MichiganCardinal

I wouldn’t undersell the IOL drop off. That’s the only thing that worries me about this team, assuming we don’t have as many devastating injuries as last year, which feels impossible. It’s very possible that Mahagony < Zeitler, Glasgow << Ragnow, and Ratledge < Glasgow. We have DTs like Chris Jones, Jalen Carter, Vita Vea, and Dexter Lawrence on the schedule. We also have Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons (maybe), TJ Watt, Jared Verse, and Trey Hendrickson (maybe), who will all gladly line up inside and double team a rookie, a 6th round sophomore, or an aging veteran coming off a less than stellar season, rather going against Sewell one-on-one. And even Decker has shown some signs of aging. It’s not all doom and gloom, I trust Fraley to coach these guys up and I trust that this trial by fire will turn them into good or great offensive linemen. But there may be some growing pains that involves Goff taking some hits.

Here’s a 53-man roster prediction. QB (3): Jared Goff, Kyle Allen, and Hendon Hooker Allen squarely won the backup gig, but I still the Lions will keep Hooker. I don’t think most Lions fans will love this, but I don’t think the Lions are ready to give up on Hooker and I don’t think he would survive waivers. RB (4): Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Craig Reynolds, and Sione Vaki Assuming Vaki’s injury isn’t serious, anything other than this would be a shock. WR (6): Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick, Isaac TeSlaa, Kalif Raymond, and Dominic Lovett I really like Meeks, maybe even more than Lovett, but I think the Lions view Lovett as a possible heir apparent to Raymond and will stash him. Meeks is also probably slightly more likely to clear waivers to the practice squad. TE (2): Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright Usually I have a blocking TE I fall in love with during the preseason (see: Parker Hesse), but not this year. Neither Zylstra nor Horton has done anything to deserve a roster spot, and I don’t think either will be gifted one. Similar to carrying only four WRs into the 53-man last year, I expect us to have three TEs when the dust settles and we go into Green Bay, but roster spots are earned with this coaching staff. OL (9): Taylor Decker, Christian Mahogany, Graham Glasgow, Tate Ratledge, Penei Sewell, Dan Skipper, Kayode Awosika, Giovanni Manu, and Trystan Colon (PUP: Miles Frazier) I tried not to overthink this. I think the first eight I listed are a lock, with the last spot a little murkier. Colon was the better player before his injury and I think he gets the nod, possibly with a four-game IR designation after the cut to 53, promoting Muti from the practice squad. Eguekan has not looked like a serviceable NFL player this preseason. EDGE (5): Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Josh Paschal, Ahmed Hassanein, and Al-Quadin Muhammed I think the terms of a deal with Zadarius Smith have been agreed upon for well over a month, but both sides have agreed to wait until after roster cuts to put ink on paper. This allows them to bring a guy like Hassanein onto the roster, designate him to the IR the next day, and have him be our four weeks instead of the entire season. Then you can sign Z to replace him on the roster. This also assumes Campbell has been truthful about Paschal’s status and window of an early September return. DT (5): Tyleik Williams, DJ Reader, Pat O’Connor, Roy Lopez, and Keith Cooper (PUP: Alim McNeill and Miles Frazier) This was the trickiest position for me. Ultimately I think they carry five and Cooper extends the Lions’ streak of rostering at least one UDFA. They will want to rotate often here to keep Reader fresh and I think that makes it worth the extra spot. LB (6): Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, Zach Cunningham, Trevor Nowaske, and Grant Stuard (PUP: Malcolm Rodriguez) If they have the room they may find a way to get Pittman on the roster too, but Stuard seems like a better version in all respects. Cunningham does offer some cut flexibility because of his veteran status, so he may get cut and return before week one. DB (10): DJ Reed, Terrion Arnold, Amik Robertson, Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, Rock Ya-Sin, Khalil Dorsey, Avonte Maddox, Loren Strickland, and Erick Hallett I think they value the versatility that Hallett brings and that it will earn him a spot over Kennelly, who is assured a practice squad role if he clears waivers. Special Teams (3): Jake Bates, Jack Fox, and Hogan Hatten Money.

We survived the preseason! Bring on the predictions.

Hutch is the DPOY favorite, and will generate plenty of pressure on his own. Davenport is healthy as of 4:01pm on 08/23/2025. He is a good to great compliment to Hutch as long as that remains the case. Of course I would prefer to have Alim and Levi healthy on the interior, but Williams and Reader are both capable of swallowing space and collapsing the pocket. Anzalone/Campbell/Barnes may not be household names outside Detroit, but they’re among the best linebacking corps in the league.

I think they carry three, at least to start the year, and give Hooker one more year. They didn’t draft a real project this year, like Manu or Martin, who have taken up a roster spot the last two years without contribution. Coupled with Hassanein’s and Dan Jackson’s injuries, you have a little wiggle room on the 53 for projects who don’t dress on game day. If you take Hooker’s rookie year as a developmental wash because of the ACL, this is effectively a redshirt sophomore season for him. The NFL rules also lessen the blow from keeping a third QB and allow them to dress in case of emergency. -edit to add- this all being said, I won’t be upset if they cut him and lose him to another team on waivers. He looks awful.

I think you’re vastly underestimating a healthy Lions defense if you think this is the case. Depending on how quickly Mahogany and Ratledge adapt, the defense may even be the stronger unit.

Hooker in for Allen. Have to think Allen has secured the QB2 role and Hooker is competing for creating a QB3.

Allen is playing well and TeSlaa looks like a day one starter. Based on his not having played in the preseason I have to think Tim Patrick’s job is safe for now, but there are just so many weapons on offense.

Houston Texans (1-1) @ Detroit Lions (1-2) vs. Setting: 08/23/2025 1:00pm EST on Lions TV Network Site: Ford Field in Detroit, MI Weather: Climate Controlled Opening Spread: Lions -1.5 All-Time Series Record: Texans lead, 4-2 Last Meeting: 11/10/2024, Lions won 26-23

Can’t get the Tweet to embed but Justin Rogers reporting the Glasgow injury is nothing serious.

Looking at Cincinnati and Dallas, I’m so glad the days of gross organizational mismanagement appear to be behind us.

What I’m seeing is that it wasn’t serious. Left on his own, inference that he may have returned if it had occurred earlier in the practice.

I get that frustration, I may not be 60 but I want them to win the Super Bowl this season as much as anybody else. But I’d also like to compete next season, and the following season, and the one after that, and so on. If you have ten years with a roster that looks like the Lions have had the last three years, you’re bound to win one eventually, and you may just happen to win more than one. Putting the eggs in a single basket opens you up to one Divisional Round exit after the entire defense gets hurt and your outgoing OC calls a WR pass in the most important game of the season. And then what?

The NFL is a week-to-week business. The team that wins a playoff game often isn’t the best team playing (e.g., Commanders over Lions). The Super Bowl Champion often isn’t the best team in the league (e.g., the 2023 Chiefs). It’s not baseball where you have to win four of seven on multiple occasions. The better team will often find a way to do that, which incentivizes making your team as good as possible for “the run.” It’s single game, put up or shut up. In such a situation you’re far better off setting yourself up for a decade of continued success, than a single push at four consecutive January to February wins. If Holmes can figure out a way to bring in Hendrickson and still establish continued success like the current trajectory, I’m all for it. From a lay perspective though I don’t see it.

I think they may try to get something for him before they outright cut him. I doubt he clears waivers. If you can pick up a conditional 6th or 7th it’s probably worth it at this point. But I don’t see the relative benefit in rostering three QBs, when ideally both are just holding clipboards.

He very well may get cut, unless he’s much better behind closed doors.

BuT tHeY gAvE uP sO mAnY pIckS¡!

Not a lot of NFL talent to be seen on the defense right now.

If the line to gain is the 43, and the ball is sitting on top of the 43, it’s a first down. We don’t need Hawkeye.

Midway through the 1st quarter, the Lions have 18 offensive yards and the Dolphins have 7.

I'm not surprised to see them appeal. The suspension is stupid, it's the NCAA trying to make the punishment seem harsher than Michigan offered. The entire charade of suspending him for CMU and Nebraska instead of New Mexico and Oklahoma they are okay with, but make sure you add in a game next year against Western Michigan or UTEP too? Come on now. The real thing is the money. $20MM means nothing to the football program. They don't rely on that money and they don't need it. They are self-sustaining 100-times over, and the NIL donors are the ones making that program run. OTOH, the $20MM may very well be felt by the wrestling, softball, swim/dive, and all other non-revenue programs. Those programs run at a (sometimes steep) deficit and rely on downstream revenues of the football and basketball programs to stay afloat. That money will need to be made up somewhere or cuts will need to be made.

They were never going to "bring the hammer" down on a blue blood in 2025 like they historically did to USC, SMU, or even Ohio State. You could throw Penn State in there too, but that was a pretty different set of circumstances. The NCAA's very existence is on its heels after recent court rulings. The last thing they wanted to do was give Warde Manual a reason to be the inaugural Chairman of the new B1G-SEC football league. It's not about denial, if anything that made it worse. It's about what the NCAA thinks they can actually get away with right now. They probably issued a huge sigh of relief when Harbaugh left town. They could "bring the hammer" down on him without totally frustrating the remaining infrastructure of the university. They're a joke of an organization struggling to retain a shred of dignity.

If you told me in 2015 that the Harbaugh saga at Michigan would end in ten years with one National Championship and a total of 14 years in show-cause penalties, I would be thoroughly impressed in Michigan's embrace of modern day college football.

MSU and OSU slappies since 2023: "The hammer is going to drop any day now!" The Hammer that dropped: