my buddy put two and two together and realized who it was. Cool guy, ended up playing a few games of pool with us.

It wasn't an apples to apples comparison but just pointing out that there has been precedent where teams take a QB after the 1st round without the purpose of giving up on the guy they have or with the thought process that they will be their future guy and I think that is the case with Hooker. It never hurts to have a backup or contingency plan at the most important position in sports, maybe Goff never misses a game and continues to excel for the Lions for the next 10 years and it turns out that they wasted a 3rd rd pick on a guy holding a clip board. Or maybe in 2024 Goff gets injured and misses substantial time and Hooker comes in and excels and leads the Lions to a Super Bowl or any of number of different things in between. I guess my overall point is that unlike some of the narrative going around I don't believe they drafted him to be Goff's replacement, could he eventually be? Sure but I still think they are committed to Goff long term and just felt that the potential upside of Hooker if things were to go bad with Goff was worth the risk where they drafted him at. Again if they really drafted him with the mindset that he is going to be their future franchise QB you don't pass on him 4 times, then trade back with a 5th selection when he is still on the board.

I see Hooker as nothing more than a flyer, if they really felt Hooker was their QB of the future they wouldn't have passed on him 4 times before finally taking him. I liken the situation to the Eagles taking Hurts, at the time Wentz looked like their QB of the future but they thought the value was too good with Hurts to pass up. Or like the Seahawks taking Wilson right after giving a huge contract to Flynn to be their QB.

I think Barbato has moved up to a Capo or possibly a Consigliere.

Watched highlights on YT of Hurter's last start and he got a lot of swing and misses on the FB so it must play up a bit but was only sitting in the upper 80s and topping out at like 91. It's possible the gun was slow cause like I said he did induce alot of whiffs with it but if it isn't it's hard to see him having too bright of future with that velo even if he is a tall lefty.

Lorenzen is low key Aducci's "Luca Brasi".

Not quite Babe Ruth but I ran into Andy Dirks and I'm wanting to say Duane Below(I know it was some AAAA middle reliever/spot starter) at Bookies after a Tigers day game one time. I don't know if Dirks was drunk or not but he certainly came across that way, maybe he was just one of those guys that gets really obnoxious after 1 or 2 drinks.

After a few days to digest the draft I think the one thing that you could possibly criticize the Lions of is not getting enough value in their trades. Maybe it just wasn't there but it seems like they could've extracted more from the cards or at the very least maybe could've subbed that 3rd we gave back for a 5th. Also I thought a couple of their day 2 and day 3 trades were a little too much/ received too little but according to the charts they weren't egregious either way. But as far as the players go, I love them and aside from Hooker all the first 6 should contribute to some degree from the get go.

Love that quote at the end of the tweet.

I figured Hooker was just a contingency plan in case things went south with Goff whether it be play, injury or contractually and if this is to be believed it sounds like just that. Yeah using a 3rd for that definitely isn't the best value but when you have few holes sometimes you can take chances or make luxury picks like that.

As far as the Packers go, they're a pretty tough read in my eyes cause you don't know what to expect from Love. People talk about the loss of Rodgers and just assume they are going to take a major step back but you have to keep in mind that the Rodgers they got last year wasn't the MVP Rodgers, he was basically a middle of the pack qb so Love doesn't have to be great for them to not take a step back from the qb play of last season where they won 9 games.

Yeah Id say they're about a 7 win team but I could see them being like us last year and winning 9 if alot of things go right. Of course I guess you could say that about just about any NFL team.

You would think there has to be a reason why the Lions created all this cap space, I like to think they looked around the league and pin pointed potential June 1st or camp casualties that they would like to jump on and they wanted to make sure they had the means to be able to make it happen.

Buddha isn't going to like hearing this but I actually think the Bears are going to be better than people think.... atleast record wise. Not only cause of the improvements they made but much like the Lions in 2021 I think they were better than their record. They were terrible in close games going 1-7 in games decided by 1 score or less which over time tend to equal themselves and if they do this year and go say 5-3 in such situations their record will look alot better. Plus I'm just a stubborn Fields believer, I still feel he has the capability to be a decent passer in this league and if he can just get to decent with his running ability that can make him a pretty good qb. Of course I still have the Lions as the favorites but it wouldn't shock me if the Bears ended up finishing 2nd.

Or Al Albuquerque.

Bryce Harper had TJ surgery the day before Thanksgiving and he is scheduled to make his return this week. Obviously being a position player changes things but still that's crazy to be ready to go less than 6 months after the surgery.

Unless Witherspoon was graded so much higher to them than the other CBs I think its telling that they didn't take one the whole draft unless you count Branch who I feel is more of a safety.

Dingler is another one that fell victim to the Tigers "development". Started the minors mashing and then holding his own at AA now 3 years later he is worse off than he was when he got here.