NYLion

Can't disagree with any of that and I think it's better in the long run if they get another top 5 pick in this draft because the talent base, while much improved the last 2 years, still needs another big addition (preferably a more athletic player) to really think about competing next season and beyond.

They got a 1st back in the Kennard trade which turned into Bey. No Kennard trade, No Bey. Who gives a hoot about the 2nds, they drafted a core player with the return. Kennard wasn't an "asset", he was an oft injured player who was about to get paid big bucks. The impending contract is what made him a negative asset but looking at the picks in isolation, would you rather have the four 2nds or Bey? I know who I'd pick. Not a big fan of the Jordan deal but it's really inconsequential in the grand scheme. It was basically designed to recoup some 2nds. I'm not sure we complete agree though. You seem to think Weaver is doing a bad job (unless I'm misinterpreting your position) and while I'm far from crowning him at this point, I'm in wait and see mode because that's all you can do in a rebuild. On the surface, there's been some good (we disagree on Bey being a good thing) and bad with him but until we see what this young core is made of, it's an incomplete right now.

So let me try to understand. Weaver is an idiot for giving away garbage 2nds but is also an idiot for taking on garbage 2nds. They got Bey from the Kennard trade and in the process, didn't overpay Kennard. The 2nds are inconsequential. Drafted a top 10 level talent who can be a core player going forward is much better than holding on to some 2nd round picks so I don't see why this trade is getting criticized. The Plumlee trade was odd but he thought Olynyk would be an upgrade so time will tell on that front. I don't know, I think you're making a big deal of trades that will have little bearing on their future. I don't like the stretches, not a fan of the dead money but a lot of it is during a time when they aren't competing anyway and they still have enough cap space to make moves so it's not crippling. My biggest issue with Weaver thus far is not weaponizing the cap space to add 1sts by taking on bad contracts like what OKC did with Favors. He had the right idea with the Jordan trade but pretty lackluster execution by only getting deep in the future 2nds.

Pickett has baby hands, like a good deal smaller than Goff's hands which are below average as is, so I'd be hesitant with him. Granted, Burrow also has small hands but he's an exception.

Perhaps but I don't think the regime should go into next assuming that they'll finish bottom 5 then draft their franchise QB. That's what I mean, there are too many variables that can happen in a year to change the course of things. Holmes and co. can't just assume that they are guaranteed to be in position to draft a franchise QB in 2023, that's fan talk really. Also, Young and Stroud could disappoint, get injured etc. I remember back when they drafted Stafford, there was talk that they should take Curry because Bradford will be even better than Stafford and yes, Bradford was hyped to the moon back then and we saw what happened. I'm not saying that this is a Stafford situation, it was more about hitching your wagon to future events assuming that everything will go according to plan. Point being that everything should be on the table in the 1st round including QB, they need playmakers especially at the QB position.

I expanded on that after you quoted my post. If they are so bad next season that they'll be in line for one of the top QBs, it might be time to move on from his regime. You can give them a mulligan for this season being a bottom 3-5 team in the league but another season like this should be unacceptable. There are no long term rebuilds in football and this one shouldn't be treated as such. In any event, there are no guarantees with future events. Riding all their hopes on a future QB class and passing on a potential one that could be really good in the current class is a risky proposition. Say if somebody like Corral with high level skills but is raw is sitting there at 25 or so, you're getting a guy who is risky but has huge upside if he pans out. For a franchise that is starving for starpower/playmakers, some high risk/high reward should be considered especially since they went so conservative in the last draft building the trenches with "knee cap biters".

I just don't see a big risk in taking a QB with the late 1st especially in a draft like this where the 2nd or 3rd best QB in the draft could very well be sitting there at the Rams pick. Having a franchise QB is an absolute must if you want to compete with the big boys, the sooner you get one the better. If there's a guy they see with franchise upside (even if he's raw) sitting there they should take him because you won't get more value out of that pick than you would with a QB that pans out and the risk is far less late in the 1st. Not saying that they HAVE TO to take a QB but it should absolutely be a consideration. MAybe they'll be really bad next season and be in position to take a perceived better QB in 2023 but there's no guarantee of that and really, if they're that bad again next season, it's probably time to move on from Campbell because there must be some significant progression next season or else, what's the point?

Thibodeaux is playing with a high ankle sprain. He's usually more explosive than that but was hobbled in that game, still found a way to make an impact. He has the quickness, twitch and bend that a lot of the great pass rushers have.

That's true but Ohio State is the only legit offense that they'll face unless they make it to the playoff. I think Hutchinson would be a reach in the top 3, he doesn't have the physical gifts or the proven production of Thibodeaux but he's a guy who can really rise if he excels down the stretch.

I tend to agree. They could have had Sewell and Parsons, plus I think Bridgewater might be a slight upgrade over this version of Goff with a much better contract. The Goff trade was fine but the Bridgewater trade would have given them an impact defensive player assuming they wanted Parsons and more cap flexibility going forward. On another note, saw Thibodeaux on Saturday and while he struggled beating the tackle at times mainly due to a bad ankle, he still found a way to make big plays with 2 sacks (one of them causing a fumble) and 5 tackles for loss I believe. Seems like a good kid too listening to his interview and showed character playing injured when he could have simply sat out for the sake of his pro career. Seems like a legit #1 pick to me. I'd like to see him fully healthy before the season ends to get a true gauge of how good he is.

Here you go again, running another coach out of town. Hey, how about the successful fake punts and the successful onside kick that kept them in the game? No mention of that from you. Also, I seem to recall you hating the previous two coaches because they were too conservative and now you hate Campbell because he's too aggressive. Which is it or are all coaches garbage? This is the bottom line. This is a roster woefully lacking in talent and on top of that, they have had like 4-5 of their best players out with injury for a large chunk of the season yet this team has been competitive in every game outside of the Cincy game. Yes there's been some coaching errors but the coaches are doing a damn fine job all things considered. Zero wins but it's a big picture thing and this is a team that's competing hard so that's at least a bit of a culture starting to be set. Baby steps

This is the first FULL year of the rebuild. Griffin and Rose were on the team for a chunk of last season. The young guys were handed the keys until late in the season. I said that they have a foundation to build off of. Cade, Bey, Stewart, even Lee if they ever play him, don't know about Hayes. That's some solid pieces to build around and a potential superstar. You act like this is the Lions with a bare cupboard to build from. Of course there's plenty of work to do to get the talent level up to the high level teams but this rebuild is still in the beginning phase so it's expected to take time.

The design is to rebuild with youth which usually leads to a lot of losses in the NBA. I don't think Weaver WANTS the team to lose but rebuilding teams usually lose before they learn how to win. With all that said, this is a team that has been competitive last season (outside of the final tank stretch) and yesterday (not sure why you think they aren't competitive) so it's not like they've been getting blown out like a lot of the other rebuilding teams. Bottom line, I don't think Weaver should be judged by wins and losses quite yet. This is technically the 1st full rebuild year so it's not surprising that they still need a talent upgrade but they're getting there. Another high end prospect added to the fold this offseason and some cap space opening up along with the young guys maturing and the team should take some bigger steps forward starting next year but they're going to take some serious lumps until then. It's not like the Lions with a bare cupboard, there's a foundation to build off of with the Pistons.

That's the design, this is a rebuild ya know. I hope you didn't expect them to be good in Year 2 of roster teardown with 90% of the roster being early to mid 20s players.

CoJo the entire 4th quarter, no Saben Lee at all despite him looking great in preseason, runs isolation offense with players who are incapable of beating their defender 1 on 1. Casey is the worst when it comes to rotations and system implementation. Good motivational coach, players play hard for him but he's positively atrocious when it comes to X's and O's.

This is the thing, the Lions are at the point where they need franchise level players, they need playmakers. Sure there's a risk if the QB doesn't pan out, but the reward would be greater than taking any other position and with a pick in the 20s, is the risk really that high? If you can get a franchise defensive player and a franchise QB in 1 round, that's a homerun. Then there's a 2nd+ two 3rds to fill other needs. I don't disagree that QB isn't the biggest need currently but I sure as hell know that Goff isn't THAT guy to lead you to the promised land, not this broken version of Goff, but a legit dual threat QB with high upside COULD be THAT guy. The funny thing about this draft is that Willis and Corral have a similar skillset to two other QBs who weren't taken that long ago that were considered reaches at the time in Mahomes and Allen, interestingly enough that it was also a QB playing for a mid tier Big 5 conference team and the other from a small school. I just don't see a big risk in taking a shot at one of them later in the 1st round. Trading up like those teams did for Mahomes and Allen would be a much bigger risk. That's a different story altogether. There's also the matter of Green Bay possibly drafting right behind the Lions and blocking them from taking the next Favre/Rodgers.

I agree with defense with the 1st pick especially with the way this particular draft is setting up, Thiibodeaux or Hamilton to be specific, but this seems like a good draft to get a potential QB steal in the late 1st if Willis or Corral drop to the Rams pick then you can take WR with the 2nd depending on how the board looks at the time. QBs with huge upside but also raw enough that they could slip into the 20s. Not to mention that there aren't many teams with QB needs after so many were taken last draft. I know that a lot of you don't like the idea of taking a QB high in the draft this season but the Lions are actually in a pretty good spot to take a flier on one now with their building strength on the offensive line and a good bridge QB in Goff to allow them to redshirt the rookie QB so if you have a chance to nab a potential franchise QB with the late 1st, you'd have a potential foundational piece on offense and defense in the 1st round alone with many more picks to build elsewhere. QB is THE most important position, better to jump on one sooner or later if you fall in love with the potential of one. This is the luxury that having that extra 1st affords them.

If it's a high ankle sprain, it could be a 1-2 month thing. Of course nobody knows what's going on because the team is giving us absolutely nothing which is kind of a slap in the face to people who paid a lot of money to watch Cade in person.

I know and it doesn't make it any less dumb to rush 3 and have 2 safeties deep when protecting a 3 or less point lead with less than a minute left. It's chicken shit coaching. I could see if there were like 10-15 seconds left but with 30+ seconds left, that's just way too much time to freely allow a team to complete several 15-20 yard passes down the middle.

Playing prevent defense with 30+ seconds left when all a team needs is a FG to win almost always never works out for the defense yet stupid teams continue to employ that strategy.

Agreed on those being bad calls (although going for it on 4th down late in the Bears game was the right call) but rushing 3 is designed to protect the secondary by not leaving them on an island and insulating them in a zone. The bigger mistake was keeping the 2 safeties deep opening up the middle of the field when all the Ravens err... Vikings needed was a FG to win.

That's a valid take although I think it's too early to crown Holmes/Campbell as quality minds until they actually win something. I do like the direction the team is headed in though despite the record, they've been more competitive (especially with the rash of injuries) than I thought they'd be headed into the season.

I agree that having Lawrence alone isn't a guarantee of success but having the franchise QB as a base is a great foundation to build off of. I'd rather be a team with a franchise QB to build around than one with more stable leadership and no franchise QB to build around. With that said, the Jags are in danger of wasting Lawrence's career if they have a revolving door of coaches throughout his career. Hiring Urban Meyer is not a good start.

The Jags definitely bottomed out, they drafted a QB with the #1 pick and are in line for another top 3 pick so certainly no purgatory there and I doubt Urban is long for the NFL. He's the type of snake to slither out the back door when the going gets tough. I agree with the Bears, they have a lot of vets to team with a young QB so they're right in that Purgatory Zone but at least they have that potential franchise QB to build around. The Lions will never compete for the big prize without a franchise QB. I know that Goff played in a SB once upon a time but he's not THAT guy anymore. It doesn't mean that they need to draft a QB right now but soon, like 2023 draft at the latest or else they'll be that team stuck in purgatory with an average QB that can't take them to new heights.