RedRamage

I eluded to that earlier as well. I'm perfectly fine with getting Cs, Ds, and Fs in draft grades if the Lions are still perennial SB contenders. But better than getting As and Bs and getting bumped out of the playoffs in the first round (if we made the playoffs). I almost wonder if we need to worry about the reverse. This is JUST speculation here so take it for what it's worth. But in the early years of the Holmes tenure the Lions were a joke. If you take a swing at a long shot and don't get a touchdown (how's that for mixing metaphors!) no big deal... it's the Lions. No one expects greatness. Now the Lions are legitimate. Does that make the front office more cautious? Do they take safer picks because missing a draft pick will be directly linked (fairly or unfairly) with lack of SB appearances/wins? I mean there is a VERY REAL probability that the Lions regress somewhat this year. We lost both our coordinators after all! If that happens you KNOW that there will be people who point to the "F" grade and say: "See! Bad draft makes the Lions a lessor team."

Very valid point. Pre-draft grades are determined by people who are not NFL GMs or in NFL scouting departments. Now, to be sure these graders are getting tidbits of info from teams and scouts and supplementing it with there own opinions/views, but that's not the same as being an NFL GM. I think it's extremely common for players to move up or down a bit based on what happens draft day... if there's a run on DEs and your team desperately needs a DE, you might reach. But yeah, if there's general agreement by 32 teams that someone is a 3rd round talent he's not slipping to the 6th round. He might slip to the 4th, but no way to the 6th.

Even dismissing that this is Aaron Rodgers who's more than a bit of a diva, I'm never too keen on forming an opinion of a contentious event based on one side of the story. It's human nature even if the best of us to think that we were in the right and that we said the right words and acted the right way. We've only got Aaron's side of things. We don't know if it's accurate or what the mood was or the mannerisms involved. I will say this: I think we all pretty much assume that Saleh was fired at the instance of Rodgers, and if that's the case I think Glenn went into this wanting certain "concessions" from Rodgers. Essentially he wanted Rodgers to defer to him, and that's 100% reasonable. I'm guessing that Rodgers didn't defer to Glenn in the way he wanted and Glenn wasn't willing to risk getting undermined from a old diva QB. I'm also guessing it more body language/mannerism/attitude vs. what was actually said.

The salary cap is becoming more complicated than Federal Taxes. But it's nice to see the Lions taking advantage of the details to make it work for them.

I mean, I get what they're saying here and I also would probably somewhat agree with it. But the data and math are basically looking at trends over the last few years and saying "statistically it plays out like this." But a good GM is the one who finds the outliers and sees the trends BEFORE they become the trends. So a GM who can foresee what the NFL is going to be 3 years from now instead of what the NFL was 3 year before now is probably going to be successful and probably will look odd with draft picks. Disclaimer: I'm NOT saying all odd draft picks equals forward looking GMs who will be proven right. I'm just saying that a grade based on history and trends does NOT account for changing aspects in the NFL. My final thought is that I remember quite a few times in the past 20ish years where the Lions got excellent draft grades, and yet it amounted to nothing more than the occasional first round playoff loss. Brad and Dan have definitely bucked some trends in the draft and so far it's worked out. I'm perfectly fine with the Athletic using data and math to give the Lions an F every year for the next 10 years if we're also a legitimate SB contender for the next decade.

I dunno... I worry (for his sake) that faster/stronger/bigger NFL defense would be making the tackles that he's breaking/evading, but then you'd also have faster/stronger/bigger OL protecting him too, so I dunno. Beyond that, though, if you're not watching Michigan Panthers football, you are definitely missing out on some entertaining games. No, it's not NFL caliber, but Perkins has been a LOT of fun to watch this year.

Anyone else think that McKinstry is probably getting "randomly" tested a lot this year?

While I agree that Hooker is a miss, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Hooker was a high risk, high reward person at a time when many (with notable exceptions) were unsure that Goff was the long term answer. Hooker was potentially first round talent that fell because of injury. We could have easily gotten a franchise-level QB in the 3rd round. Again, end of the day it's a miss*, but I count it a little different than if we, for example, drafted a RB or DE in the 3rd round and that player never saw more than single digit snaps in a regular season game. (* It's not out of the realm of possibility that Hooker is a late bloomer and he might end up being a solid player for a third round pick, but the fact that Bridgewater was the primary backup when we needed a backup seems to imply that the Lions aren't comfortable with him. Add in that he's already 27 and there may not be much time left for him to really show that he's a good NFL level player.)

I'm still surprised that no one has done a study yet of all draft picks... even something as simple as "For everyone picked at this spot, Y-% are still in the league after X-number of seasons" I suspect the percentage of success in the draft is much lower than we general think. But it would be nice to know what the "average" is as a baseline, even an imperfect one, to compare to. As for the TeSlaa pick... I honestly couldn't careless anymore where the pundits say a guy should be slotted. Okay, that's not quite right. I kinda care, but not much. I remember in 2019 then Tavai was drafted by thinking: "Well, I hope he proves all the talking head wrong!" But it was sorta like me thinking: "Well, I hope I stumble across a multi-millionaire winning lottery ticket on my way into work this morning." After the TeSlaa pick I'm more leaning towards: "It'll be nice when TeSlaa proves them all wrong." You're right that Holmes isn't infallible, but dang if he hasn't proving other wrong more often than not. I'm gonna trust him and accept the occasional swiiing-and-a-miss until his OPS+ drops below 100.

On one hand you figure that your family has gotta be trustworthy... but on the other hand I have a hard time believing that this is the first incident with Jax and maybe dad should have known better. But I dunno... I'm also a parent and I know that kids can do stupid, unpredictable things sometimes.

I think they should be sent to play for the Bears. That's gotta be one of the worse punishments imaginable.

Quick side note: I'm not clutching at pearls here. I'm not saying Jax is evil or literally Hitler. I'm not calling for this being a major national scandal that demands a blood sacrifice. I'm just saying it's a pretty lousy, disrespectful thing to do and I wouldn't accept the apology as I don't think Jax is sincere. I wouldn't demand a more sincere apology or anything, I'd just be like: "Dude, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want anything to do with you. Leave me alone."

On one hand I agree with you... This is "just" a prank call and I'm not calling for Jax to be tarred and feathered then kicked out of society. But, on the other hand it's about time and place. I don't think Howard Stern, or your local radio station, would prank call someone at such a time and place like this. It's one thing to call a random person and say: "Hey, is your refrigerator running? Then you better go catch it!" It's another thing altogether to "prank" someone on draft day. Most of us will never experience something like this so I'm trying to find some sort of analogy, but I can't. I mean you've got friends and family all there ready to celebrate... The next 5+ years of your life are about to change massively and with a potentially gigantic payday and some strange calls triggering all your (and your family/friends) excitement only for them to go: "Psyc! I fooled you!" Okay, maybe this analogy (kinda) works: You just found out your mom needs a kidney transplant or she'll die in a few months. You don't have the money for it, let along wondering how long she'll have to wait on the transplant list... you make a go fund me and talk about it on social media. Suddenly you get a call from a stranger: "Listen, I'm a multi-millionaire and my life was saved by a self-less organ donation in the past and I'm really moved by your story. I'm looking to pay it forward for the blessing I had. Not only will I pay for the surgery and the after-care, but I have connects and I'm getting your mom to the top of the list. You're prayers have been answered. Everything is going to be great." As you're tearfully trying to thank the man he suddenly interrupts you: "Ha!! You believed me? You loser! Ha!" and hangs up the phone.

I hope the phone call was more sincere. Here Jax says that his action was: Inexcusable, embarrassing, shameful, selfish, and childish. Jax says that made a terrible mistake and messed up one of the greatest moments of someone's life. I would expect a 21 year-old to have enough smarts to not do something that is inexcusable, embarrassing, shameful, selfish, childish, and messes up one of the greatest moments of someone else's life. I don't believe that Jax really thinks that way about what he did. Yeah, we all do dumb stuff sometimes. But it's pretty rare to do something that monumentally dumb.

You gotta be more than a little messed up in the head to think it's funny to call complete strangers to 'prank' them at a time like this. I mean seriously... how is that even remotely funny? "Oh look, you're all excited because you might get drafted... and I'm gonna pretend to be someone drafting you... and HA! You totally fell for it! How stupid are you!! Ha!" If I was Sanders or from the Sanders family I'd refuse to hear an apology from Jax. I wouldn't believe for a second it was sincere. Someone who doesn't see this as dumb and mean before doing it isn't going to suddenly change his tune and be remorseful. I wouldn't hold it against Jeff... but I wouldn't spend one moment of my time giving Jax any avenue to try to repair his reputation.

I totally agree on this. Glasgow is still valuable as a backup who can play either Guard spots or Center, but probably getting to be a bit too old to be a reliable starter for a full season.

After looking at your 2022 draft grade I thought I'd revisit your 2021 grade. Honestly, I think all the grades given then are still accurate. Maybe you could bump up Barnes to a B+, but that's hard to say given the injury.

I'm with MC here vs. MCS. Regarding rating philosophy: In situations like this I think we're evaluating the front office, not the players, so things like pick round/number definitely come into play here. A decent player picked in round 1 isn't good. That should be a star player. A decent player picked in round 6 is very good. Injuries aren't always easy to predict, unless the player has a history of them in college. Then it's fair to knock the front office for a player who's oft injured in the NFL. Off the field issues are tricky too, but I think part of the front office's job is to evaluate who is mature enough to be given multi-million dollar contracts and will handle it well. Now having said all that: Hutch is an easy A+. Jamo is a B for the reasons MC states. If you trade up and draft a guy high in the first round you better be sure of his physical talent and his mental make up. The mental side is holding me back from giving Jamo a higher grade. Paschal gets a C- from me. Injury history that the FO (I think) assumed wouldn't be a big deal, but has. When he's been healthy he hasn't performed great. Joseph: A+ only because there's no grade higher. a 3rd rounder who's performed like a 1st. Mitchel: D makes sense... you don't necessarily expect a star player in the 5th, but he should at least be a contributor and he never really was. Houston: B+ Yeah, he was only a flash in the pan, but for he flashed mighty bright and he was 6th round pick. I look at it this way: If we drafted a guy in the 6th round who was a roll-player who gave us 2 sacks a year for 4 years... who wouldn't say that that's a value pick in the 6th round? Lucas: B- He's a 7th round pick so any regular production is a bonus, but... we never got great production out of him. Even when our CBs were dropping like flies Lucas still didn't see much action at all. I won't expect more than depth for a 7th round guy... but when we really needed depth he still wasn't the guy they turned too to play corner, so I'm knocking him down a bit on that. Over all I'm going with an A- as well. You got a star in Hutch, but 2nd overall should be a star. You also got a star in the third round, so those right there are great results. But you also have another high first round that hasn't quite lived up to that high of a pick imho, and your 2nd rounder has also been spotty. That drags down the score just a touch.

We need to see if his socks are high or not.

I don't think that's the case. First let me just say that I don't think Jamo is getting traded. Not sure if the rumor came from the Lions or not, but if it did it was likely all a smoke screen. If it didn't, the Lions sure weren't going to dispel the rumors as it added confusion for people trying to figure our their plans. That said, anyone who might want to trade for Jamo would undoubtedly want his 5th year locked up. That makes him a more attractive trade chip.

And there goes my dream of the "All Campbell" team. 🥹

Is DT really the biggest need though? I'd say DE is a much higher need. Sure DT is a need, but you have guys who can play there. Now, I'm probably way over analyzing what was likely a semi-joke of a reply, but I don't see this as a pick to fill the biggest hole. Imho, DE and OG are bigger needs with DT probably slotting in at 3rd. Not the rehash an argument (which means I'm gonna rehash an argument), but yeah... needs should always be taking into account. It's not a question of IF, but of HOW MUCH, does the need influence the selection. Holmes has shown that it matters a lot less for him than for most GMs. To directly respond to last years draft: Yeah, CB was a huge need, but not the only one by far. So once we filled CB it would make sense to address other needs, right? But Holmes goes back to CB in the second round. Okay, I'll step off the soap box responding to a tongue-in-check reply now. Feel free to laugh at me for over analyzing at this time.

I wouldn't think so. I also heard Matt Dery on Locked on Lions question if DJ Reader gets cut. He's was only speculating not predicting, but I guess I wouldn't be shocked. Reader wasn't phenomenal in '24 and he's making a lot of money. On the other hand McNeill is likely not going to be ready for opening day and I don't think the Lions are desperate for cap space either so I don't think he'll be cut... just won't be super duper shocked if it happened.