Hart

If we are one of the worst teams again this season, I don't see how ownership can retain him. That would be four years in a row the Pistons are one of the worst teams in NBA.

Jaden Ivey looks really, really, good. I knew we needed some explosiveness on this team but I didn't realize just how much until watching Ivey out there with Cade and Saddiq. I really like Keegan Murry as well but I think Ivey fills a much bigger hole for us.

I refuse to accept Hutch is a bust until the Lions start using him like Michigan used him in 2021. And his struggles are being accentuated by our crappy defense overall. The Lions have 7 sacks on the year. Only Arizona and LV are worse with 6 and 5.

Haase seems like a guy you keep around for where you need him most. Could end up that is cacher. Could end up that is the outfield. Could be he is just a platoon at DH. Could be a backup plan for Torkelson at first base. Probably best not to pigeonhole him into one role this offseason and just let the chips fall where they may.

I don't really want Tork at third, especially if he is showing promise as a first baseman. The last thing we need is him worrying about his defense at third base next year. I have been on the side of letting Candelario go. But with a new hitting coach, I could probably get on board with giving him a shot to see if he can find his 2021 form. We have to have a decent backup plan though if he comes out next April and looks like the same player he was this year. Basically, we are going to have to take some chances this offseason and he is one of the few guys we can take a chance with that's actually had a pretty successful full season in the majors.

The score means nothing. Individual performances MIGHT mean something. Hoping we see somebody has improved a lot.

I agree. I am still frustrated with the way the Lions are using him and hoping we see something different next week. His first and second sacks against Washington came on just pure effort and not giving up on a play. That is prototypical Hutchinson and he will get more sacks than most that way. The third sack was a stunt. But for the Lions to to really maximize his potential, they are going to have to use him more like Michigan used him last year.

If he gets this amount of minutes, I think we will know within a few preseason games if Cade has made any kind of big leap from year one to year two. We are seeing the same issues tonight we are saw last year. It's only one game but still not an encouraging sign.

Bummer for the starters to get blown out the first preseason game. It happens in the NBA but it sucks to see it right away when you are excited to see your team kickoff a new season.

I would say Bey is struggling with his decision making more than anything. He needs to play more like Bogdanovic and instead tries to play like Cade.

Looking for some improvement from players in the first preseason game tonight against the Knicks. Cade looks a lot stronger but not seeing anything different in his game early. Ivey looks great. If you wondered if his explosiveness would stand out against the best athletes in the world, I think you have your answer already. Really glad Killian is no longer in the starting lineup.

I think it's fair to arbitrarily single out the second round picks as a problem. Sure, we hit on some picks after that but so do other teams. The thing that separates the Lions is the second round pick, which theoretically should be a higher probability success player. If you take the time to prove that over a 5-10 year period, the Lions are as successful as any other team rounds 2-7, then you can make the argument we shouldn't be discussing the second round issue. But I have not seen that argument yet.

I would put Torkelson in a different category than our disappointments. Everybody in baseball thought he was a top prospect and while top prospects often miss, we are only one year removed from that status. Besides trying to find somebody to help him reach that potential, the Tigers have a tough decision what to do with first base next year. You can pencil him in at first base and risk having some of the worst production at a premium hitting position. You can send him to AAA but it doesn't feel like he has a lot to gain from going there at this point. You can try and upgrade by signing a veteran on a short contract but then you block him. Ultimately, I think we are stuck rolling the dice with him next year. It's probably worth getting Haase some work at first base in the offseason though so you have a backup option.

I don't know what you can do midseason with this collection of talent. They better hope Paschal is an immediate impact player.

I don't want to discredit the offense but I think you do have to take some things with a grain of salt. Against the both the Eagles and Seahawks, we scored a lot more in the second half when we got down more than one possession. Might be getting some help from some softer defenses. And Goff is still making critical mistakes at times, something that has hindered him since he got here. That said, Goff is playing well overall. He throws the ball much better short and over the middle because his arm strength is suspect, which you can see when he throws a deep out. Just doesn't get a lot of zip on the ball. But it does make guys like Hock and St Brown perfectly complimentary players for him.

Could be. I don't believe it though. I think the Lions are misusing him. He wasn't that good for Michigan in 2020 because they lined him up in a way where he was easy to double team and he does not do as well in a three point stance for whatever reason. He dominated in 2021 because they used him more like a rushing linebacker. Leave it to the Lions to go away what worked for him in college. Either way, we won't know if he is a bust till year two or three. And it probably wouldn't matter with this defense any way.

Staying healthy is at least somewhat a skill and it's a huge issue for Swift. He's extremely talented and you want to get him the ball when he is healthy but you can't more than a few times per game because you will just run him into an injury.

Trust me, I am the last person to drink the blue kool aid.

I don't mind Campbell taking risks because it is appears we suck again. But that is not a long term solution for a team that doesn't seem to draft well, develop talent, or be able to coach players to outperform expectations.

The Lions needed to load up on defense in the draft and instead used a lot of their draft capital to acquire Jameson Williams. We'll see how that turns out long term but I am suspicious that was a good decision.

I am not convinced with how they are using Hutchinson either. The first few games they did not line him up wide enough. They are at least doing better with that now. But he did not line up in a three point stance very often last year for Michigan and the Lions use him exclusively that way. Maybe it doesn't make a difference but maybe it does.

I agree to an extent. Hurts is not a good match up for us because we don't have instinctive linebackers who can run. At the same time, I think our defense is probably bottom third in the league over the 17 game schedule. It's not just the bad matchup issue.

Expectations matter though too. The defense doesn't have as much talent as the offense. After the first drive, the Lions went punt, punt, punt, punt, pick 6. They bear some responsibility. We know we are going to need to outscore teams. Plus, we saw this last year. The Lions get down big and then make a comeback when defenses let up a bit.

Yeah. He blew into the backfield a few times early and Hurts went right around him. Played a lot more conservative after that. I still didn't like how the Lions used him overall though.

Just catching pieces of the Cowboys-Bucs and jealous of how the Cowboys use Parons as a stand up edge rusher, which is also how MacDonald used Hutch at Michigan. I am really bummed the Lions are using Hutch pretty much exclusively in a three point stance and moving him all over the line.