1984Echoes

But my point is... All they have to hear is... TRUMP! And a visceral panic will spread across most Americans' minds... Just by hearing his NAME. They will fill out a ballot as fast as they can with whomever is the Dem nominee, it won't even matter who... Even those paying zero attention to this right now. Hear "Trump" and the same visceral reaction I had 9 years ago "AWW **** NO!!!" Such is the visceral GAG REFLEX that just hearing his name should now engender.

He still acts like a ****ing moron on a daily basis, or worse. His name is also now synonymous with moronic **** show wannabe fascism. Even if a lot of people aren't paying attention right now... I don't think it will take much for people to motivate themselves once they hear, even once, in any manner possible, Donald Trump is on the ballot for President again. I hope their reaction is the same as mine when he announced himself as a candidate in 2015: "AWE **** NO! NO ****ING WAY! NO POSSIBLE ****ING WAY THIS GROTESQUE SCUMBAG MF'ER CAN WIN THE PRESIDENCY! **** NO!"

At some point he's just not going to be worth it and the team would be better off going to Kreidler or even Eddys....

I don't think we're disagreeing here. They may have thought they were covered with Mosely and Sutton and the other guys in the room, plus they drafted Branch. But they DID draft for need because Holmes specifically stated that he drafted those 4 guys with an eye on those guys "helping them make the playoffs". He ABSOLUTELY drafted for need, and for talent. But I think where I am emphasizing a lot and you might not be catching this is... they drafted those 4 guys on a HUGE basis not on talent or need... but on "football character". guys who love the game so much or are so high with leadership capabilities that they can carry a team upwards... I think we're saying the same thing but saying it differently: I don't agree that they ignored the CB position because they were looking at their position needs differently and therefore selected Gibbs, Campbell and LaPorta... I think they loved the talent level of Gonzalez & Campbell close to equally as you say, but put Campbell ahead (and therefore didn't trade up for Gonzalez as you pointed out) of Gonzalez because of his "football character". Leadership qualities, love of the game, whatever you wanna call it. Same with LaPorta versus Porter. It's not as if they're going to ignore the CB position... they're not (hence their trade up to get Branch... who they also loved his "football character"...). They're just hunting the football players they love best (not ignoring position or talent... I mean, they weren't picking a 1st round QB no matter who it was, per what they said... And... it's not as if they are picking a kicker in the top 3 rounds who has great "football character"...). And fill in their remaining needs through other methods (trades, late round picks, FA's...). Just my 2 cents.

Sorry... I don't see the loss. Does a good pass rush help a secondary? Yes. Does a good secondary help the pass rush with extra time to get home? Yes. Can a great secondary cover for a weak D-Line? No. Can a great pass rush make a crappy secondary into a good one? No. What I'm arguing is that it's easier to find ways to pass rush and harder to find high-level CB's. There are a LOT fewer high level CB's then there are pass rushers. My argument is: spend money on a CB in FA if you can find the right guy, even if it's big money. And... there's no NEED to spend big money in FA on a pass-rusher because there are multiple ways to find a pass-rush that can be cost effective. Lesser cost FA's and guys in the draft all over the place (just find the right guy, like Houston, or Crosby, or Hunter...). It's HARD to find good CB's. That's my logic and it's 100% sound and correct.

And I'll give you a flipside too: Did Kindle Vildor, or Cam Sutton automatically "get better" when Glenn started blitzing and our pass rush got significantly better the last half of the year? Because... no, they didn't. Sutton was still mismatched against #1 receivers, and Vildor still got burnt on a more-than regular basis.

Since when has Cam Sutton been a "bad CB". He was a #2 CB forced into being a #1 CB with the Lions. Has nothing to do with the pass rush.

"Other CB's" don't count. You're still not hearing what Holmes is saying. And they didn't "pass" on Gonzalez or Porter.. those guys were SELECTED a pick or two ahead of theirs so they went with their next guy...

PS: "Happens all the time"? Show me a bad CB that was covered up easily by a pass rush. If it happens all the time, then it has to be easy to find, right. I wan to see a crappy CB, who has really good stats because the pass-rush "covers him up", or, he instantly became better. I'm saying you won't be able to find that. A bad CB doesn't get covered up by a pass-rush... He loses his job to a better CB.

If the CB can't cover **** than the speeded up rush is still worthless. Receivers that can get wide open or at least sufficient separation with 1 juke because our secondary CAN'T COVER means the QB is still hitting guys all the way down the field. Unless you have an off-the-charts pass-rush that completely overwhelms O-Lines... And the Lions are nowhere near that. I'm not interested in trying to bandaid a bad secondary with a HEAVY investment in the front 7. I'm interested in the Seahawks Legion of Boom secondary. Shut down the receivers well enough to give the pass-rush an extra second to get home. AND I'm interested in drafting Danielle Hunter (3rd round)/ Maxx Crosby (4th round) types to build up our pass rush capabilities. IMO: Both are needed. But I'm looking for the best CB the Lions can get as a FA AND in the draft... while I think pass rush is primarily draft or secondary FA's. It's still easier to bandaid a pass-rush and nearly impossible to bandaid a burnt-toast-CB (unless you have a GOAT pass rush)... IMO.

I'd rather have Hanifan with Seider I think. Over Walman, even though I like Walman. What we'd really be trying to match up is Walman and...? Who as the 2nd pair? I can live with Chiarot-Petry as the 3rd pair. Too bad Edvinsson is not RH'ed. Or can Walman play on his off-hand? Or even Maatta on a temporary basis? I still like Maatta quite a bit as a 3rd pair or emergency 2nd pair guy.. but he's also LH'ed...

I'm thinking a guy who lives low in the zone (A) really needs to be able to get balls in on guys hands... middle-inside would seem to be OK I'm thinking, to go along with the bottom of the zone. (B) Change of speeds absolutely necessary. Without changing much in eye-level, a pitcher BETTER be able to offer changes in speed/ to throw off a hitters' timing... and (C) STILL would need to keep it out of the middle of the plate.

Eliminating the income cap would allow the overall rate to be reduced. But that equals lower taxes paid for lower-to-middle-incomes (more progressive taxes) and higher taxes on the top 10% of wage earners. Verboten since 1980.

This is the correct solution. And also an identification of the problem, reiterated by G2: Political Polemics.

I think if they spend big money, it's on a CB. The good ones (meaning capable of playing the position and not getting burned for TD's...) are just too rare. I think it's easier to manufacture a pass-rush. In multiple different ways: a good DE, a pass-rushing interior player, a blitz-LB'er, or good-blitzing Safeties or CB's... I just think there are too many ways to bandaid a D-Line or a pass-rush. You can't bandaid a Burnt-Toast-CB so if they spend money, IMO... it's here.

This is misinformation. Reports were they were hot on Devon Witherspoon, a CB, at their #6 spot. When he got selected ahead of them, they traded down.

Speaking specifically about Frazier: He's also a Center. So they'll value him as a talent fit for what the Lions need: Someone who can step in at Guard but also cover Ragnow, if needed. And I think the Lions definitely need that kind of player, regardless what they do with Glasgow and Jonah. But if the following players all pass the culture fit test, and all the CB's are given "1st round grades" versus Frazier is evaluated as a "2nd round grade", then they'll select the CB: Rakestraw/ Arnold/ Mitchell/ DeJean. If Rakestraw & TJ Tampa are given middle-2nd round grades by the Lions (just for example) and Frazier a top of the 2nd round grade, they would pick Frazier. But I'm going to go back to that culture fit part... That ALSO weighs heavily not just as a pass-fail, but also as to the "round grade" of a player. If a player "is a BEAST" or "Excellent Culture Leader", I think that also boosts or degrades a players "round value". Rakestraw could be a "high 2nd" round value in terms of talent to the Lions, and Frazier might be a mid-2nd" in terms of talent... but if Frazier is a "BEAST" in the running game and an exceptional leader in the locker room and on the field... they might OVERRULE the "Talent" factor of Rakestraw and boost Frazier to "end-of-1st" value whilst keeping Rakestraw as a "2nd round" guy. I'm just sayin.... You can't just say "higher talent" or "BPA" or "need" with the Lions. IMO. Holmes and DC have a lot of nuances imbedded into their rankings and I don't think any of us can just simplify it into a BPA vs. Need or "higher talent" quip. These dudes are complicated in certain (winning... love it) ways.

The first bolded part is not correct. You guys are confused. The second bolded part is what these guys keep saying, over and over and over... It's not the highest talent, or RAS, or "graded" player. It's not "oh we like this guard because he's a Lion even though this CB is also a Lion..." They rank positional value/ talent/ Lions' characteristics equally... BUT: missing Lions culture fit and they're off the board. Culture fit is a "MUST HAVE". But once you get past that culture fit... then they DO rank positional value and talent. There is also some maneuvering based on where a player is most likely to get drafted, or also known as "round grade". They had ranked Gibbs and Campbell as 1st round talents (on the Lions board; they'll have positions ranked based on their schemes, not on the rest of the NFL...). But above them both was Devon Witherspoon. They just lost their chance at Witherspoon to a team drafting ahead of them so they traded down, instead. I remember them saying specifically after the draft last year that they only had a "few" players "with a 1st round grade". So most players probably failed the culture fit test, no matter the talent. And I don't know/(remember) if they had a 1st round grade on LaPorta, but they were definitely "hot" to go after him. They traded up to get Branch. They probably also had only a few players with a 2nd round grade (fit for the Lions) and wanted him enough to trade up for him. But they traded BACK from the 2nd round, believing that Hooker would fall to the 3rd and they could get him there (buddha was correct on that), meaning they felt Hooker had a "3rd round grade" or would likely fall to there.

Like a kicker?

The only flipside to this is: Trump is such an existential threat to our Democracy that you wouldn't actually be voting for Biden if you "pulled the lever" for him. You would be voting for The Constitution of the United States and The American Way of Life. You would be voting for country, over party. Just my 2 cents.

Only as a splinter group. Like this: Except: The only one ****ting his pants if Haley ran as an Independent would be Trump. Biden would not be affected. Except that he'd now win in a blowout, both vote-wise and EC-wise.

In dribs and drabs it is... But not enough yet to drive the point home...

Radio/ Billboards/ Fox News (yes, blare it out loud): "REPUBLICANS! If you want to DEFEAT MAGA, VOTE DEMS ONLY!!!"

There's always another choice... I have a good one for all the people you know: Siberia.

PS: Rumor mill is that Steve is willing to trade a defenseman but... only if it results in an upgraded defenseman in return... Not certain how that would work out for us...