Hongbit

Everybody’s got something to hide except me and my monkey.

It should be Houston but I can see one of these teams that needs QB passing this year and starting the tank job for Caleb Williams in next years draft.

This organization is all about player development. Holmes must have mentioned it 5 times in his talk yesterday. Instead of focusing on what’s lacking in his game tape, how about what shows up. He’s electric with the ball in the open field. He’s sensational catching the ball out of the backfield and making people Miss especially in red zone. These are skills that cant be taught. He’s scored 25 TD in 40 games many of which have been pointed out he touched the ball less than 10 times. The talent level is off the charts and he has proven to be a flat out playmaker. He needs additional development and I don’t see this organization giving up on that without exhausting all efforts. Everything Holmes talks about would lead to staying the course and relying o the coaches to get him to that next level. If attitude and work ethic were issues then I could see the team moving on from him now. He appears to be a guy with a good attitude and plays for the team. It seems like he’s coachable as he’s made improvements this year and Duce would’ve run him out already if he wasn’t.

It’s more than just a value proposition. He hasn’t shown the ability to stay healthy and while he played decent at guard, the reality is that he’s our worst starting lineman and that really isn’t a debate. Add to the fact that he’s overpaid and it makes sense to move on.

Vaitai was signed to play RT by Quinn. He’s played much better at RG when healthy but is still paid like a tackle. His current deal had him as the 10th highest paid G this season. That’s not good value for his play regardless of the intangibles. Brown was a huge liability filling in as backup guard. He was really good last year filling in at Center when Ragnow went down. That’s his better position.

I would really like him to take one of the top guards available with one of the 2nd rounders. Vaitai will most likely be a cap casualty. I expect Evan Brown to move on in FA and find a team that will give him a shot to compete for a starting center spot. They like Awosika a little bit but not sure enough to hand him a starting job. I can’t imagine Stenberg being back. Add the final piece in this draft and they really will have a shot to be the best OL in the league for many years.

I’m not sure he’s worth a long term deal yet. I wouldn’t give him one this off season. If he demands it then I’d let him hold out. I don’t want to give up on him yet because you can see the talent. He’s got another year to improve and I think he could do some really special things next year. I think his issue had more to do with mental mistakes and don’t see a problem with durability. I think that’s a label that’s stuck to him that doesn’t play out when you take a deeper look. The idea of saying fuck it on every RB and drafting a new one every 4 years either late 1st or early 2nd is interesting. I’m not necessarily opposed to that thinking. The shelf life is short and there is value to be found later on. Something to ponder for sure.

I see the touches per game having more to do with his issues staying with the play call and hitting the right holes than durability. He was dancing and going east/west way too much the first two years. He got better this year but still had moments where he didn’t run strong and confident. They also have Jamaal, who they know and trust to do the right things and have the luxury of giving him the ball when Swift has had his brain farts.

Here are the RB’s taken in the 1st 3 rounds of the 2020 draft: Clyde Edwards-Hellaire - #32 - 33 games - 17 TD D’Andre Swift - #35 - 40 - 26 TD Jonathan Taylor - #41 - 43 - 36 TD Cam Akers - #52 - 29 - 10 TD JK Dobbins - #55 - 23 - 12 TD AJ Dillon - #62 - 45 - 16 TD Ke’Shawn Vaughn - #76 - 37 - 3 TD Darrynton Evans - #93 -12 - 1 TD Zach Moss - #86 - 39 - 11 TD Swift has played in 80% of possible Lions games. Only Jon Taylor and AJ Dillon have been in more. The guy is plenty durable. The touches per game are a Lions team decision and even so he’s still out producing everyone in his draft class but Taylor.

Cant make that guarantee on Swift. He’s been good for 13 games a season which is 80% of thr time. That’s not bad for an RB. I’m not opposed to taking a RB in the 3rd. I’m definitely on board if they somehow don’t bring back JW. Might even be convinced to go 2nd in that scenario.

My ideal Lions 6 round mock draft: 6. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants 18. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants 48. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants 59. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants 81. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants 149. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants 169. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants 180. Whoever Brad Holmes Wants

Lots of teams cheated the right way and lost their coach and still fell off. The SEC has an advantage because the conference is so deep and have seen so many teams go from up to down when a coach leaves that they all get it now that the program is only as good as the coach. USC, Michigan, OU, ND, Miami, Florida State, and many others have failed to figure that out multiple times because their conferences are such that they can at least compete even with the wrong coach, yet still think they are a just a year away because they believe the program is what makes it go and will magically fix itself based on things that happened many years ago.

Sustained high level success in College football comes down to 2 things: 1. Having the right head coach 2. Understanding that head coach is what makes the program successful and not the other way around.

Any concern about giving up 51 points in a playoff game to a team that turned around and scored 7 the next week? On both sides of the ball UM didn’t look nearly as physical as they were perceived to as they were playing their B1G schedule. I guess it’s shifted and they are speedy finesse team and not quite as physical as the expectations of a Michigan team. There’s nothing wrong with that and you can win that way until you run against an SEC team that is physical on both lines and fast everywhere else.

If the meds are right then I’m all in on the Bryan Bresee train at 6 and top available CB at 18.

I don’t see 3 RB’s in the first round. There have been 5 total taken there the last 4 drafts combined. Not sure why Atlanta would think about RB after finding Tyler Alleigeir in the 5th round last year and seeing him break 1000 yards. They still have Cordarrelle Patterson under an accepted contract for next year as well. I think it would be a huge waste for the Lions to spend an early pick on RB. They have a deep room and Swift’s injury history is overplayed. He needs to become more consistent but it’s a talent that you don’t give up on. Now that could change if his agent demands a contact extension now instead of next year but I think the team likes and wants Swift to become a 2nd contract player here rather than let him go. You really only need 2 RB. You can find decent guys on the street to be backups as we have done with Jackson and Reynolds. You can draft one in the 7th round and see if they stick like a Jefferson or Ty Johnson a few years back. It just doesn’t seem like a ton of value trading up for RB. I’m not picking up that if you have a first string platoon that the 3rd RB is now the 2nd string backup. That doesn’t make sense. He’s still the 3rd RB and those really are a dime a dozen.

The entire season has been a joke. Maybe it’s the portal or lingering effects still from the Covid season but this year featured some of the worst top teams we’ve seen in decades. Even this Georgia team would get pounded by recent CFP qualifiers.

TCU is not a good team.

Justin Fields is a fantasy football superstar.

One of the things that I’m excited about is that with the added respect we shouldn’t get many games with the Fox D-list crew of Chris Meyers and Jon Vilma.

This just in. Maybe our guy is a little tougher than he’s been given credit for.

That’s @MichiganCardinal. He did a great job with the GDT’s Thanks MC! As for Bombers, we had our run-ins but I hope is doing ok. It’s got to be hard being the smartest person in the room and always being right about everything. He may have just gotten bored conversing with less intelligent people and our small minded opinions.

Yep. He’s not really in a position to turn down the job if offered but you kind of hope for his sake they pick someone else. Also, the Panthers are going to interview Jim Caldwell. Maybe he can break the streak of former Lions HC’s.

WILD CARD SF > SEA TB > DAL MIN > NYG JAX > LAC CIN > BAL BUF > MIA DIVISIONAL TB > PHI MIN > SF KC > JAX CIN > BUF CONFERENCE MIN > TB CIN > KC SUPER BOWL CIN > MIN

For my last game thread post of the year all I want to say is…What a great fucking season! #BNL