Jason_R

Yes, every team says they got the players they wanted, but not every war room erupts in unison like they have in the Brad Holmes era. Of course we won’t be able to rate this draft for a while. The draft value folks may turn out to be right. Or it may turn out that “their guys” became “their guys” based on group think. But I haven’t seen any evidence that the staff is anything but elated with the players they got.

Lions say they got four of the 14 players they had rated as first round talents. https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/05/15/2023-nfl-schedule-release-cowboys-chiefs-jets-foster-moreau

I agree the NCAA is going to look the other way as long as it can. But Kirby Smart does not have control of his program. Maybe when one of his kids kills a pedestrian in a UGA vehicle someone will do something.

Oh come on. It was apparently well known to the cops that UGA players and staff were regularly racing. Now we find out that a 24-year old staffer has access, well after the hours when any legitimate business could be conducted, to a car leased by the football program. Might as well give a pyromaniac matches and gasoline.

It's already looking worse. "The car [driven by LeCroy] had been leased by the athletic department." Lack of institutional control? "Sarchione Auto Group, which signed Carter to an NIL deal and provided him with a 2021 Jeep Cherokee Trackhawk, was also named in the complaint." What could go wrong with NIL?

Hey, I'm already panicking about Gibbs's ankle.

At this point, is it a disappointment if the Lions don’t tie their 12-win season in 1991?

Looks like four in prime time not including thanksgiving and a couple that could be flexed. The NFL is all in on Dan Campbell.

They kind of are though. The place where they have the least depth is DT. So they got a DT.

If he makes the team, Martin would end up being one of the 15-20 biggest players in the NFL. And Holmes seems to believe he has unusual athleticism for his size. It seems like Holmes paid too much and drafted him too soon, but he’s filling roles now, not gaping holes. No need to take fliers on sixth rounders who are going to get cut.

The 2023 Lions could become the new greatest show on turf.

Exactly. And head to head Seattle proved on the field it was the better team. Maybe someday they will use power rankings for tiebreakers instead of head to head results, but according to the NFL’s rules, and on the field, Seattle was the better team last year. I think Detroit will beat Seattle this year (at Ford Field) and I certainly don’t think Seattle will score 48 on Detroit again. The only point I’m making, though, is that it is foolish to assume that Detroit is categorically better than Seattle.

Then why did the NFL’s rules allow Seattle to go to the playoffs and not Detroit?

Woulda coulda shoulda. Seattle was a better team than Detroit last year. They arguably had a better draft than Detroit this year. I think most people would put Detroit’s free agent haul over Seattle’s but the Seahawks added a lot of defensive talent. Detroit may end up being better than Seattle this season, but any ranking that has Detroit in a tier above Seattle simply can’t be taken seriously.

All of this talk about career trajectory and Goff being more likely to succeed thank Geno reminds me of a bowler trying to control the path of his ball by leaning back and forth. They’ll play the games they play and have the seasons they have. But Seattle had a better season last year that Detroit and they may have had a better draft than Detroit.

Martin remains a head scratcher. Gibbs was not a surprise (since I read Charlie Campbell) but there is always the possibility of your RB getting dinged. OTOH, if he and Jaymo can get on the field at the same time for a few seasons with Johnson as OC, this may be the new greatest show on turf. You can probably pencil in Jack Campbell as the anchor of the LB corps for a decade. Tell me when he is going into the team’s ring of honor that they picked him five slots too early.

Still Geno Smith put up 48 points on Detroit in their last contest. I don’t expect that to happen again, but Detroit is not the only team who drafted players and signed free agents.

Yeah, until proved otherwise on the field, Seattle is better than Detroit. They may have had a better draft than Detroit too.

Yes, he was BPA. And they were able to trade back a few times and still get him. I wasn’t thrilled with the pick but I’m not sure there was a clear difference maker they could have taken other than him.

Now we have two QBs on prove it deals! And two QBs who can teach each other lessons.

Vikings are more likely to win seven games this year than they are to win thirteen. Holmes picked the LB so high to compete against teams like Philly, Seattle, Carolina who destroyed us on the ground last year.

If the Lions do not win the North it will be a failed season. Let’s hope the NFC East and West are bloodbaths.

Yes, one could imagine an unscrupulous book maker (is there a scrupulous one?) selectively revealing information like this to alter their odds of paying out. I don’t know how the NFL/NFLPA can allow these suspensions to stand.

Priceless. 😂 Think Howie Roseman will make the DL coach send Carter a belated birthday card? But seriously, that may be the interesting thing that Dan Campbell mentioned.

This is a good point. It’s become clear that Holmes does not think about positions, he thinks about players. This is why he’s not looking for the best rounded player at each position. He could have gotten Bijan, who was clearly the best rounded RB in the draft and who he could have picked at six. Instead he is looking for players who have certain traits that are off the charts for their position. Gibbs’s speed, Campbell’s athleticism, Laporta’s elusiveness, Branch’s versatility, even Martin’s size.