MichiganCardinal

As long as you keeping hitting drafts out of the park, you can be successful in the NFL. It's when you start whiffing on repeated drafts that you get in trouble, because you either have to pay $90MM to the guys you drafted well four years ago, or you have to let the position go unaddressed.

They have pictures of him in a casino inside a glass case labeled "break in case of emergency"

I agree with what I bolded. I agree with the bit about Hutch being better as well, but I think that only works to an extent. If Love or Williams or JJ are able to break out of the pocket and extend a play because Hutch is closing in on one side, and Alim/Reader are collapsing the interior, but the other side is a total non-factor, no secondary in the NFL can be expected to defend receivers for 10+ seconds. But these are likely rich people problems, which is nice to have for a change.

Post-Draft Power Rankings Kansas City Chiefs Detroit Lions Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers Cincinnati Bengals Buffalo Bills Houston Texans Green Bay Packers Dallas Cowboys Baltimore Ravens Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Pittsburgh Steelers Jacksonville Jaguars Chicago Bears New York Jets Atlanta Falcons Cleveland Browns Los Angeles Chargers Tampa Bay Buccaneers Indianapolis Colts Seattle Seahawks New Orleans Saints Las Vegas Raiders Minnesota Vikings Arizona Cardinals Washington Commanders Tennessee Titans Carolina Panthers New York Giants New England Patriots Denver Broncos

I expect the Lions to still add a WR. Maybe an edge rusher too, but I'm more doubtful of that. I think Tyler Boyd either wants too much or too long. As time goes on, maybe he'll sign a CJGJ-like one-year deal (and actually prove it, unlike CJGJ). DJ Chark makes a ton of sense. Like, as much sense as Kevin Zeitler. Michael Thomas makes sense too between his injury history and Saints-to-Lions connections.

If I had to say what I thought was the biggest weakness on the Lions right now, I would say it's the edge opposite Hutch. I know they grabbed Davenport, but I'm not sure how reliable he will be. It sure would be nice to see what Hutch could do when teams didn't double team him for once. Maybe it's a part of their master plan to drive his price down next offseason lol They could still grab a free agent on a one-year prove-it. Yannick Ngakoue was not good last year with the Bears but is only a year removed from two straight 9+ sack seasons. Carl Lawson is in a similar boat, but to a slightly lesser extent on the past success. Calais Campbell is available too, but he'll be 38 when the season begins. He might be trying to wait until late in the season to hop on a contender. All three of them might be interested in one-year deals.

I'm very doubtful they pick up a veteran OT unless it is just to compete for a spot in training camp. Eight roster spots on the line are likely accounted for between the starters, Mahogany, Manu, and Skipper... Picking up a veteran OT for more than the veteran minimum would mean they are ready to throw in the towel on both Sorsdal and Awosika before camp even begins. I think those two will compete for the OT3 role with the other getting a practice squad invitation. Skipper is OT4, he's more likely to come in for a jumbo TE set than he is to actually be a regular OT. If we deal with injuries, then you'll hopefully have the other of Sorsdal and Awosika on the practice squad to call up, and can also add a vet at that point. But the rookie additions should allow Sorsdal and Awosika to focus exclusively on the OT position this offseason, which will hopefully relate to at least one of them showing marked improvement.

DPD said two arrests and two juvenile detentions all weekend. That's incredible. Detroit should be proud.

The Rams were desperate to replace Donald, and that's what happens when you get desperate. They were probably hoping for Byron Murphy to fall to them at #19, and when he didn't they reached for Verse. Then when they saw three DTs go in the first five picks of the second round, they panicked, sold the farm to move up, and reached for Fiske.

When Holmes traded Hock at 1-6, I remember he claimed that he would have done it even if we were 6-1. McNeill might test that. If you can get a low-end first for him from a team like Miami, Houston, or Cincinnati, or a high-end second from Denver or New York (Giants), I think you have to think long and hard about it - if, and only if, you've decided you can't afford to keep him. You're not in desperation win-now-at-all-costs mode. If his replacement struggles, you're going to get flak for it, no doubt. But if you're Dan Campbell losing your best interior defender, you have to treat it just like you would a season-ending injury. Next man up. It's probably accurate that it makes more sense to make the decision at the end of 2024, but you can't tag both McNeill and Decker. Hopefully they can extend at least one of them. I'd probably prefer Decker if I'm being honest, the offensive line is the heart of this team.

At least his agent isn't releasing publicly that he wants more guaranteed money on the first day of the draft when everyone is watching like another player who played QB for both the Rams and Lions.

I don't think he'll reset the market above Burrow, Herbert, and Jackson, though that's probably where his side started in negotiations. I could see him getting 4/210 to put him over top of Jalen Hurts and roughly even with Lamar and Herbert... I agree the four years makes the most sense based on his age and what the Lions have done with ASB. It would align those two contracts. Ultimately though I think both sides want it done, so it'll get done... eventually.

Good find. That would make him the potential RG of the future, Mahogany the tentative LG, with some flexibility if it's not working (considering Glasglow is effectively signed through 2025), and leaves the door open to re-signing Decker. We will need to find a Center at some point, but if Ragnow stays healthy he is signed through 2026 (with an easy out after 2025). If I had to guess though, they're going to play it slow with Manu. Let him develop and let his skills tell you what he can do. Hope you get a starting guard but if he's got the quickness, let yourself be surprised with a franchise tackle. If he needs more than a year and Zeitler leaves, maybe Mahogony can play RG in 2025, or you sign another one-year guard.

I'm guessing 4 years / $200MM with $130MM guaranteed for Goff by the end of OTAs in June.

I guess the flip side is that if he walks for nothing we may get a comp pick, but those are never guaranteed.

Agreed. And his counterpart in Charlie Campbell did not agree. I'm not sure who he would suggest they have taken in the 4th round to help them win a Super Bowl this year either. No one they were selecting that late was going to be a starter on the 2024 team.

WalterFootball's ratings for those who care: The only team to receive an A+ was the Eagles. The Lions were one of four teams to receive an A, alongside the Colts, Bengals, and Ravens. On the other end of the spectrum, the Falcons received a Millen and the Vikings were the only team to receive a D.

I was thinking in the 2021 Draft Grade thread.... If we aren't going to re-sign Alim because of cost (which I don't think is a foregone conclusion, but is possible), is there any chance Brad looks to move on him before the trade deadline? Particularly if Martin makes progress this year and Mingo looks like he's here to stay? I'd hate to see Alim go, he's one of my favorite players on that defense, but I'd hate it even more if he went for nothing. And high quality DTs don't grow on trees, especially not at 24 years old. I expect he might command a high 2nd or a low 1st though, and if you're not going to re-sign him it's hard not to think long and hard about that return on investment.

1.7: Penei Sewell, A+ One of the best in the game, and a perennial All Pro candidate if he continues on his present trajectory. It's so easy to forget this dude is only 23. 2.41: Levi Onwuzurike, D+ It'd be easy to run this dude out of town, but this story he wrote made me give him an enormous amount of respect. It would have been so easy for this dude to medically retire after 2022. No one would have blamed him. He's got serious grit, and I know he could have been so much better if not for his injuries. I disagree with the sentiment that the team should have known his back would give out on him, he started almost every game at Washington... At the same time, a #41 pick has to be better than what he's shown. It's not his fault, but with the additions of Reader and Wingo, I doubt Levi is long for the Lions at this point. I hope he lands on his feet somewhere that doesn't play Detroit twice a year and contributes. 3.72: Alim McNeill, A- He was a little slow getting going to start his career, but has easily turned into one of the unsung heroes of the Lions defense. Him and Hutch were the only two contributors on the defensive line for long stretches of time last season and I doubt we would have experienced the success we did without him. I really hope the fact that Penei and Amon-Ra were extended within hours without reference to Alim doesn't mean he's not being re-signed. 3.101: Iffy Melifonwu, B I almost gave him an incomplete grade, but I decided not to cop out. He would have been a C or C- until Week 14 of last season, when he got the starting nod over Tracy Walker and didn't look back. Will he continue to trend upwards? He could easily become an A if he does, he was lights out to close out the year. But I'm not yet ready to appoint him a sustainable success. If he continues the success into 2024, I'll be ecstatic. 4.112: Amon-Ra St. Brown, A+ Nothing more can be said. An absolute beast who would probably go in the top five in a re-draft. 4.113: Derrick Barnes, B A quality depth piece with shining moments, which is pretty good for a 4th round pick not named Amon-Ra St. Brown. He'll forever be remembered in Lions lore for his interception against the Bucs, and we will choose to all forget the missed sack against the Cowboys. 7.257: Jermar Jefferson, B He's still in the NFL and still with the Lions three years later, which is not easy to do for a 7th round pick. Kudos to him. UDFA: Brock Wright, A What a DUDE. He's as much as you could ever hope to get out of a UDFA. He's a fierce competitor, a solid player, and a fan favorite who was well worth matching a second contract for. To quote one Dan Miller, "BROCK. WRIGHT." UDFA: Jerry Jacobs, B+ He gets a lot of hate, but it's because he is a young UDFA who has been forced into a starting role for the Lions on multiple occasions, which wasn't fair to him. He went from being guaranteed $3,500 on his first contract to being an every-down corner on a team that won the NFC North. For context, a Last Chance U running back was signed by the Lions in the same offseason and was guaranteed $5,000. He held his own as much as you could expect him to. Overall: A+ I went between A and A+ on this. Levi is obviously less than ideal, but I still settled on A+ because I cannot imagine ever seeing a better draft in my lifetime. And if I do, I'll gladly give an A++. If we did a re-draft in 2024, neither Penei nor ASB make it to the Lions 1st round pick at #7. That's incredible in its own right. Add onto that that you added a defensive cornerstone for a trip to the NFC Championship in round three, solid depth and potential starters in the 3rd and 4th round, and a fan-favorite TE and starting corner as UDFAs? All in the first year of a regime, where you were hired three months before the draft and were simultaneously assembling a staff? Truly incredible stuff and completely unprecedented in Detroit... If you make Levi the 7th round pick and bump everyone else up a pick, it looks a lot better. I don't think one whiff in a draft should define the draft.

This gets me excited about the pick. I don't always trust Twitter. But when a random podcaster with 1500 followers reports an anonymous quote from a CFL executive that makes the pick who I had never heard of before yesterday sound promising? You're damn right I trust Twitter.

They should cut him, but wait until 4:00am, and then call Brad Holmes and tell him at 4:01am.

I think this is right, though I don't think Sorsdal's spot is guaranteed over Awosika's. Neither of them were very good last year when they had to step in, and they finished with almost identical snap counts (252 for Awosika to 253 for Sorsdal), but Awosika seemed to be the preferred option late in the season and in the playoffs when Jackson went down. In fact, Sorsdal didn't see a single offensive snap during the playoff run. They both have the flexibility to play tackle or guard, which is good, but ultimately we can only keep three or maybe four backups on the active roster. The other will almost certainly get a practice squad invite if they clear waivers. It's worth mentioning that they don't usually use Skipper as a LT or RT, but rather as a jumbo TE. He would only fill in for Decker or Sewell in the case of a real all-hands-on-deck emergency. This could be the transitionary role Manu takes over this year or next as he develops. I would think we would go with one of Awosika or Sorsdal as a backup lineman available to plug anywhere on the line, Skipper in the jumbo TE / emergency tackle role, Mahogany as a backup guard, and Manu as a 3rd string tackle who is inactive most weeks this year, unless forced in due to injury. The tough part is that our first alternative at center is probably going to be Glasgow, which means we are shifting two spots on the line with one (probably most likely) injury.

Amon-Ra can teach him how to use flashcards to learn those 60 names.

This is a lot of money to guarantee a UDFA. He'll have a shot at making the team.

I think there is an implicit assumption that if we had Moody or Bates or (insert a power-legged reliable kicker) that Campbell wouldn't have gone for it in those situations, and I'm not sure that's necessarily true. We attribute some degree of Campbell's aggressiveness to the fact that our kicker is in the bottom third of the league, but we don't know that he wouldn't be just as aggressive with the best kicker in the league. I think common sense is that he would go about his decision-making differently, but I would suspect that part of the calculus in Holmes' mind about deciding the resources to devote to the kicker position is in the fact that our head coach does not value field goals as much as the average NFL head coach.