1984Echoes

Again... If a team is BAD at stopping the run, guess what the other team is going to do? Run. March right down the field at will. Must stop the run. Which ALSO stops play-action. Which ALSO forces a lot of 3rd and longs. What happens on 3rd and longs? EVERYONE on the defense, even the lesser pass-rushers, gets to "pin their ears back" and go "balls out" after the QB. It forces the other team to be one-dimensional and makes it EASIER to rush the passer.

I think we've laid out why "stop the run first" is the best policy quite a bit here... So I'm going to switch sides and argue for a pass-rush-specialist... Sort of... The 1st and backup DE's need to be stop run... fisrt and foremost. If they have pass rush chops ALSO (like Hutch), so much the better. But Wonnum/ Paye/ Paschal/ Keldric Faulk are still starters because they stop the run first, take away play-action from the other team, force lots of 3rd and longs... etc. They don't "generate" much pass rush but they still get sacks simply by being in the right spot at the right time (grabbing the QB as he's trying to escape the REAL pass-rushers like Hutch...). So what about the AQM and James Mitchell's of the world, who are not good at stopping the run, but are great at getting to the QB? Well, if they are my 6th DE, or 6th OLB... that's GREAT!!! I would NOT want them starting (because they suck against the run and "setting the edge", etc...). But they are GREAT on 3rd and longs at getting to the QB for a sack or forcing bad throws... etc. So, to Tater's and KL2 point: There IS room for one of these guys on the roster. Just not as starting DE. Not as 1st backups to DE either. Let's call them "speed rushers". They win. On a pass rush. On a pass rush ONLY. So as my 6th DE or my 6th OLB... I'm OK with that. We can find another guy like that (mid-draft round please, not at AQM's FA cost... that's just too much for a "speed rusher" ONLY, IMO). Oh... and this guy better be a MAJOR contributor on ST's too. IMO. That's just my 2 cents.

Cat is surprising me with this.

Nice and needed...! But we're still on the bubble so we need more of these... MORE! MORE! MORE!

Daniss observation is from the past 3 months... I know Tobias is only these two games... but it's still interesting to me to watch and see if Tobias attempts to keep this up... I'm not taking anything from Duren because the Wizards have no one to stop him. Unlike other actual playoff competitive teams...

Also interesting... That Tobias is taking over a portion of the playmaking with Cade out... 6-0 assist-to-turnovers the last game... and 3-1 already this one... Interesting. (To me at least).

This is just my amateur observation: When Daniss is playing with the starters... he plays great. When he plays with the bench players... he doesn't. My guess: the defensive focus is on him as the primary ball-handler when he's running the bench, and the bench scorers he is with aren't great... and he struggles/ can't handle it. At least not yet in his career. When he's with the starters... the focus is not directly on him, he is with better scorers, and he plays a whole lot better. We'll see how much that changes with Cade out...

Hmmm... Plan B... Maybe a reliever?

Sweeney's 40-man spot is in danger...

I've already stated this... A guy who is ****ty against the run can be taken advantage of. That means our entire defense can be taken advantage of. It can be run on if there is a weak link, like Muhammed. It opens up the play action for the other team. There are other ways to get sacks then putting a weakness into the lineup. LB'er blitzes, Safety blitzes, Corner blitzes. Interior D-Lineman (like Akim and supposedly Tyreik) who are great at rushing the passer... and/or collapsing the pocket (at least). Akim has shown it before, needs health. Tyreik supposedly has the same type of pass-rushing chops... but has to get past his NFL learning curve... usually for a DT this starts to show up in his 2nd and/or 3rd year... So we'll see what Tyreik can show us this upcoming season Kwity Paye, who is not a pass-rusher, "ran into" 8 sacks in 2024 and 8.5 sacks in 2023... Wonnum, who is not a pass-rusher, "ran into" 8 sacks in 2021 and 2023. If we DO find a gifted pass-rusher on the opposite side, then he must ALSO be good against the run, so that he cannot be taken advantage of. Or at least that's what I believe the philosophy of the Lions is... Two words: Cam Jordan. Just my 2 cents...

I kept asking for it when I was over there...

(In which Iran was ALREADY offering to give up ALL of their nuclear materials...)

Those in AMERICAN LNG sure are going to be making some big bucks!!! Just like Donald Duck plann... errr, Trump, planned it. Hmmm... Would we have been better off with Donald Duck as president instead of Donald Drumpf? It makes one think...

"Look out below" means that I think this team is going to go on a losing streak... Do you think the Pistons are going to go on a WINNING streak with Cade out? Because then I'm going to ask you what are YOU smoking... bruh? (I know that last one is a rhetorical question...)

Actually... The ball-handling is now going to be Sasser & Jenkins, with Ausar and some others mixed in. But I think primarily with those two (it's what they did after Cade went down...). And they were able to find Duren at a more-than-adequate rate. But... Look out below...

My guess would be more along the lines of: Some of the vets are asking for more than they are worth, based on age and where they are in their career... When those prices come down to a more reasonable level (no guarantees that they actually will... I'm just sayin') that is when Brad will strike a deal with another veteran player at a position of need. Let's use Decker as an example: Brad wanted him to take less, Decker says no, believing he can make the same salary as last year out on the open market... Now he's a FA... still unsigned. After the draft, when a raft of other veterans are given their release... Do the asking prices of the Taylor Decker's, and Cameron Jordan's, come down. I believe this is an annual "yes". Brad might sign Cam Jordan to be our starter at DE opposite Hutch. Or Decker for 1 more year as our LT. That might not happen until we are far closer to the end of May-ish, or so... That's why we are stuck in Purgatory (WAITING for these offseason moves to actually happen) where nothing happens until... it happens. Not on our time schedule. Theirs. Sucks to be stuck in this "purgatory" just waiting for **** to happen.., right? I'm trying to stay patient also but... it still sucks to wait... Waiting... Waiting... Waiting... (We don't have a choice though. NFL offseason purgatory it is for us...).

You voted to **** Ukraine and boot-lick Russia/ Vladimir MF'ing Putin. You voted to overthrow the Constitution of the United States and put in place a Benedict Arnold Traitor (yes, that would be Trump) fascist dictatorship into place, overthrowing our Democracy. The guy who engineered a coup attempt against the United States of America. You have NO room to talk... Whatsoever.

... the Carolina Panthers decided to use him out in space as a coverage OLB'er... at 6' 5" 258 #'s. I'm pretty certain the Panthers use a 3-4 base. Maybe he isn't the same and will never get back to his Minny productivity days again. I believe Minny used him as a 4-3 DE? But I also think there's a chance the Panthers were playing him out of position and that if there is ANY chance he gets to be more productive, it's as a 4-3 DE, not as a 3-4 OLB'er. Which, btw, is what the Lions run (a 4-3). And he STILL might never get back to being as productive as he was in Minny. But as a depth guy... I think it's perfectly fine to take this chance on him, at this cost. No, he's not that kind of pass-rusher. I think most are hoping that this is true (bolded part... "not the guy who gets the most snaps opposite Hutch"...). Which is why most on here (I believe) still want another veteran signed (Epenesa/ Jordan/ I forget the 3rd player still unsigned that would fit here...) who is BETTER than Wonnum. AND I think most on this board STILL want to use a 1st or 2nd on ANOTHER DE (such as Faulk or Zion Young or...) to add to that room even IF we sign another guy. I don't think anyone is against what you are saying. I would just say: I don't think Brad is finished. And no one on here WANTS him to be finished. So, I guess in summary... what I am most saying is... have a little more patience. Brad ain't finished yet... tinkering with this roster. Specifically at the DE position. IMO.

He's a special teams guy... Played 65% of Dallas's ST snap counts the past two years. Deep SAM depth but so deep we hopes he never sees a D snap. Not even a rotation guy. Just ST's and the deepest part of defensive depth. Just my 2 cents.

That would be a nice plus.

Yes.

That would be spectacularly hilarious! Wait a second... NOT funny? Funny? Not funny? I can't decide... I don't know who to root for here. But if Venezuela (after capturing Trump) demands, and receives, a new US Administration under... Baraq Obama... I think I vote yes. But... What a weird place to be in at the moment!

From people who are searching for any possible way to put him down and therefore because he had one injury they are going to use that to the fullest... Or at least that's what it looks like to me.

I don't think Wonnum has ever been a 3.25 ERA guy. More like a 3.80 to 4.40 ERA guy... Who had an injury 3 years ago and a slow recovery (infection I believe) 2 years ago but started in 15 of 16 games last year. For the Carolina Panthers. Who played him out in space as a 6' 5" 258 OLB'er. In coverage. So they decided he would be better as a "Closer" than as an "innings-eating" mid-rotation guy. Seems smart to me. What do the Lions want with him? To play him at DE opposite Hutch, not as the star, or starter, but as the "innings eating" mid-rotation guy. Someone who is good at setting the edge against the run and can "run into" several sacks when the QB is trying to "get the **** away from that Hutch dude...". What is Wonnum's forte? Setting the edge at DE against the run. And walking into a few sacks when the QB is running for his life away from a DE like Hutch. It seems to me the Lions want Wonnum to be a mid-rotation "innings eating" 4.00 ERA guy who stabilizes the rotation. The rotation. Part of a rotation. Hmmm... I don't think we need anything more from Wonnum than to be a mid-rotation "innings-eater" 4.00 ERA guy. Sort of like... Exactly what he is. IMO.

PS: I am NOT going to say that it is going to happen (overthrowing the IRGC/ Basij forces)... Or that it is NOT going to happen (like I did in my original post...) But, rather, I am going to say... "Hmmmm....".